Lifestyle and Hobbies

The knife—a staple in every household and long considered one of mankind's most important tools. Despite our long history, in today's fast-paced world many no longer know how to recognize a good knife or the characteristics that define one.

Leather is a strong and versatile material, and indispensable when you’re working, hunting, or exploring outdoors. Hunter and outdoor professional Carsten Bothe offers the ultimate beginner’s guide for this useful hobby. These photo-rich, step-by-step instructions prove that anyone can learn the techniques of cutting, sewing, and finishing to make, or repair, your essential leather items.

Upholstery doesn't have to be intimidating! Expert Shelly Miller Leer, founder of HomeRoom and Upholstery Club and former writer and contributor for curbly.com, apartmenttherapy.com, and many other online crafting communities uses her trademark fresh, casual teaching style to empower you with the confidence and skills to get started right away.

Modern makers who have learned the basics of weaving can rejoice with this next-steps guide from Lindsey Campbell, the weaver behind the popular blog and brand Hello Hydrangea. Her trademark style, which powers the popularity of her first book, Welcome to Weaving, helps you take your creativity and your enthusiasm to the next level of style.

People have been under the spell of the mysterious and elegant nature of the cat for thousands of years. They are one of our oldest animal companions and have been much-loved family members in households around the globe for generations. But have you ever felt that despite your good intentions and love, there are some things about your cat you don't quite understand?

The perfect mix of trendy and handy, these 50 designs for useful and stylish little bags and pouches use small pieces of fabric, bringing your stash's power to new heights. The eye-catching and creative designs offer structures, shapes, and effects you've never sewn before, applied to multicompartment wallets and clutches, first-aid pouches, and bags for elegantly toting phones, eyeglasses, ...

Why are people still handmaking utilitarian pottery in the 21st century? Doesn’t industrial production take care of all our storage and cooking and serving needs? Yet, in all corners of the US, pottery is being discovered, studied, developed, produced, sold, collected, used, displayed, preserved, and passed down.

The Colt M1911 is one of the most well-known and popular military weapons of the 20th century. Designed by John Browning, this pistol, with its legendary reliability and firepower, represents the developmental starting point of a majority of automatic pistols to this day. It was the standard-issue sidearm of the US armed forces for more than 70 years and is still in use throughout the world.

Learn to make leather creations that you and your family and friends will love to use. From a cuff bracelet to mittens, a protective tablet case, or a smartphone case with a secret pocket to hold a credit card, all projects radiate an appealing style and boast clever design features. What makes it easier?

Unplug yourself—and any children in your life—and enjoy the art of weaving at the small-scale level with the fun, accessible potholder loom. Familiar to many from their childhood, simple square potholder looms hold stretchy fabric loops that are woven to create practical gifts or handy trivets for your own kitchen.

This artistic, inspirational guide to wearable art shows you how to nuno-felt patterns and textures into luxurious fabrics like georgette, chiffon, and silk, then design garments to feature them. Using only hand friction, soap, and water, bond wool and silk fibers together to create lightweight, one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories.

Gen. George S. Patton called it “the greatest battle implement ever devised.” The legendary .30-caliber M1 Garand semiautomatic rifle was the standard US service rifle in WWII and Korea. More than five million were made in American factories between 1937 and the end of 1945. It was also used by over 50 countries worldwide and saw combat into the 1970s.

Bookworms derive great pleasure from the simple act of reading. But what happens when a book is old or damaged and no longer in a fit state to be read? Through 20 do-it-yourself projects, Upcycling Books: Decorative Objects gives your tattered friends a new lease on life.

The story of an iconic model in the long history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the WLA, which was used by Allied forces during WWII, is told for the first time. Developed for the US Army's mechanized cavalry, it became the leading US military motorcycle of the war. It served the US armed services as a messenger and military police vehicle.

The German MG (Maschinengewehr) 34, along with the later-war MG 42, was a recoil-operated, air-cooled machine gun and is considered the world’s first general-purpose machine gun. Considered the most advanced machine gun in the world at the time, its ease of mobility and high rate of fire—900 rounds per minute—made it ideal both for infantry and antiaircraft use.

Adopted by the German Wehrmacht at the end of 1939, more than 1.2 million P.38s were manufactured up to 1945. Designed by the Walther company from its civilian model PP, it was the first double-action military pistol. Its robustness and simplicity of manufacture made it a worthy successor to the legendary P.08 Luger in the Second World War.

Weaving the shape, not just shaping the cloth! Now, for the first time, handweavers have the tools and techniques to allow them to weave the 3-D shapes they want, on their own looms. Three new techniques are at the core of this exploration: weaving expanded areas, weaving dense areas, and weaving with infinite tensioning.

A colorful guided tour from an expert, enabling weavers, textile lovers, and art lovers to notice and appreciate what tapestries can do and how they do it. This guide from expert tapestry weaver and historian Sidore gives how-to strategies enabling weavers and nonweavers to notice and appreciate the meaning of these artworks.

Embellishments and accessories are on trend in the artisan fashion world, and macramé is the perfect method for creating contemporary garment embellishments. This book introduces the materials, the knots and techniques, and how to choose the best combinations for various style needs and garment enhancements.

In an invitation to expand and liberate your creative voice in floral design, Jenny Thomasson (AIFD, PFCI, EMC) generously unfolds her artistic process that has made her a rising star in the industry through 40+ beautifully shot compositions. The delicacy, intensity, and cyclical temporality of flowers mirror our deepest emotions—making them a potent source of inspiration and innovation.