Spun Cotton Crafts is a crafting and tutorial collection with 25 vintage/retro projects by Valerie Lloyd. Due out 24th May 2022 from Fox Chapel, it's 144 pages and will be available in paperback format.
Spun cotton is a medium used for creating figural ornaments and decorations using simple materials such as cotton fibre, glue, and embellishments. It's a traditional craft with its origins in the late Victorian era in Europe, but moderately popular up through the 1960s and enjoying something of a renaissance now. The author is adept at explaining processes and materials and general DIY/crafters won't have any trouble at all following the instructions in this volume.
The book contains an introduction and history followed by a general tutorial on techniques: coloring, dyeing, painting, tinting, structure (armatures and shaping the base), and building and applying cotton fibre to the base. The following chapters contain the actual tutorials. They're full of fun and appealing, very retro projects such as animals, decorative sculptures, and ornaments. As the author points out in the introduction, although spun cotton is a distinctly nostalgic/retro craft, the reader is only limited by their imagination and the process can certainly be applied to whatever style the artist fancies.
Tutorials include tools and supplies in a bullet list, followed by step-by-step instructions. Tutorial photos are clear and in color, and not hampered by hands or tools in the way of the action. Measurements are given in both imperial (American) and metric units. Full size project templates are provided in the book.
Four stars. It's nice to see fibrecrafts other than quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and crochet getting some representation. This is a very well written guide for an admittedly niche craft.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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