Stencil Craft: Techniques for Fashion, Art & Home
By Margaret Poet
ISBN: 9781440340116
Author’s Website: www.margaretpeot.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Caro.

Synopsis:

As a Broadway costume painter, I use stencils every day—from tape to giant mylar paisleys, to elaborately cut textures. Stencils can make a plain surface rich with come-and-go repeated pattern, add creature texture such as feathers, fur, or scales, create depth and add mystery to the most mundane fabric. Stencils can look boldly graphic, soft and atmospheric, or make marks that are almost photographic. Stencils are incredibly versatile (beyond stenciled letters for the mailbox!), and I have always wanted to write a book featuring them.

Stencil Craft: Techniques for Fashion, Art and Home is filled with stenciling techniques. From cutting stencils from various materials with scissors, craft knives, or stencil burners, and then painting through them with brushes, natural sponges, spatter and spray, we will explore a full range of stencil possibilities. In this book we will paint stencil portraits, totes, aprons, ornate borders, tablecloths and tea towels, pillows, a floor cloth, stationery, wrapping paper, and more, and begin to build a stencil library.

Review:

As someone who likes doing arts and crafts every now and then, I found this book very interesting and detailed. Not only did I learned a few new techniques, but it also reinforced my stencil knowledge.

Stencil Craft: Techniques for Fashion, Art & Home is an art book where you will find a variety of techniques to create wonderful decorations, tote bags, and anything else where you can apply a stencil.

Something I liked was the detailed list of materials the author provides, which can be helpful if you’re a first time stencil user or if you just couldn’t remember the name of certain material, like in my case. The step-by-step photos are also helpful when it comes to having a visual of what to look for, or what to do in every project the book gives you.

Another aspect that I liked about this book is that it shows you a way to build your stencil collection. Having stencils of several shapes and sizes is a great help when you use them in your everyday life, such as work or an art student. I remember an airbrush class where everyone was saving their newly created stencils to make life easier as a student. If you needed a certain shape someone was bound to have it among their materials.

A good tip about stencils is that, like you can see in the book’s images, you can create a stencil and use it in almost any project and material, such as paper, fabric, and more. One design that I really liked from this book was the tea cups on the table cloth. The brush technique is one I should try doing.

If you’re an artist, an art student, or are looking for a hobby, Stencil Craft is a good book to start with and get some creative ideas. I’m getting ideas just by re-reading it. Author Margaret Poet gives no-fail tips for those who thought they couldn’t draw. I highly recommend this book and for you to give one of its projects a try.

“Anything is possible with stencils.”