Super Crafty
Issue #26
by Susan Beal, Torie Nguyen, Rachel O’Rourke, and Cathy Pitters
By Emilie Zanger
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 4:35pm
If the Craft-Off didn’t quite satiate your burning desire for cheap, easy DIY gift ideas, pick up Super Crafty, the new book of 75+ craft projects by Portland Super Crafty superheroes Susan Beal, Torie Nguyen, Rachel O’Rourke, and Cathy Pitters. It’s a tantalizing treasure trove of bright ideas, all of which are clearly and carefully explained, often with patterns included to take the guesswork out of replicating their clever creations.
Super Crafty is organized under headings according to the main material or technique used: fibers and sewing projects under “Threads,” home goods under “La Casa Bonita,” recycled gems under “Reduce, Reuse, Resparkle,” and so on, which makes it a breeze to choose a project to fit your creative mood. Some sections include short instructional intros on getting started sewing, making jewelry, or working with vinyl, for instance.
To say Super Crafty is inspiring would be to damn it with faint praise. In one morning’s casual perusal over coffee, I bookmarked no fewer than 12 projects I wanted to make immediately and flagged several more to try at a later date. The Boudoir Lampshade, which uses a thrift-store embroidered tablecloth and adorable pompoms to spice up a blah shade, is currently in production on my living-room floor, and as soon as I find a suitable crime-fighting partner, the matching Superhero Slip and Boxers are next!
The projects very often make use of stuff that’s already cluttering up your apartment or that you can procure for not a lot of dough from a local thrift store, which fits nicely under the pro-recycling, anti–mass production “Super Crafty Manifesto.” Interspersed throughout the projects are a handful of funny, personal anecdotes and stories of craft projects gone wrong (check out the giggle-inducing story about a foray to buy supplies for pasties), as well as the four authors’ experience using their super crafting powers for the greater good, in a section entitled “Social Craft Action.”
The book itself would make for a handsome gift for your DIY-lovin’ friends, but I highly recommend dipping into it for those who appreciate a good handmade gift — and isn’t that everybody?
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Super Crafty (Sasquatch
by Susan Beal, Torie Nguyen, Rachel O’Rourke, and Cathy Pitters
293 pages
List Price: $18.95
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