Sew Kawaii by Choly Knight

Yes, I know, it's another craft book with a pun. I was actually drawn to this because of the word "Kawaii" in the title. I was actually planning to try the crafts out before reviewing but something stopped me. And that is, the lack of a sewing machine.

In the book, the author makes it seem like a sewing machine is so much better than hand-sewn (maybe it is). But if you haven't sewn before, I wonder how you're going to make these projects, since a sewing machine appears indispensable for most of them, But before I go on, here's what I did like:

The projects looked cute and were supposed to be suitable for the beginning -waves hand in air- And with each project, a Japanese word is introduced. You won't finish the book being able to speak Japanese (words, yeah, phrases and sentences, nope), but it might spark your interest in learning the language.

The way the book is organised is also quite good, since it progresses from the easy stuff like Key Chains to the harder things like Home Decorations. Although I don't see myself wearing some of the Jellyfish dress in the Clothes section, I might be tempted to try a character hoodie.

Patterns are also provided, although since I'm reading the ebook version, it's very very hard if not impossible to use them. That is the second part of the reason why I couldn't make any of the projects.

So, this book is confusing. While it's supposed to be for the beginner, and goes into details like needles, stuffing, materials and such, they expect a sewing machine. My grandma has one, but it's the old-fashion foot pedalled one (way cool, but I have no idea how to use it without stabbing myself in the hand). Plus, I'm going overseas soon and I don't think I can buy a sewing machine on my meager allowance. I expected, and would have preferred more projects that only needed hand-sewing.

But still, if you like the items featured in the book and happen to own a sewing machine, I think you'll really enjoy reading this. I guess it's just not for me.... ):

Oh, and never buy an ebook version of a craft book. It might be because I was reading on a DRM-reader, but the book was exceptionally laggy and took a long time to load. I'm attributing that the the heavy use of colour and graphics, which are necessary, but still made me fustrated.

Disclaimer: I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.