It is divided into three parts, each section crammed with essential information and valuable hints. Part One covers basic techniques such as reading a chart, the different threads and fabrics available, and how to get stitching with them. Part Two explores creative options including three-dimensional cross stitch, using metallic threads and space-dyed threads, and how best to use the different fabrics available. Part three explores the use of bead, button and charm embellishments, as well as combining other techniques such as Blackwork and Hardanger with cross stitch designs to create textural interest. It introduces designing a sampler by hand or computer, and adapting commercial kits and charts to create unique and personal designs. At the end of the book there is a comprehensive stitch library, an essential reference for those keen to develop their counted thread embroidery skills. This is followed by a design library comprising over 50 pages of original charts, allowing stitchers to explore all the effects described. Finally, finis

      This collection includes 30 embroidery designs with project ideas to show you how to use the designs to create beautiful and practical home decor items and accessories. The techniques for the stitches and project instructions are shown using Nancy’s stitch diagrams so extremely easy to follow whether you are an experienced stitcher or a newbie.   The projects are divided between felt and fabric sections and include: pin cushion, lampshade, tote bag, cushion, table runner, coaster and pinafore.   Nancy’s distinctive folk art style perfectly captures this trend and will appeal to stitchers of all ages and abilities.   “I was blown away by the beautiful photography, the lovely, easy-to-follow projects dripping with inspiration, and the conversational tone of the writing . . . The instructions to make up the projects are clear and easy to follow.” —Kate & Rose

    Helps readers learn about silk ribbon stitches, crazy-quilt stitches, composite stitches, and left-handed stitches.

    Presenting a diverse collection of projects—many inspired by the Japanese zakka aesthetic—such as a travel sewing kit, sewing machine cover, table runner, apron, eco bag, towels, calendar, lap quilt, tote bag, pillowcase, and shoulder bag, all designs are fun, functional, and easy to master. Combining sewing, appliqué, quilting, and patchwork techniques with thoughtful advice on how to select, work with, and care for linen, this colorful handbook is brimming with sophisticated and innovative projects to challenge and inspire both beginning and intermediate sewers and quilters.

    Learn to sew traditional and silk ribbon embroidery, make raised stitches, and embellish with beads, charms, buttons, and mirrors. Step-by-step photo instructions show exactly how to sew 85 different stitches. Learn how to combine and place stitches to enhance a finished piece and how to work with embroidery threads, ribbons, fabrics, laces, beads, buttons, and other embellishments.Includes 8 complete embroidery projects to stitch and embellish. An essential embroidery reference for everyone from beginners to experts.

    Cable Left, Cable Right, by expert knitter Judith Durant, eliminates the mystery with detailed, in-depth instructions for creating 94 different styles of cable, from perfectly plain to fantastically fancy. Close-up photos and clear instructions teach you the techniques you need, including design options like braids, diamonds, and pretzels so you can make your cables truly one-of-a-kind. This book is the perfect companion to any knitting pattern featuring cables, giving you the information and skills to make polished, beautiful, and unique cables for any project.

    Showcasing colleagues who are pushing the boundaries of this ancient craft, Mr X Stitch introduces more than 20 lovely, cutting-edge projects to make, and shows that beauty, innovation and 'craftivism' are alive and kicking in this inspirational book.The book is aimed at stitchers of all abilities, from absolute beginners looking to learn a new craft to embroiderers and cross stitchers who want to do something different in cross stitching. For many, cross stitch conjures up images of cute kittens and country cottages, but this book shows people that there's a different side to cross stitching - that it's an art in its own right, and will encourage them to be a little braver with their art.Jamie's writing style is fun, entertaining and highly inspirational. The book will attract readers of all ages, and is aiming to appeal to men as well as women. It will teach the basics of cross stitching, including materials, tools, techniques, colour blending, etc., but will also put Jamie's own spin on it, with urban flavours, and the introduction of different materials such as glow-in-the-dark threads. There will be several exciting designs for the readers to stitch, and Jamie will arm people with the skills and inspiration to create cross stitch designs of their own, for example, by using photos and other images for reference.Jamie is particularly interested in typography and there is a good balance of typographical and pictoral projects to stitch. The book is split into 5 themes: Colour, Glow in the Dark, More than a Hobby, Using Computer Software and Outside the Hoop. Colour explores techniques such as ombre design, inverting colour and using geometric shapes; Glow in the Dark looks at how to use glow-in-the-dark threads to achieve different effects; More than a Hobby considers the idea of mindfulness in cross stitch, including black work, backstitch etc.; Using Computer Software looks at photorealism and how to originate your design on a computer; and finally, Outside the Hoop explores projects not stitched on canvas.The final spread of each section features an Outlier - the work of another stitcher to illustrate a different aspect of cross stitch made on a surface other than canvas. The book will be informative, fun, instructive and inspirational.

