Katy Jackson - Pretty Fabulous: Fashion & Craft Activity Book: Make super-stylish clothes and gorgeous gifts

Meet the Pretty Fabulous Friends. They are all creative and love making gorgeous things. Kimberly Loves: animals Style tip: animal prints Fave thing to make: anything animal related Alexa Loves: bags Style tip: wear pink Fave things to make: accessories Mia Loves: having fun! Style tip: keep it green Fave thing to make: something from nothing Sasha Loves: adventure Style tip: keep it simple! Fave thing to make: something for her room Chloe Loves: hats and hairbands Style tip: stay on-trend Fave things to make: gifts for friends Lily Loves: shoes Style tip: recycle your fashion! Fave things to make: customized clothes Paint and brushes Paint is essential for most crafts, and a selection of brushes will help too. Synthetic brushes work especially well. Special fabric paint is sometimes needed for fabulous fashion items. Scissors and craft knives Make sure you have a good pair of scissors, but be careful when you use them! If you need to cut tougher materials like plastic, ask an adult to help.

NEVER use a craft knife on your own. Your fingers are precious! Knickknacks You will soon realize that you can make many things out of lots of household items. Collect little knickknacks that might make interesting crafting items, such as buttons, bubble wrap, tiny toys, and corks. Glue Youll need the right glue for the job. PVA or white glue works well for sticking paper or wood. Fabric glue is essential for sticking fabric to fabric, paper, or cardboard.

Use craft glue for sticking plastic or shiny things. Super glue is super strong, but never use this on your own. Needle and thread Sewing is a fashion essential, so youll need a sharp needle with a large enough eye for you to pass thread through. Ask an adult to help you the first time you use a needle, so that you dont prick yourself. You are shown what to do in the book. Felt and fabric Fabric frays and felt does not.

Most of the time, you will want to avoid leaving a raw (unstitched) fabric edge, as your project will not last as long. Felt is easy to cut and you can either stick it together with fabric glue or sew it together with a needle and thread.

Before you start you might need to learn a few basic stitches! Tacking stitch This stitch is used to temporarily hold two pieces of fabric together. It is then removed when you have finished your neat stitches. Make sure you have put a knot in the thread and make long, loose stitches that go in and out of the fabric. Running stitch First tie a knot in your thread, then sew two small stitches on top of each other.

Make sure that each stitch and the gap between the stitches are the same length. To finish, tie a knot in the thread at the back of the fabric before you cut off the unused part of the thread with scissors. Back stitch Make your first stitch the same as you would a running stitch. Push the needle up through the fabric, but instead of moving it forward to make the next stitch, push it back through the same hole as the previous stitch you made and back up again so you are in front of the stitch. Repeat this along the fabric.

The Pretty Fabulous Friends love to customize their clothes to make them unique.

In this chapter, theyre sharing some of their best fashion tips and secrets. Customize, personalize You can adapt all the craft activities in this book to something that is totally you. Choose the ones that work best for you and adapt the design for a unique look that no one else can copy. Keep it clean Getting messy is all in a days work for a crafter. Always lay newspaper or plastic over the surface youre working on and have a damp cloth close to hand for any small spills or splatters.

Give plain sports shoes a makeover.

Using a magical blend of buttons, corks, and fabric paint, you can transform plain shoes into something fresh and fabulous. Sporty Sasha just loves them! You will need: Bottle corks Buttons Craft glue Canvas sports shoes Fabric paint Paintbrush Black felt-tip pen Glue some buttons on to the tops of the corks using craft glue. Leave them to dry. Use a paintbrush to paint a layer of fabric paint on to one of the button stamps. Press the stamp on to the shoe and lift it off to reveal your print.

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