Stitch in Bloom is a gorgeous new embroidery book, celebrating the art of couching, an embellishment technique used to adorn fabrics. Artist and mixed-media textile designer, Lora Avedian demonstrates the versatility of this stitch using different materials to produce a range of finishes before showcasing 15 stunning projects to try yourself. Featuring ways you can enhance pre-owned garments and accessories, to creating statement pieces for the home, and with each design giving a nod to nature, this book will emphasize the beauty of this style of embroidery, the joy of stitching by hand and making with intention.

Presents a contemporary approach to the traditional Japanese silk-flower craft, sharing simplified methods that add user-friendly materials to silks in twenty diverse and customizable projects encompassing jewelry, fashion embellishments, ornaments, and home-décor items. Original.

Whimsical, beautiful embroidery motifs created by an avid gardener—stitch roses, bees, or whole garden scenes. Kazuko Aoki has a unique talent for translating the beauty of the garden with needle and thread. By offering forty motifs, Aoki invites us to explore her gardens through embroidery. The forty motifs explore the roses and wildflowers that appear season to season, as well as the bees and butterflies that enjoy their nectar. The designs here are exquisite, detailed, and artfullly rendered. Beyond the motifs themselves, Aoki also presents projects that feature the embroidery: brooches, notebook covers, pin cushions, and pouches. For those new to embroidery, detailed how-to illustrations are included.

Accessories designer Cariello shows how to embroider and sew 20 stunning handbags and purses that feature beautiful embroidered floral motifs.

This book is the result of a challenge from one of my readers. The patterns are a combination of engineering and bead artistry but the engineering is done for you so you get the fun of watching your flowers bloom one bead at a time. So for Victoria and all the other flower-loving bead artists around the world, this one's for you! The flowers in this book are three dimensional, complete on all sides including stems, bracts, and some leaves. They can also be made without the stems for a flatter application. Flowers include Purple Passion Flower, Carnation, Blue Aster, Gaillardia (also called Blanket Flowers), Bright Lights variety of Cosmos, Nasturtium, Lilac, Seashell Cosmos in either single color or bi-color, Columbine, and Snap Dragon. All flowers are shown on the back cover or look inside for the Table of Contents. The designs have detailed instructions and are fully illustrated with over 300 color photographs and diagrams. All designs are original and have not been previously published in any other venue. All flowers are approximately life size when made with size 11/0 round seed beads. Size 15/0 round seed beads are also used for shaping, to smooth edges, and for some of the more delicate parts where 11/0 are just too big. A good light and a magnifier help a lot with the smaller details if needed. Or if you just can't work with tiny beads you could replace the 11/0 beads with 8/0 and the 15/0 with 11/0; you will just get bigger flowers. Glass beads can be heavy so wire is used as an armature in the stems and a few flower parts. A word of caution: this book is for the serious beader! If you love those magazine articles about making a necklace this afternoon and wearing it out for dinner, this book is not for you. You cannot start a bridal bouquet on Friday and have it ready for a Sunday wedding. That is not to say you must be an advanced beader. If you have some patience and can follow detailed directions, you can make these flowers. Basic peyote stitch instructions are NOT covered in this book. You need to know even and odd count, increasing and decreasing within rows and at the end of rows. This book was a labor of love; hope you like it.

You were born with a creative spark inside. Do you look at yourself now and wonder if the spark has gone out? Ignite that inner fire with the 30 engaging exercises, fun activities, inspirational images, and motivating ideas in this book. Learn what your Little Spark of creative passion looks like, how to capture it, and how to make room for it in your life. Read the book cover-to-cover and use it as a month-long creative roadmap, or just dip into the exercises as your time and inclination allow. Either way, you will change your life.

The Book of Cross Stitch is an essential guide for stitchers of all abilities, from an absolute beginner just learning a new craft through to the more experienced stitcher looking to expand their knowledge. It covers all aspects of the craft from a brief history through materials and tools available and techniques used to creating your own chart all straightforwardly explained. Also provided in the book are a selection of projects for various abilities, that grow in complexity as they cover the various techniques outlined in the book, so your craft and skills can grow as you progress through the projects, making it an informative and inspirational book for all stitchers to enjoy.