Elegant Linens: 26 Projects for Creating Your Own Luxurious Linens

Rating:
Summary: Not-so elegant linens, after all.
Review: After reading about this book in a home magazine, I looked forward to purchasing it (ordered it from Amazon.com, of course). Unfortunately, the "elegant" linens in Mrs. Irvine's book ranged from a tea cozy to a pin cushion to outdoor seat covers. Although the photographs were lovely--I especially admired the collection of antique Christening gowns--and her prose was light and cheerful, I did not learn anything about making linens that I would consider elegant or even potential heirlooms.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely display of linens for the home.
Review: Chippy Irvine is an elegant lady with a fine taste in fashion for the home. An interior designer and editor for Design Times magazine, this author offers a beautiful collection of linens for every use in the home. She shows the reader how to care for, store, and mend every type of luxurious linen. This book is also a wonderful resource for 26 projects to make for the home. Ms. Irvin offers her assistance for making napkins, tablecloths, dainty pincushions, placemats, napkin rings, table runners, cocktail napkins, tassels, aprons, shoe holders, sink curtains, bathrobes, cushions, a gardening apron, and more. This is a wonderful resource for the care and construction of linens.

Rating:
Summary: An intuitive and practical approach to lovely fabrics
Review: Chippy Irvine's books are a marvel of elegance and style. She has a positive genius for encouraging one's creativity and belief in one's ability to make lovely objects out of bits of fabrics and lace that one either might own, or come across at sales. Her descriptions and backgrounds of the fabrics and objects are interesting and precise and the directions for duplicating some of the items are down-to-earth and accessible to the least "handy" of stitchers. The photographs of the linens and the backgrounds are beautiful. An interesting and USEFUL book for anyone who likes to create an environment with a real sense of style!