Makery: Over 30 Projects for the Home, to Wear and to Give by Kate Smith is published by Octopus Books. It retails in the US for $19.99, in the UK for L14.99, and Canada for $21.99. The Makery is not just a book; it is also a place, a shop located in Bath that offers workshops, parties, and supplies all around the idea of making items for the home, to wear, and to give (as the subtitle of the book points out). The book offers a collection of projects that come from the folks who run this shop, and it is a combination of various crafts: sewing, knitting, crochet, decoupage, and more.

Many of the projects require some minor sewing skills. You would need a sewing machine, but most of them are pretty easy and require lots of straight stitching. For example, there is a drawstring bag, sun glass case, passport case. Basically, they include a lot of different ideas for using squares and rectangles to create different home decor and gift items. Pattern pullouts are provided in the back of the book.

There is a little yarn crafting in here, a few knitting projects like a coffee cup cozy and wrist warmers and one crocheted project. I took a good look at the crochet slippers. They look like they would be fairly easy and something you could make for yourself or give as gifts. However, I was not sure if the stitch references were in US or UK terms. In the US, our single crochet is called double crochet, and these say that you will do double crochet and even show how to do double crochet in the techniques section of the book, but when I look at the drawn illustrations in the project and finished pair, it sure looks like single crochet to me.

Other than sewing and yarn, there is an assortment of other crafting methods used. For example, there is a Shrinky Dink jewelry project (very cute); a project showing how to make decorative paper tags; and an adorable how-to on turning a small toy truck into a pin cushion.

Each project includes written instructions, a few drawn illustrations, a photo of the supplies used, and a photo of the finished piece. There is a techniques section in the back (7 pages) that covers things like knitting stitches, embroidery, and basic sewing methods. Measurements are provided in both metric and imperial (what we still use in the US).

I think this book would appeal to experienced crafters who are looking for easy projects to do as either quick gifts or to do with someone not as experienced, such as a tween or teenager. Those with limited sewing skills who want projects they could handle would like most of the simple sewing projects in here. There is a mix of cute, clever, and been-done as far as the projects. The pin cushion I mentioned already is an example of what I would call clever. The passport case and eye glass case have been-done, but for newbies, they are accessible projects. This has the crafter who likes to dabble in a little bit of everything in mind, so it might also be good for someone who wants to try a new craft.