Embroider Your Stress Away Escape the chaos of everyday life by embroidering yourself a romantic and tranquil getaway. Allow Charles Henry and Elin Petronella to whisk you away to the calming villas of the French countryside. Discover the hidden gems of Paris, stroll down the colorful tiled streets of Lisbon or float along the canals of Venice. Let go of your worries stitch by stitch through these 20 delightful European scenescapes inspired by Charles and Elin’s favorite places throughout Europe. Beginners can confidently complete any design in this book using five common and simple embroidery stitches. As leaders in the modern hand embroidery movement, Charles and Elin invite you to let go of perfectionism and instead slow down, unwind and enjoy the meditative process of creating something gorgeous one stitch, and breath, at a time. For a printable download of the pattern design templates, please email Charles at [email protected].

Explore personal transformation through the stitching of dreams and intentions. Anything but ordinary, Mystical Stitches combines the beloved and accessible craft of embroidery with a spiritual element, introducing a rich treasury of 200 magical symbols you can use to set an intention and create personal icons to wear or embellish items in the home. Christi Johnson offers unique patterns inspired by botanicals, animals, numbers, the cosmos, earth elements, zodiac signs, and mythical beasts, for novice or well-practiced crafters to combine into talismans with personal meaning. Johnson’s folk art style is vibrant and unintimidating and provides a framework for bringing spiritual elements into physical form. This publication conforms to the EPUB Accessibility specification at WCAG 2.0 Level AA.

Embrace a simpler approach to stitching with bold one- and two-color embroidery motifs Zakka Embroidery presents designs that are an elegant blend of Japanese and Scandinavian style. The motifs and patterns are spare and graphic, yet softened with organic shapes and imagery drawn from nature. The result is embroidery that evokes a personal feel and conjures a sense of nostalgia. The task of picking just the right palette for an embroidery project can be overwhelming to beginners and experienced stitchers alike. But when you take away that challenge, a whole world of texture and style becomes available. Here Japanese designer Yumiko Higuchi presents embroidery motifs to be stitched using just one or two colors—creating patterns and designs that are more evocative for their form than for a play of colors. Each embroidery design is paired with a simple craft project, transforming the stitched fabric into a functional object, including pouches, pillows, aprons, and more. With beautiful photographs, clear step-by-step instructions, and detailed diagrams, Zakka Embroidery will be an inspiring guide for those new to embroidery and a delightful experience for those experienced with needle and thread.

Learn how to embroider all the components of a country garden and then use this knowledge to create six exciting projects to keep. Experienced embroidery teacher Lorna Bateman is passionate about teaching and about nature. This book will appeal to and inspire both beginner embroiderers as well as more accomplished students. Learn from Lorna how to create beautiful flower designs, using raised and textured stitches to recreate your own idyllic English country garden. The book will walk you through a variety of stitches, how to embroider individual flowers from them and how to incorporate these into an original garden motif. For the nature enthusiast there is plenty to get excited about - an A-Z of English garden flowers and how to stitch them; a section on stitching common garden insects; and how to embroider iconic garden imagery such as birdbaths or garden ornaments. There are six elaborate and practical projects to stitch: needlecase, scissorkeeper, pincushion, thimblepip, glasses case, thread storer, and these make great keepsakes as well as gifts. The book also features a full-size pattern insert for making a vintage bag in which to keep the individual projects. Embroidered Country Gardens is peppered throughout with seeds of wisdom: invaluable hints and tips from the author to help you develop your own skills and unique style. As well as step-by-step instructions, there are also detailed photographs, outline template drawings and a fully illustrated stitch directory.

Lose yourself in the creative process with 35 meditative makes. In today’s busy world, it can be difficult to find time to slow down and make time for the simple joy of making, so Clare Youngs has designed a wide range of beautiful and tempting projects to help you experience the pleasure and satisfaction that making something with your own hands can bring. The best thing about practicing mindfulness through craft is that you have something tangible to show at the end, and you can start small with the coral reef-inspired embroidery hoops, or just by making pompoms and tassels to be added to the edge of a pillow or blanket. You can learn techniques such as block printing, punch needling, shibori dyeing, weaving, macramé, and quilting, all of which encourage a mindful approach, and a way to experience a feeling of “flow”. Make unique things for yourself and your home, using natural materials such as wool, cotton, linen, and leather. Clare is a believer in making new things from old, using what you have, and adapting old fabrics to counteract a throwaway society, and all her designs have a Scandinavian-inspired, modern esthetic.

Stitch a modern crewelwork sampler Rediscover crewel embroidery with colorful wool and cheerful designs sure to brighten any home. Jo Avery invites stitchers of all levels to take on this traditional heritage art and make projects that pop! Create texture and dimension using wool thread and felt appliqué. Stitch up flowers, honeycombs, fish, and so much more. Embroiderers, cross-stitchers, and curious crafters looking to expand their skill set will enjoy the range of hand stitches and instructional illustrations accompanying each design. Relax and unwind with this hands-on art form! 15 fresh designs breathe new life into traditional crewelwork embroidery Beginner friendly! Basic and more advanced embroidery stitches with complete illustrations Create pincushions, pillows, wallhangings, hoops, and more

This globe-spanning history of sewing and embroidery, culture and protest, is “an astonishing feat . . . richly textured and moving” (The Sunday Times, UK). In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the universal beauty and power of sewing.