August 2022 Reading List

I saw this book in Big W and just the title alone had me intrigued. I tried borrowing it from my library but there was going to be a 48 week wait (Yes, 48 weeks, as in nearly a year). That warranted buying it with some Kobo credit my husband gifted me for Mother’s day.

It’s quite a different writing style where the author switches between the actual story and talking to the reader. Quite a unique experience.

This is the fourth book in The Secret, Scone and Book Society, having read the previous three in July 2022. It’s a quick and easy read this time centred around halloween.

This was another book I saw in Big W and it was a real joy. There were quite a few characters to keep track of but by around a third of the way through I had all of them sorted out.

Set in Tasmania, we hear about family dramas, work issues, starting businesses and the beginning of new relationships. They all come together through the community choir that adds value and meaning to their lives.

There are some difficult parts too – alcohol and sexual abuse, but if you can safely cope with that I highly recommended this one from Fiona Lowe.

Wow! Just wow! If you are a sewist, or even if you aren’t and want to know what goes in to making an exquisite coat – The Coat Route is the read for you.

Noonan takes you with her on a journey around the world to make a $50,000 coat for Australian wine-company executive Keith Lambert.

Starting with tailor John Cutler in Sydney, Australia for the planning of the coat, we move on to the mountains in Peru where vicuña fabric is farmed to create fabric that is softer than cashmere. On to Florentine, Italy for silk lining from Stefano Ricci. We meet Parisian fabric merchant Frédéric Dormeuil, then Northern English fabric designer, Bryan Dolley. Next is James Grove & Sons, a horn button manufacturer in England’s West Midlands.

On to Sydney for an eighteen-karat-gold bar to be engraved by John Thompson with the J. H. Cutler logo on one side and Keith Lambert’s initials on the back. Back to tailor John Cutler in Sydney where his team of skilled artisans cuts and constructs the coat with multiple fittings along the way. The book culminates in the final chapter when the coat is delivered to Keith Lambert.

It’s a wonderful trip around the world.

The book has a photograph of the final coat worn by Keith Lambert, and to be honest it doesn’t look anything special, just a very well fitted winter coat. But I’m sure the photo isn’t doing it justice.

I found a couple of photographs of the coat online – the NY Daily News has the coat on a mannequin, and Google Search for John Cutler Keith Lambert shows images of the coat that are actually linked to paid newspaper content.

Can’t recommend this enough.

I borrowed this book from the library for the second time, having read it many years ago when I wanted to sell my sewn items on Etsy. Once again I’m thinking of exploring that option again.

The book covers how to decide what to make, taking into account your customers and researching what they will buy, then making some samples and testing them out with family and friends.

There are tips on taking good photos, marketing, and finances.

Interviews with current sellers gave some examples of what people are making. The only downfall was that when I googled these sellers quite a few of them no longer run the business mentioned in the book. I know we all experience changes in life, but it wasn’t a good sign to me as a possible seller.

To give you some ideas on what to make there are 16 projects that you can use, along with recommended prices you should charge. These include pillows, organisers, wallets, dolls, quilts, aprons, headbands and many bag variations.

More Sewing to Sell gives a big picture overview of selling sewn items. Running a business is a complex beast, so if you want to get more nitty gritty information you’ll need to look elsewhere. But a good starting book.

After reading More Sewing to Sell I wanted to take a look at the first book in this series from Virginia Lindsay – Sewing to Sell. It is very similar to the second book but covers more of the basics like essential equipment, buying and using fabric, choosing a business name; then the more advanced topic of selling online and at craft fairs.

There are also 16 projects in this book – a pin cushion, lunch bag, place mat and napkin set, oven mit, quilt, baby bib, pillow, organiser, zippered pouch and a few different bags.

A good book to cover the basics and have a few project ideas that get you started but to progress a business further you’ll need other resources.

In Wisdom of the Ages, Wayne Dyer has written an essay on the teachings of 60 ancestral teachers. He recommends reading one essay per day and reflect on those teachings for the day. I followed this advice for the most part, but I must admit I didn’t really do the reflections part.

These “teachers” include the well known ones like Buddha, Lao-Tzu, Leonardo da Vinci; as well as ones I’d never heard of – John Greenleaf Whittier, Stephen Crane and Langston Hughs.

Each essay has a focus – Meditation, Patience, Balance, Hope, Truth/Beauty, etc. So I forsee that when I’m struggling with a certain area of my life, or just want some inspiration I can turn to this book.

I didn’t know a lot about Hannah Gadsby before listening to this audiobook. A few years ago I watched her 2019 TED Talk when I was researching autism, but that was it. I didn’t even know what Nanette was (it’s a stage show she performed around the world and was then recorded for Netflix). It was just one of those books that I kept seeing everywhere.

Hannah narrates the audiobook and includes short clips of her live performance of Nanette that gives you a taste of her stage show.

I really enjoyed listening to Ten Steps to Nanette. Gadsby is very open with her life and how she has navigated her world.

Once I finished the book I did watch the Netflix recording of Nanette. With the background information provided by the book it made a very rich, thought evoking experience.

Narrated by Hannah Gadsby, it runs for 13 hours and 47 minutes.

This is my second (or is it third) reading of The E-Myth Revisited. It is one of those highly recommended business books that opens your eyes on how to run a business.

The main premise is that businesses are not founded by entrepreneurs but technicians. So in my case of setting up a business to sell items I have sewn, I’m a technician who sews and sets up a business, but in doing so I’m just creating a job for myself. But a business is more than this, you need to have an entrepreneur (visionary), a manager (planner) and a technician (the doer).

The business also needs to use systems, so that you can streamline your processes to make sure you are getting the job done and for the possibility of passing on the job or even the entire business as a franchise to someone else.

Now when I’m reading about how to run a business I keep what is taught in this book at the back of mind.

I have loved watching Downton Abbey over the years so when I saw this book at the library I grabbed it. It covered a lot of ground, from the initial ideas for the show, the writing, the sets, the props, the all important wardrobe, as well as hair and makeup.

People involved in the production – the producers, the writers, the actors are quoted throughout the book to give a fully rounded view of what it was like creating the Downton Abbey series.

In addition to the writing there are some really beautiful photographs of the sets and wonderful costumes.

A true delight.

Another business book, this one by Martha Stewart. I do like reading books by successful business people, and this was a great read.

It is packed full of valuable information about how Stewart built her business, along with advice on how you can too.

The Martha Rules are:

• What’s passion got to do with it?
• Ask yourself, What’s the Big Idea?
• Get a telescope, a wide-angle lens, and a microscope?
• Teach so you can learn
• All dressed up and ready to grow
• Quality is everyday
• Build an A-team
• So the pie isn’t perfect? Cut it into wedges
• Take risks, not chances
• Make it beautiful