John-Paul Flintoff is a bit of a one-off: a man who embarks on a spiritual pilgrimage by outsourcing his life to Bangalore, then hooks up with Mormons and Buddhists (well, Richard Gere), on a quest for truth and fulfilment. His journey is like a twenty-first century Candide, learning that life's satisfactions, and some kind of response to the concerns of economic meltdown and climate change, lie in learning how to make things for oneself, and mending things that fall apart. Along the way, Flintoff paints pictures with Brit-art oddball Billy Childish, gets apprenticed in Savile Row, grows his own food and spins fibre from nettles. Daringly, he also turns his book over to his wife Harriet, who likes nothing better than a fancy spa and a shop at Liberty's. The results are comic, heartwarming and inspiring.
Sew Your Own
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`Leading journalist Flintoff makes a strong case... very funny, but makes a serious point that is extremely relevant to today.' --The Lady
Book Description
What happens when a man, dazzled like most of us by hi-tech, happy to have his suits made by robots in New York, sets out to find the meaning of life? John-Paul Flintoff's improbable and very funny book charts a journey through call centres and allotments, rat-catching and Savile Row tailors, to some kind of enlightenment. It is also a book about a man who learns how to crochet - in public.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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When I started reading this book I found it really frustrating. Flintoff, who is a journalist, seemed to be just putting together a whole load of disparate articles under a very loose banner, i.e. 'how I changed the world by making my own clothes', and marketing it as a finished, well rounded thing. Trying to read it like this, with some sense of continuity, it totally doesn't work. The thread that ties the articles together is just too tenuous, and I found myself reading a chapter and then really not understanding why it made its way into the book.
About half way through I abandoned the idea of trying to read it as a coherent whole and got on much, much better. Flintoff's writing is quite dry and self-deprecating. At times, particularly in the sections where he is trying to find himself through exploring religions I found him a little too Jon Ronson'esque. I love Jon Ronson's writing, but if I want it I'll read Ronson's own work.
Where Flintoff shines is when he really engages with the subject and sticks to the main premise of the book, i.e. the idea of making his own clothes. I loved the sections where he talks about craftsmanship and what it means to make things and how that gives him spiritual succour. I believed it when he wrote it, and that sense of authenticity really touched me. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading about his encounter with the artist Billy Childish. By the end of the book I was much more in tune with what Flintoff was trying to do, whereas at the beginning I didn't care. So I guess it works. It hasn't made me want to make my own underpants, but it has certainly got me thinking about production and waste in the clothing industry and hopefully making better (as in better for the planet) buying decisions in future. The bibliography at the back of the book was very helpful if any of the issues Flintoff raises interest you further, and I liked the way he had annotated the bibliography with his own findings and ideas.
About half way through I abandoned the idea of trying to read it as a coherent whole and got on much, much better. Flintoff's writing is quite dry and self-deprecating. At times, particularly in the sections where he is trying to find himself through exploring religions I found him a little too Jon Ronson'esque. I love Jon Ronson's writing, but if I want it I'll read Ronson's own work.
Where Flintoff shines is when he really engages with the subject and sticks to the main premise of the book, i.e. the idea of making his own clothes. I loved the sections where he talks about craftsmanship and what it means to make things and how that gives him spiritual succour. I believed it when he wrote it, and that sense of authenticity really touched me. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading about his encounter with the artist Billy Childish. By the end of the book I was much more in tune with what Flintoff was trying to do, whereas at the beginning I didn't care. So I guess it works. It hasn't made me want to make my own underpants, but it has certainly got me thinking about production and waste in the clothing industry and hopefully making better (as in better for the planet) buying decisions in future. The bibliography at the back of the book was very helpful if any of the issues Flintoff raises interest you further, and I liked the way he had annotated the bibliography with his own findings and ideas.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
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What looked like an entertaining take on consumerism turned out to be an ill thought out collection of articles, wandering from recycling clothing to exploring different religions. Maybe the problem is that the author lives in a city, whereas I'm out in the sticks: a car can drive through the village where I live in the space of a single yawn. Many of the recycling/re-use/repair ideas presented here are just part of normal life here, although we don't get quite the same opportunities to drop names. It's a shame that the author doesn't give directions for his clothing projects: instead we simply learn that he made this, he mended that. It's the sort of book I'd expect to find in a doctor's waiting room - short chapters, saying very little, merely passing time.
