If you already know the basics of the simple living movement than you don't really need this book. I found that much of the information I got from the book I already knew - i.e. to have money, just don't spend it! The book also feels a bit outdated as our society has really focussed on the economy and the environmental impacts of our actions in the last few years. Being frugal seems to be "in" again (at least in my circle of family and friends) and that's what this book is basically about - frugality.

It wasn't all bad though! The book did help me get some introspection into my life - I did like the idea of adding up all of the money you have made so far in your life to see what you have to show for it. I also liked the idea of finding your "real" hourly wage and comparing everything you spend money on to that wage to see if it's really worth purchasing. I.e. I make about 10$ an hour after all is said and done so when I, for example, buy a $20 shirt I've just spent 2 hours of my life working just to own this shirt - is it worth it? I now ask myself that questions whenever I go to buy anything - is this worth X hours of my time? The book did also change my spending patterns - I now buy more music and less clothing since I focus on the maximum value for my dollar. I.e. music makes me happy longer than an article of clothing does.

Now, what I'd really like, is a book that tells me how to get my wages up to equal the rising cost of living..

Love the ideas in this book. I also love how it's ring bound for ease of use and how the sizes go up to 7 for older kids. Made the treasure pocket pants and had no problems - I love these pants on my son though the waiste is a little snug. The "brick bag" project was alot of fun to make as well - first time I was ever able to attempt such a project. I must say though that I found the instructions for this project a bit hard to understand at times and found it easier to think of the next logical step to take rather than to actually read the instructions. I hope this book inspires more boy-focussed sewing books of this type - us crafters know we need more of them!

I love this book. Anna Maria Horner knows how to mix style with practicality! The instructions in the book are easy to follow and the projects are easy to do yet somehow come out looking like they were really hard to do. I love that!

Wonderful book, easy to follow instructions. Fun projects for the kids in your lives! I was able to finish each project in less than a day. Only downer, I would have liked the clothing tutorials to go up to older kid sizes (sizes go up to 5T I believe). Great book though! Meg McElwee did a beautiful job.

I was a bit dissapointed with this book. I felt many of the patterns were either too basic or too "froofy". I also didn't really like how they did not offer a pattern for the designs used on the shirts - I would have liked to have been able to cut out the tree or the deer that are pictures in the beautiful photographs. I felt like this book was a better coffee table book (with all the whimsical photographs) than an actual pattern book. On a positive note, the instructions were clear and easy to follow and I like how I now have a "basic" hoody and t-shirt pattern for my kids to grow into.