MISS SCARLET’S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING BLOG TOUR-REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 
 GIVEAWAY ENDED
MISS SCARLET'S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING

BY KATHY CANO-MURILLO

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Sometimes to find your life's true path, you have to stray outside the lines . . .

Scarlet Santana is never happier than when creating fabulous fashions for women of all shapes and sizes. Now, after years of hard work, she finally has the chance to live her dream and study under the hottest designer in New York. To raise money for her move, Scarlet opens an after-hours sewing school in a local record shop, teaching a type-A working mom whose rigid parenting style is causing her family to unravel and an enigmatic seamstress with a mysterious past.

But as stitches give way to secrets and classmates become friends, the women realize an important truth: There is no single pattern for a good life. Happiness is always a custom fit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

With a life motto of “Crafts! Drama! Glitter!” Crafty Chica Kathy Cano-Murillo is a creative force of nature. A former syndicated columnist for The Arizona Republic, she is the founder of the award-winning Web site, CraftyChica.com and the author of seven nonfiction craft books and a Web series on LifetimeTV.com. Kathy has a Crafty Chica line of art supplies that are sold nationwide. She also has been featured in numerous media outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, NPR’s Weekend Edition, USA Today, Bust, and Latina magazine. She has shared her crafty ideas on local television, as well as on Sí TV, HGTV, and DIY network. She has been writing stories longer than she has been crafting. Inspired by Judy Blume and Erma Bombeck, she caught the literary bug in grade school, where she used to draw a picture and then write a colorful story to go with it. It’s a creativity exercise she still practices to this day! Kathy lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband, two kids, and five Chihuahuas. This is her first novel.

WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER:

Last March, I was fortunate to be introduced to the work of "Crafty Chica" Kathy Cano-Murillo when I read and reviewed her book WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER. You can see my review and about the book HERE. I hope you will check it out if you missed it BECAUSE, winners in this Blog Tour Giveaway will not only win a copy of Kathy's new book, MISS SCARLETT'S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING, but also a copy of WAKING UP IN THE LAND OF GLITTER- a double treat from Kathy and the Hachette Book Group!

MY REVIEW: 
KATHY CANO-MURILLO shows how very crafty she can be in her first novel, MISS SCARLET’S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING. In this book, readers will meet the delightful Scarlet Santana who quickly becomes someone you think you have known a long time. Scarlet has a degree in engineering but the only thing she wants to engineer is a career as a successful fashion designer. Her idol is Daisy de la Flora who was a designer ahead of her time back when Scarlet’s Grandmother, Nana Eleanor, was young. Nana is the person who took Scarlet as a child and started her sewing and taught her all the style and sewing techniques that Scarlet grew up and perfected.

Scarlet wants to take on a bigger role in her current job, like becoming a partner, where she works for Carley Fontaine. Carley refuses saying Scarlet doesn’t even have a design degree. Actually, I found Carley to be cold-hearted and even a little bit jealous of the unusual talent Scarlet has. As for a degree, Scarlet’s fondest dream is to be accepted at the prestigious Johnny Scissors Emerging Designers Program where many famous designers have gotten their start. When she is surprisingly accepted, the final hurdle is the cost which is so high that Scarlet must come up with a way to finance this dream.

Scarlet decides to teach classes in patternless sewing which she learned as a youngster. She can reproduce a style just by looking it over even with no pattern. When Carley backs out of an agreement where Scarlet could use the shop to hold her classes, the alternative is holding them in a record shop which brings with it the love struck owner. The classes are filled with different kinds of women who for the most part each have a story and eventually find themselves melding into a support group of sorts. These “students” are so nicely developed by Kathy Cano-Murillo, as well as all the characters, especially Scarlett, that you root for them and feel like you know them personally. With Scarlett’s hope and dreams comes a character for readers who like some chick lit centered around sewing and design. I am not interested in sewing at all but found the story a nice light read for a change of pace. While not my usual choice of genre, MISS SCARLET’S SCHOOL OF PATTERNLESS SEWING was still an entertaining read. 

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO BRIANNE AND THE FINE FOLKS

AT HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE ONE

SET OF KATHY CANO-MURILLO'S BOOKS

TO GIVE AWAY TO ONE LUCKY WINNER!

--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE

--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT

 --ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE

SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT

AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ABOUT YOUR SEWING EXPERIENCES AND IF YOU LIKE TO SEW. TELL WHY YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN THIS SET OF BOOKS.
 

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING ON AUTHOR KATHY CANO-MURILLO'S WEBSITE HERE. THERE IS SO MUCH TO SEE...ENJOY!

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ANY KIND OF CRAFTS YOU LIKE TO DO, OR WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO DO

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, MARCH 31

GOOD LUCK!
CHECK FOR HERE FOR THE OTHER BLOGGERS WHO WILL BE PART "MISS SCARLET'S" BLOG TOUR UNTIL MARCH 11!