And the challenge of crocheting in public! How revolutionary! I've been knitting and crocheting in public for thirty years now...
And the challenge of crocheting in public! How revolutionary! I've been knitting and crocheting in public for thirty years now...
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The title of this book caught me but like many other reviewers I was irritated by the chopping and changing and you maybe right that it is more like a blog. His search for spirituality has a long way to go yet.
However I grew up in the 50's and lived on a farm for most of my young married life. We made our own clothes, knitted, painted, built our own house,grew vegetables and milked by our cow by hand and although I still crochet and grow my own veggies as much as possible, life's too short to knit my own knickers (how uncomfortable can they be ) Jean-Paul should get out of London into the country and catch up with reality. Three cheers for Clarkson I like his style, he is completely useless at do-it- yourself, according to James May, but at least he gives many people something to grind their teeth about!!!
However I grew up in the 50's and lived on a farm for most of my young married life. We made our own clothes, knitted, painted, built our own house,grew vegetables and milked by our cow by hand and although I still crochet and grow my own veggies as much as possible, life's too short to knit my own knickers (how uncomfortable can they be ) Jean-Paul should get out of London into the country and catch up with reality. Three cheers for Clarkson I like his style, he is completely useless at do-it- yourself, according to James May, but at least he gives many people something to grind their teeth about!!!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Techno Steptoe...
This is a fun book, it seems to jump all over the place at first but quickly draws you in. Frequently visits charity shops myself it was nice to see someone willing to take this... Read more
Published 6 months ago by willie wit
3.0 out of 5 stars
An odd journey along one man's reaction to the end times
Whilst this book rambles somewhat while searching for a single theme which it never really finds, the journey is not an unpleasant one, rather like an aimless stroll when there are... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Ray Blake
3.0 out of 5 stars
Promising, but a somewhat incoherent read
Sew Your Own is John-Paul Flintoff's account of learning to craft whilst examining issues such as consumerism and spirituality. Read more
Published 12 months ago by TheLibrarian
3.0 out of 5 stars
A patchwork quilt of random snippets
With this assortment of loosely connected articles snipped from the loom of his life John-Paul Flintoff has woven a patchwork quilt with many colours and different fabrics; some... Read more
Published 12 months ago by R. F. Stevens
4.0 out of 5 stars
Changing the world, stitch by stitch
Thematically this book is all over the place, touching on politics, climate change, craft, religion, self-sufficiency, alternative energy and other issues without any particularly... Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2011 by J. Dawson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Misleading title
This is an odd little book. From the titles and cover blurb, a person would assume the book is about making your own (clothes, food, etc). Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2010 by Ponytail
3.0 out of 5 stars
Took too long to get to the "make your own"
I bought this book from the title on the cover. As a person who hasn't used a sowing machine before I was hoping to get some inspiration from this book about making your own... Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2010 by stephen Luff
3.0 out of 5 stars
Self-insufficiency.
The idea that relearning lost craft skills might be a solution to the West's collective post-modern spiritual, economic and ecological malaise is not a new one of course, and such... Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2010 by A. Miles
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Curate's Egg
Having failed to get on with this book I took the advice of katywheatley and read it in odd chapters. Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2010 by David Pearce
4.0 out of 5 stars
Some great observations but obvious?
This is a very enjoyable, if slightly irritating read if you don't take it too seriously. I mean in the sense that this is written to be a bit shocking, a bit humourous, a bit... Read more
Published on 9 Aug 2010 by trishthedish
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