    You won’t find “home sweet home” here, but you will find “Can U Not” or “Don’t Be A Prick.” Renee Rominger, founder of Moonrise Whims, designs projects for a new generation. And whether you just started and need a solid foundation, or you’re an expert looking to enhance your art, Edgy Embroidery will teach you something new, fun and easy.Renee not only shows you how to conquer basic techniques, but also how to create more complex stitches like her unique Moonrise Roses. With pattern templates, detailed stitch tutorials and instructions on how to complete each design, every one of these 25 projects will be wall-worthy.This is definitely not your grandmother’s embroidery.

    The perfect reference guide to needlework, Embroidery is a comprehensive guide to inspire and inform sewers of all levels. Find advice on which thread, needles, or fabrics work with which techniques, and take a look at an incredible 200 stitches — with levels of difficulty, step-by-step instructions, and ideas on where and how to use them.This practical guide covers sewing tips for dressmaking, needlepoint, and embroidery stitches, with detailed information simply presented in illustration-rich pages. With Embroidery it's easy to find exactly which stitch is right for your next sewing project.

    Author Cristin Morgan of Marigold + Mars outlines the basics of 10 classic embroidery stitches and then teaches you how to use them to create 20 beautiful and practical projects for hoops, for the home, and to wear. New and experienced embroiderers alike will be delighted by the fresh motifs and bold color palettes and empowered by the easy step-by-step instructions and templates, which show that with just a few simple stitches, some basic materials, and an idea or two, you can stitch just about anything. A glossary of more than 50 additional patterns and motifs will inspire you to personalize your projects and use your newfound embroidery skills in fresh and imaginative ways. As an added bonus, the book includes an envelope with 10 carbon transfer papers for quickly transferring patterns to fabric.   If you received a first printing of this book that includes transfer papers that do not work, please email us at abrams@abramsbooks.com or call (212) 206-7715 to receive replacement papers.

    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, protest, 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 age-old, universal, and underexplored beauty and power of sewing. Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we have to tell our story.

    Now she takes stitchers one step further with instructions and diagrams for more than 35 stitches, some published here for the first time. To top it off, Embroidered Effects includes dozens of original (and reusable) iron-on transfers. With lots of project photos for guidance, even beginners can learn how to stitch faux tattoos on their shirt sleeves, cheeky fan dancers on their shower curtains, and many more fun projects.

    Aneela Hoey offers basic instructions for simple stitches, along with a generous selection of original embroidery patterns.

    But when Natalie Chanin and her Alabama Chanin and The School of Making teams began to look at needlework closely, they realized all stitches are based on geometric grid systems—and by using grids as guides, they could make learning stitches, even seemingly elaborate ones, as easy as child’s play.   In The Geometry of Hand-Sewing Chanin presents their breakthrough method, featuring illustrated instructions (for both right- and left-handed stitchers) for more than 100 stitches—from the most basic straight and chain to the more fanciful feather and herringbone; photos of both right and wrong sides; and guidelines for modifying stitches to increase one’s repertoire further. To simplify learning, the book also includes two plastic stitching cards die-cut with the grids on which every stitch in the book is based. These reusable cards can be stitched through for practicing ( just as children use lacing cards to learn to tie shoes) or used as stencils for transferring grids to fabric.

    In “The Fabric Diary,” the new owner of a Manhattan bed-and-breakfast discovers a mysterious scrapbook of fabric swatches, compelling her to discover the connection between a beautiful antique quilt and the original owners of her historic brownstone. “The Runner’s Quilt” tells the heartwarming story of a young mother who discovers fitness and fulfillment by becoming a runner—and by making a special quilt for a new friend. Originally published in Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine and Quiltmaker, these two charming short stories appear together for the first time in one eBook edition.