I don’t remember who taught me how to sew. I didn’t live near my grandmothers and in fact, my maternal grandmother passed away when I was only six years old. But I heard she made her living as a seamstress so may be it’s in my blood. One thing for sure though; I remember knowing how to sew, by hand and with a sewing machine, for as long as I can remember. And that skill served me very well throughout my life. It saved me from embarrassments, saved me some pennies, made me feel capable, and now, valuable as I make things to sell on Etsy.

So when I came across a book called, “How to sew a button – and other nifty things your grandmother knew” by Erin Bried, I had to see what the big fuss was all about. I mean, do we really need another sewing book?

Let me tell you; if you know how to sew a button, “Yay!” for you. Buy a dozen copies of this book and send them to those who you know needs to learn. If you don’t know how to sew a button, then, what the heck are you waiting for? Go buy a dozen copies of this book and put them in every nook and cranny of your house just in case you misplace one.

But “How to Sew a Button” is more than just a book on how to sew. It is a “How to _____” book for just about everything you need to know in order to manage your life! The detailed explanation of these life skills, from sewing a button to dealing with snakes in the garden and to canning tomatoes, it is a 276 page contemporary bible of every day living. Erin Bried’s personal experience of a ruined pie prompted her to interview ten wise grandmothers who survived the big depression about how they made do, back in the day when they had to do everything by themselves. These grandmothers not only had advices on sewing, cooking, cleaning, and keeping your spouses happy, but on dancing, making friends, volunteering, playing cards, and balancing checkbooks. And most of all, on managing a household without excess and waste in the most natural way without the modern conveniences.

So if you haven’t guessed by now how I feel about the book, here is my review.

The Book:

I loved….

• Erin’s style of writing – casual, funny, simple, and easy flowing without sounding preachy (although she pokes fun, it’s cheeky)
• the comprehensive instructions on simple living. In this day and age of living simply, frugally, and environmentally, the book tells the readers exactly how to do just about everything in the most simple way, which turn out to be frugal and environmental, unintentionally.  For example – she recommends vinegar and baking soda for cleaning (sound familiar?), soapy water for chasing away insects or planting barriers, and baking soda for cleaning the oven… among other nifty things grandmothers knew.
• “More Nifty Tips” – sections that have tips and resources if you need more information on a particular subject matter.
• Quotes from grandmothers in the beginning of each sections. My fave is:

“We prided ourselves on our economy. You never threw anything away.”
~Ruth Rowen~

I liked…..

• the simple detailed “Life for Dummies” instructions on things like… how to iron a shirt or how to fold fitted sheets. Since I already knew how, the instructions were simple but just in case readers can not understand, she has videos on youtube on how to do certain things…

…like on how to fold a fitted sheet.

• the quick lesson on geometry while teaching me how to hone a kitchen knife (P.29), reminders to wash hands (“Always wash your hands – hello – with soap, after handling raw chicken.” P.7 – you caught me Erin.), how to fillet a fish (too slimy, you say? Thank you for bringing that up to remind me why I never fillet a fish but thanks for the step-by-step instructions, just in case, my fish monger suddenly decides not to include fillets in his selection), how to unclog a toilet (P.148  – ewwww job that anyone can do and just in case you chip  your nail polish un-clogging the toilet, she has instructions on how to polish our nail too) and how to measure a yard (P.99 -  my mom old me that was a secret only she knew!)
• vintage pencil drawings. Reflective of who were talking to me – the grandmothers from the depression era.

“If there was absolutely no hope for mending something, it might end up as a dust rag. We never thew anything away.” ~Alice Loft~

It would have been nice if….

• there were illustrations. I know how to knit but if you are a beginner, it would have been hard to follow her written instructions on how to knit. And that goes for hemming pants and some other detailed instructions too. May be in her next book, she’ll have those awesome pencil drawn instructions.

Overall…..

I loved the book. Erin has advice on:

• posture – being a chiropractor, this was so welcoming to me because especially we, as women, tend to ignore our posture more than men and it leads to many preventable aches and pains.

• how to make friends – “It’s not the number of contacts you have in your iPhone that counts, It’s the number of friends who will answer your call when you need them.” This was Erin’s interpretation of what the grandmother’s advice was regarding making friends and oh boy, did she hit it on the nose!

• how to volunteer – What’s better? “Dear Mom, I rescued twelve baby sea turtles today!” vs. “Dear Mom, I won the wet T-shirt contest last night…” I thought so.

“How to sew a button…” hit a high note on more than one level with me. I feel like I am one of those grandmothers…. not just because I know how to do many of those things but because we share the same philosophy on life, on being frugal, crafty, simple, and especially being environmentally responsible. What is ironic is that, as my mother, those grandmothers who spoke to Erin didn’t live their lives trying to be eco-friendly. They lived simple lives without excess and naturally. They didn’t know any other way of living. There was work to be done so they did them. There were no women’s work or men’s work. They sewed buttons, built a fire, baked bread, chopped wood and gardened. And happily – whether you were young or old, a woman or a man.

This book couldn’t have been published at a better time as our current economy has made us to cut back on luxury and spending and prompted us to live frugally. These “how to” tips will teach life skills to those who want to learn for the first time all the while being environmentally responsible.

Lastly, I love this quote in her section on “Cleaning”. It basically sums up how I feel about our planet Earth.

“Take responsibility for your own mess. Use environmentally friendly products,
and never pay someone to do what you can do for yourself.”

For translating the words of ten wise grandmothers into witty words, a language we, the modern-day-too-busy-for-living fools, can understand, all the while promoting the environment, albeit unintentionally, I give Erin Bried’s book “How to sew a button…..” five green hearts.

♥♥♥♥♥

Giveaway – IS NOW CLOSED

Erin was generous enough to send me a copy of her book for a giveaway. No, I’m keeping mine. You won’t all the markings on mine. I’ll send you a brand new one though.

Here are the rules,

• The give­away is open to those who are my subscribers only. If you are not my current subscriber, you must subscribe by using the feedburner subscription for e-mail or RSS. Your e-mail address will NOT be shared with anyone or posted anywhere.
• You must be over 18 years old who lives within US.
• When you fill out the form, I can see your e-mail address; DO NOT leave your e-mail address with your comment.
• This giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on Sunday January 31, 2010
• One win­ner will be cho­sen at ran­dom, gen­er­ated by a random.org, and will be announced on Mon­day, February 1, 2010.
• No pur­chase is nec­es­sary to enter the giveaway.
• You must respond within three days after giveaway is closed to be eligible.
• There is no limit as to how many times you can enter. Each com­ment is one entry.
• If you don’t use one of the ways to enter as below, I will consider it to be SPAM and delete the entry.
• SRP is $15.00

Here is how you can enter and please only leave me a comment related to this product and giveaway:

1. Leave a comment here what nifty thing that your grandmother taught you or wish she had.
2. Share this giveaway with a friend and Cc me -  karen[at]ecokaren[dot]com
3. Visit niftybutton on youtube and comment on which demo you like the best.
4. Follow @niftybutton on Twitter and let me know by adding @ecokarenlee on your tweet.
5. Be a fan of “How to sew a button” on Facebook
6. You can also enter by tweeting about the giveaway! Please use @ecokarenlee so that I know you tweeted
7. Blog about this giveaway. If you do not have a blog then you can post on any social media instead. (Facebook, MySpace, etc.
8. Add me as a friend or fan on Facebook (see the sidebar on the left for the button)
9. Follow me on Twitter (see the sidebar on the left for the button)
10. Grab my button and put it on your blog.

Remember to sign up to be a subscriber to enter and let me know.

Thanks for participating and Good Luck!