Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects by Katherine Lile

Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects

by Katherine Lile

Satisfying and simple to make and gift, Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects is a complete craft guide to creating stylish bowls, bags, trivets, baskets, and more by coiling rope and joining it together with a simple zigzag stitch. An easy and fun craft that you can master quickly, this book features 17 projects with clear, step-by-step instructions, coordinating photography, and expert tips throughout that will ensure success and build your rope sewing skills. Also included are introductory overviews on the basics of rope sewing, instructions for more advanced shaping, and plenty of finishing ideas. Endless design ideas and a variety of techniques to try – from painting and fabric wrapping to dying, adding handles and more – will mean you'll fall in love with sewing with rope!

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Zigzag Rope Sewing Projects is a well written and accessible tutorial guide with projects for utilitarian and decorative objects made from rope/twine by Katherine Lile. Released 16th Nov 2022 by Fox Chapel on their Landauer imprint, it's 152 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. 

The 16 (by my count) included projects are really attractive and many are useful and will make welcome gifts for others or for readers themselves. There are coasters, bags/totes, and baskets aplenty with varied and creative finishes. The tools and materials couldn't be easier: a sewing machine with zigzag capability and rope in various thicknesses. The rope used in the book's galleries is cotton braided rope (think clothesline cotton rope) in various thicknesses from 1/8th to 3/8ths inch. The included project tutorials are built around 3/16" and 5/16" (5 and 8mm). 

The tutorial photos are clear and easy to understand. Each tutorial includes many pics of the project steps and final product. Tools and supplies are given in a bullet list with estimated lengths of rope for different diameter rope included for each piece. Measurements are given in both imperial (American) and metric units (yay!). Tips and tricks are provided in highlighted text boxes throughout the book. The author has also included a lot of creative finishing techniques for dying, fabric wrapping, stitch enhancements, knots, etc which will be useful for other creative projects. Project templates are not provided, but the shapes are simple (circular, oval, coiled tubes, etc) and all the measurements for the finished projects are provided. 

Readers with some experience with sewing and crafting could definitely use this book and produce a useful and attractive finished project, armed with supplies and only this book for instruction. Highly recommended for makers' groups, crafting/fibrearts guilds, home studio use, and public library acquisition.

Five stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. 

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Reading updates

  • 20 November, 2022: Started reading
  • 20 November, 2022: Finished reading
  • 20 November, 2022: Reviewed