Anna-Stina Linden Ivarsson et al. Second-Time Cool: The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater
Annick Press   $14.95   ISBN 1-55037-910-0   92 pg.
Reviewed by Melissa, Age 13

Clothes announce your personality, your identity. Clothes allow us to play, change styles, and become someone different. With Second-Time Cool, you’ll see how easy it is to make things with your own hands: how you can make new from old with craft techniques people have used through the ages, and how you can be sure no one else has clothing exactly like yours.

Second-Time Cool. Now that was a book to read. It caught my eye when I first saw it, showing off the caption: ‘The Art of Chopping Up a Sweater’. It looks like it would be just another everyday Guide to Sewing book. But instead it shows how to sew, knit and crochet! How much better can it get? Oh, wait. There is more. Within this book, the authors decided to put in a series of historical notes. All of which allow you to learn a lot about the dressing codes from the 1500’s and onward. The authors have a good sense of humor, too, which makes it all the more fun to read.

This book teaches you how you can make your second-hand sweaters, into something amazing. Skirts, pom-poms, hats, wristbands, you name it. They have it all. This book tempts me to want to use all of their techniques, it being so creative. I mean, I never knew how to crochet until I read this book. So reward yourself with handwork that is your own. It’s easy. Just get yourself a used sweater or two, and there you have it.

This book was very well written and very well made, deserving all of 5 stars, because it is the best HOW TO book that I have seen in a long time. This book made me laugh; therefore is quite deserving of the stars I have given.