How to Sew a Button: And Other Nifty Things Your Grandmother Knew

Waste not, want not. This crafty guide perfect for anyone looking to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Nowadays, many of us "outsource" basic tasks. Food is instant, ready-made, and processed with unhealthy additives. Dry cleaners press shirts, delivery guys bring pizza, gardeners tend flowers, and, yes, tailors sew on those pesky buttons. But life can be much simpler, sweeter, and richer-and a lot more fun, too As your grandmother might say, now is not the time to be careless with your money, and it actually pays to learn how to do things yourself

Practical and empowering, How to Sew a Button collects the treasured wisdom of nanas, bubbies, and grandmas from all across the country-as well as modern-day experts-and shares more than one hundred step-by-step essential tips for cooking, cleaning, gardening, and entertaining, including how to

- polish your image by shining your own shoes
- grow your own vegetables (and stash your bounty for the winter)
- sweeten your day by making your own jam
- use baking soda and vinegar to clean your house without toxic chemicals
- feel beautiful by perfecting your posture
- roll your own piecrust and find a slice of heaven
- fold a fitted sheet to crisp perfection
- waltz without stepping on any toes

Complete with helpful illustrations and brimming with nostalgic charm, How to Sew a Button provides calm and comfort in uncertain times. By doing things yourself, with care and attention, you and your loved ones will feel the pleasing rewards of a job well done.

Erin Bried is a Senior Staff Writer at SELF magazine, where she’s penned nearly 200 stories, including 60 cover stories, in the past nine years. In addition to interviewing and profiling celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston and Sheryl Crow, she covers health, fitness, nutrition and psychology. Formerly, Bried was a Senior Editor at Glamour, a contributor at Golf For Women magazine and a Senior Editor/Writer at Condé Nast’s Women’s Sports & Fitness. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.