Imagine it. Make it! You don't need to be a designer or pattern maker to create and sew the dress of your dreams. Let Liesl Gibson, founder and designer of Oliver + S sewing patterns, show you how to alter the elements of a pattern to make exactly the dress you imagine. Oliver + S Building Block Dress: A Sewing Pattern Alteration Guide shows you how to customize all the elements of a basic dress pattern. With the included Building Block Dress pattern and Liesl Gibson's detailed pattern alternation instructions, you'll learn how to create almost any dress you can imagine. Let Liesl show you how to change sleeves, silhouettes, pockets, necklines, hems, closures, and linings. By combining the elements presented in the book, you'll be able to make thousands of unique dresses. The only limit is your imagination! Use the skills you learn in this book to customize other patterns as well. With these techniques, you'll look at sewing patterns as just the starting point for your creative expression.

"In Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, you'll find whimsical yet practical accessories for children, such as a hat, scarf, vest, tutu, art smock, backpack, messenger bag, and quilt- all designed with the same style and attention to detail for which Oliver + S's individual patterns are renowned..." From jacket flap.

With her "choose-your-own-adventure" approach to sewing, Tanya Whelan offers an invaluable collection of patterns that empowers sewers to become designers. The trick is a set of patterns for 6 skirts and 8 bodices that line up perfectly at the waist, plus an additional 4 sleeve styles and 4 necklines. Tanya gives readers clear instructions and easy-to-follow step-by-step diagrams that allow them to use the enclosed pattern pieces to create up to 219 fitted dresses, including simple strapless designs, sheaths, and halter gowns. The book covers basic dress construction and altering techniques for women of all shapes and sizes.

Golf fans will not forget the 39th Ryder Cup in a hurry. Staged at the Medinah Country Club just outside of Chicago, the 2012 event has already gone down as the most remarkable competition in its 85-year history. The American team had home advantage, and a golf course unapologetically set up to suit its own players. Supported by tens of thousands of loud and proud fans, the USA's star-studded line-up dominated the first two days and ended the Saturday with a seemingly unassailable 10-6 advantage. No away team had ever won the Ryder Cup from such an unpromising position. Sunday was singles day, traditionally the forte of American teams. The situation looked bleak, especially when European team member and number 1 golfer in the world, Rory McIlroy, very nearly missed his tee-off time. Yet slowly but surely, the European team - who had top-loaded their line-up in one last throw of the dice - started to turn the scoreboard blue. With inspirational captain Jose Maria Olazabal stiring European blood with thoughts of the late Ryder Cup magician Seve Ballesteros (whose silhouette was emblazoned on the players' sweaters and bags), the tide turned and the previously dominant American players started to crumble in the face of the onslaught. Suddenly European players were holing miraculous putts to win holes out of the blue. Something very special was happening. When German Martin Kaymer sank his putt on the eighteenth green to clinch the point that retained the Ryder Cup, the most astonishing comeback in the event's long and distinuished history was complete. Miracle at Medinah is the compelling narrative of those amazing three days in Illinois, a fitting chronicle of an unbelievable sporting story.

Create Pinterest-worthy clothing, accessories, and more with this how-to guide and memoir featuring 20 meditative sewing projects, plus inspiring stories that promote creativity, happiness, and fulfillment. When Sanae Ishida was diagnosed with a chronic illness and lost her corporate job, she felt like her whole life was falling apart. Inspired to succeed at just one thing, Ishida vowed to sew all of her daughter’s clothes—and most of her own—for one full year. In Sewing Happiness, Ishida recounts her incredible journey, reflecting on how sewing helped her survive such a difficult time in her life. Sewing Happiness features twenty simple sewing projects (with variations) organized by season and tied together with a thread of memoir that tells the story Ishida’s unexpected transformation and how sewing brought her profound happiness. Each seasonal project—from Japanese-inspired home goods to children’s and women’s clothing—is specially designed to promote health, creativity, and relationships and to provide gentle inspiration to live your best life. Complete with photos and easy-to-follow steps, Sewing Happiness is at once a guide to the craft of sewing and a guide to enjoying life in all its beautiful imperfections.

Originally published: Canada: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 2016.

When Dr. Oliver Fforde unexpectedly arrives at Amabel's guesthouse during a winter storm, he makes a lasting impression. Of course, Amabel doesn't expect to see him again. Yet every time she finds herself in a sticky situation, Oliver reappears! Trying to be an independent woman is proving difficult with such a chivalrous and charming man on hand. In fact, Amabel can't help but wonder if their loving friendship could become something more….