So I wrote a book. Yes, I did. All by myself (with a lot of help and hand holding from the fine folks at Stash Books). It was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be but I've learned a lot and I couldn't be one iota happier with the finished results.
Here it is: The Essential A-Line, Make 17 Flirty Skirts from 1 Basic Pattern. 128 pages (pattern included). By Jona Giammalva (eek!).
The release date is officially March 18, 2013 on Stash (get it early!). It's already on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for pre-orders. The release date is set for April 16, 2013 on those sites though (something to cheer yourself up with after you send your taxes in I guess).
Here is the cover. Gosh. The gals at Stash Books refer to this as the "Hot Book Cover". You can see why (I designed and made that skirt!!!! Oh my heck!!!).
The reason I proposed this book is because of all the blog traffic that came to my blog from my Essential A-Line tutorials here, here and here. Susanne Woods (the former acquisitions editor for Stash Books but now at the amazing Craftsy.com) had been asking me to consider writing a book for quite some time but I honestly thought should couldn't be serious. Me? Write a book? Then she told me about a popular blogger who had turned down the idea of writing a book and I thought "What sort of dummy says no to something like that??" Um....yeah, I was that kind of dummy. But not any more folks!
Here are a few of the many skirts in the book. The photography literally took my breath away the first time I saw it. And I love this skirt. I'm buying some boots to wear with it as soon as it comes back to me. You can see one of my other skirts peeking out from the basket.
Seriously? How cute did this turn out! So cute, so hip (I can't wait to get my skirts back from the publisher!). Peety gets this one since I made it in her size (mini skirts are not my thing now, I know when to stop). The pattern is made for sizes 0 - 20 (do you ever wonder what is a size 0?? I guess we're about to find out). It goes from a maxi length up to a mini length and can be plain, layered, pleated, lots of things!
One of my absolute favorites! If you buy this book you will feel like you're walking in a field of flowers on a sunny California day (or something like that). The way the pattern is designed you can actually do 5 layers of ruffles if you like (or just one, or two....whatever).
Some of the skirts are very fun and casual and some are a little more formal like this one. I used black lace because it reminded me of the bridesmaids dress I wore in my cousins wedding (a dress I actually did wear again and again!) and I can envision this being in a wedding or just for a nice dinner party. Plus you can use any sheer fabric as the top layer and have a completely different look.
I took care to include versions that match the skirts in my Edith and Evelyn patterns. I didn't want to make mommy patterns that matched the style perfectly because how many of us want oodles of gathered fabric around our hips? The a-line was the perfect answer to that dilemma. I lost track of how many women said "the a-line is the only skirt that looks good on me" throughout this process. It really is a flattering style that draws the attention away from our hips and downs to the flared out hem. So if you already have my patterns for your little one you can now match without looking silly (add the 18" doll version and you can be a complete matched set!).
Here is the final editing version on my table. Done! Including the sweetest forward ever by my friend Heather Bailey (made me cry).
So those are a few of the many skirts in the book (there are actually 18 if you include the basic, no frills added, version of the a-line, which is actually a nice look on it's own) plus I've included a maternity/post-partum version of the a-line (no zipper, yay!) which goes together quickly and looks darn cute!
I have a lot more to share about the journey and the process involved (I've learned so much!). But I wanted to let this cat out of the bag so you could see what I was doing in some of my quieter times this past, crazy, crazy year. Thank you! It was all the readers who come to my blog who pointed me in the right direction with this book and I couldn't be more appreciative (I even mentioned you in the acknowledgement section!). XOXO!
