Easyshed have put together a list of the perfect arts and crafts books – you need to read this. So why not get in your garden workshop, sit back, grab a hot chocolate and dive into one of these brilliant books?!

Stitch n? Bitch: The Knitters Handbook

By Debbie Stoller

Amazon £8.80

Knitting is so big right now, with 4 million newcomers in the last couple of years joining a core group of 38 million knitters nationwide. This book gives you a complete guide to the craft of knitting offers detailed instructions for a variety of techniques and stitches, from plain to fancy, as well as information on the different types of needles and yarns, tips on shopping for yarns, finishing techniques, and forty stylish patterns.

The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

By Betty Edwards

Amazon £10.49

When Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain was first published in 1979, it hit the New York Times bestseller list within two weeks and stayed there for more than a year. In 1989, when Dr. Betty Edwards revised the book, it went straight to the Times list again. If you enjoy sketching but feel stuck at a childlike level, this classic handbook will give you the drawing skills you have always wanted. If you are already drawing as a professional artist, it will improve your confidence and deepen your artistic perception. As well as giving detailed advice on how to draw anything you want ? including ways to step from black-and-white into colour ? Edwards exploits recent developments in brain research to show how drawing skills can be used in the corporate world, in education, and even in problem-solving.

Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials into New Family Treasures

By Amanda Blake Soule

Amazon £16.99

In Handmade Home, Amanda Blake Soule, author of The Creative Family and the blog SouleMama.com, offers simple sewing and craft projects for the home that reflect the needs, activities, and personalities of today?s families. As Amanda writes in the introduction, ?As a crafter, I?m always looking for the next thing I want to make. As a mama, I?m always looking for the next thing we need?to do, to have, to use?as a family. The coming together of these parts is where the heart of Handmade Home lies.? Filled with thirty-three projects made by reusing and repurposing materials, all of the items here offer a practical use in the home. From picnic blankets made out of repurposed bed sheets to curtains made out of vintage handkerchiefs, these projects express the sense of making something new out of something old as a way to live a more financially pared-down and simple life; lessen our impact on the earth; connect to the past and preserve a more traditional way of life; and place value on the work of the hands. Also included are projects that children can help with, allowing them to make their own special contribution to the family home.

The Repurposed Library: 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books a New Life

By Lisa Occhipinti

Amazon £13.59

The Repurposed Library is a celebration of the possibilities that books have to offer as an art material. Obviously, we love to read and learn from books, but The Repurposed Library takes our passion for books one step further, presenting crafters with 33 projects to make out of books. Each year thousands of books are sold at flea markets for pennies, remaindered by bookstores, and given away by libraries. Lisa Occhipinti rescues and re-purposes these orphaned books, transforming them into new art objects and practical items for the home and everyday life. The projects in The Repurposed Library range from artfully constructed mobiles, wreaths, and vases, to functional items, such as shelves, a secret box, a lampshade, and even a Kindle holder for those who want to replicate the sensation of holding a real A” book.

Cute Stuff

By Aranzi Aronzo

Amazon £10.99

A book of instructions on how to make 17 different small objects featuring the Aranzi Aronzo menagerie of cute characters. Hot off the trail of the runaway hit craft book The Cute Book and Aranzi Machine Gun series, Cute Stuff provides instructions on how to make everyday items and accessories like hair ties, book covers, key holders and a slew of appliques fresh from the Aranzi denizens.

A Big-Ass Book of Crafts

By Mark Montano

£11.99

This one-stop resource for all things crafty, written by master crafter Mark Montano, will allow readers to create one-of-a-kind objects–from furniture to fabric drapes, coasters to chandeliers, tablecloths to fashionable plates, stationery to seashell bookends–to fill their homes from front door to back garden, floor to ceiling.

Creepy Cute Crochet

By Christen Haden

Amazon £9.59

Creepy Cute Crochet features more than 20 unique patterns for totally loveable zombies, ninjas, Vikings, vampires, aliens, robots, and even Death himself. Each easy-to-follow pattern is presented with step-by-step diagrams, hilarious commentary, and full-color photographs of the bloodcurdlingly sweet creatures in their natural environments. Creepy Cute Crochet comes complete with helpful crochet tips and a down-and-dirty course in doll making, with each pattern ranked by difficulty level, so even beginners can share in the fun.

Playing with Books: The Art of Upcycling, Deconstructing, and Reimagining the Book

By Jason Thompson

Amazon £13.59

In these pages, Jason Thompson has curated an extensive and artistic range of both achievable upcycled crafts made from books and book pages and an amazing gallery presenting truly phenomenal examples of creations that transform books into art. The content encompasses a wide range of inspiring techniques and step-by-step projects that turn books and their parts into unique, beautiful objects and accessories. The book combines in equal measure book art techniques, paper art techniques, collage and altering techniques, along with a healthy dose of experimentation and fun. The beautiful high-end presentation and full colour photos make this book a delightful must-have volume for any book-loving artist or art-loving book collector.

Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

By Austin Kleon

Amazon £6.99

When asked to talk to students at Broome Community College in upstate New York in the spring of 2011, Austin Kleon wrote a simple list often things he wished he’d heard when he was their age: ‘Steal like an artist; Don’t wait until you know who you are to start making things; Write the book you want to read; Use your hands; Side projects are important; Do good work and put it where people can see it; Geography is no longer our master; Be nice (the world is a small town.); Be boring (it’s the only way to get work done.); and, Creativity is subtraction.’ After giving the speech, he posted the text and slides to his popular blog, where it quickly went viral. Now Kleon has expanded his original manifesto into an illustrated guide to the creative life for writers, artists, entrepreneurs, designers, photographers, musicians, and anyone attempting to make things – art, a career, a life – in the digital age. Brief, direct, and visually interactive, the book includes illustrative anecdotes and mini-exercise sections calling out practical actions readers can take to unleash their own creative spirits.

Alternacrafts: 20+ Hi-Style Lo-Budget Projects To Make

By Jessica Vitkus & Elizabeth Lee

Amazon £9.78

“AlternaCrafts” is a hip and fun craft book with an “indie spirit.” Its 20-plus quirky projects and funky, bold graphic design target teenagers and twenty-something?s (as well as older crafters open to new-fangled ways) who want to make their own unique mark on the world. Among the projects are a Jean-ius Bag (made from a pair of old jeans); Vegan Print Pillowcases (pillowcases printed with simple shapes cut from potatoes and other veggies); Chain Mail Cuffs (knitted metallic cuffs); and Knot Again (the 21st-century version of a macrame choker, embellished with nuts from the hardware store instead of traditional beads). With an emphasis on recycling, making projects from scratch, and improvisation – as well as reliable, detailed, easy-to-understand instructions – “AlternaCrafts” gives the newest generation of crafters the skills they need to self-express by shaping their own environments, whether they’re working on their bodies, their bedrooms, their lockers at school, or their first apartments.

Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun

by Carla Sonheim

Amazon £11.99

Carla Sonheim is an artist and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more child-like, playful approach to creating. Her innovative ideas are now collected and elaborated on in this unique volume. Carla offers a year?s worth of assignments, projects, ideas, and techniques that will introduce more creativity and nonsense into your art and life. Drawing Lab offers readers a fun way to learn and gain expertise in drawing through experimentation and play. There is no right or wrong result, yet, the readers gain skills and confidence allowing them to take their work to a new level.

12. Lotts Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing: Patterns and How To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects

by Lotta Jansdotter

Amazon £13.59

This title features projects that include handy tote bags, smart aprons, chic bed linens, and much more. Each project is paired with step-by-step instructions, beautiful photographs, inspiring design ideas, and helpful how-to illustrations hand drawn by Lotta – everything a reader needs to make beautiful pieces for the home and beyond. Best of all, there’s nothing complicated about the projects. Never has simplicity looked so sophisticated.

Bust DIY Guide to Life: Making Your Through Every Day

By Debbie Stoller

Amazon £17.50

In recent years, the concept of ‘do-it-yourself’ has become a lifestyle with all things handmade at its core. Whether it’s sewing your own clothes, making your own cheese or fixing your own bike, the craft community has embraced a ‘can do’ attitude that transcends categories and scoffs at the notion that crafting is a mere hobby. “The Bust DIY Guide to Life” is a book that speaks to this growing community, containing approximately 250 DIY and craft projects that have appeared in “Bust Magazine” over the last 13 years. With Debbie Stoller (creator of the epic “Stitch-n-Bitch” series) at the helm of the magazine and with Debbie and her co-publisher Laurie spearheading “Bust Magazine’s” wildly successful semi-annual Craftacular craft fairs in New York City and Los Angeles, Bust is at the forefront of the craft and DIY movement and is perfectly situated to produce a book for this modern generation of crafters.

Eco Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle

By Susan Wasinger

Amazon £15.48

“Eco Craft” reveals 30 truly beautiful home decor projects that elevate environmental consciousness to stylish new heights. Every idea is amazingly clever: from plastic six-pack can holders transformed into a chic Moorish-inspired filigree tri-fold screen to glass baby food jars made into a charming candle chandelier. The book itself is published in a sustainable fashion, using recycled paper and agri-based ink. Every project features at least one beauty shot, easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step colour photos, while handy icons spotlight the key techniques, materials and the estimated time to complete each project.