I received a lovely note from Jennifer Forest, telling me a bit about her book, Jane Austen’s Sewing Box. Jennifer says,
A few years ago I was reading again Jane Austen’s novels when I noticed that her women were often sewing, netting, embroidering or knotting. Intrigued, I started reading earnestly to see what other crafts they were doing and started doing some historical research to uncover the Regency craft skills. Out of that grew Jane Austen’s Sewing Box.
From my research into the craft worked by Jane Austen, her characters and her circle of friends and family, I have then put each of the 18 craft projects in the book in its historical and literary context. With a professional background in history, I used real Regency objects to inspire craft projects for the modern crafty person (for example I use modern materials and tools which are true to the period but can be easily purchased today). My book does include a wide range of projects from sewing, needlework, knitting to netting, knotting and paper flowers. The book is available online from many stores and came out in the UK in July.
I have to get my hands on this book! It’s available from Amazon.com, as well as many other sources, I’m sure. If you have a copy, please post a comment and let us know which projects you tried. And thank you so much for the heads-up, Jennifer!
