Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New: Stitch and Embellish Your Stashed Treasures

 

A treasure of a book. Very beautiful and creative ideas for new or vintage items that you can make yourself. Great ideas and suggestions for using items that you have on hand or what to look for. Includes many embroidery stitch designs. Buttons, ribbons, old handkerchiefs, treasured items that might be worn or tattered that can be made into useable and decorative treasures.

#ChristenBrown #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #C&TPublishing

Create with your stash, both old and new! Put all stashed, hoarded, and handed down bits and pieces to creative use! Popular author Christen Brown walks readers through innovative uses for all kinds of embellishments ― like lace, vintage linens and hankies, trims and ribbons, buttons of all sorts, and vintage notions ― through techniques and projects. If you want to add more unique stash pieces, she provides tips on finding the good stuff, both in-person and online. Get tips for taking care of your treasures, from cleaning vintage finds to fiber identification.

Embroider your stashed treasures with 19 stash project ideas, 3 step-by-step projects, and a robust gallery to get started

Explore a wide variety of projects from feminine to whimsical, functional to frivolous, and old school to contemporary

Christen walks you through adding embroidery stitches with a library of 100+ stitches

About the author

I came from a very supportive family of creative gifted parents; no matter what room of the house I went into I learned something.

I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Merchandise and Design and I continue to experiment in all areas of art and craft.

I am fascinated by design in general; and concentrate specifically in the techniques of embroidery, quilting, ribbonwork, mixed media and jewelry making. 

When people ask me how long something takes me to make, I tell them a lifetime, because everything we do is the sum of that experience and wonderful journey.

Willow: A Guide to Growing and Harvesting - Plus 20 Beautiful Woven Projects

 

Since helping my Grandmother as a young girl, I've wanted to try weaving again but forgotten all but the basics. Willow grows nearby and dries lovely. I've kept to making wreaths because they're simple. This book gives me the techniques and procedures, with templates, to make more involved projects. Simply told, excellent photographs and broken down into digestible segments that make it look easy. This book is a treasure.

#SarahWeal #naturecrafts #weaving #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #jennycrisp

Customising Clothes with Embroidery by Connie Mabbott

 

15 fun projects to inspire you to upcycle the clothes you already own.

This is an instructional book for machine embroidery. Good, detailed instructions and good photo illustration. Neat techniques and pattern ideas.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#CustomisingClotheswithEmbroidery #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #Craft

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Beaded Embroidery Stitching: 125 Stitches to Embellish with Beads, Buttons, Charms, Bead Weaving & More, by Christen Brown

 

Excellent book on beaded embroidery. VERY detailed information, breaking information down in several ways. Beautiful pattern examples. Great addition to your home library as an ongoing reference.

Plant Lady Embroidery by Applemints

300 Botanical Embroidery Motifs & Designs to Stitch 

Lovely book! I love flowers but haven't done embroidery in years. As it says, there are 300 motifs and designs in this book. I can't pick a favorite. First I saw the violets (!), then the lily of the valley, then little wreaths and as I kept going I realized that all of these designs suit me. What I found unique were the succulents and cacti. The flowers are in many different categories. There are color pictures of the finished work, then patterns to trace and detailed instructions on how to do the stitches. Now I have to think of where I'll put them. Oh yeah, there are inspirations for that in the book too. This is a good book for beginners or experienced embroidery artists.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#PlantLadyEmbroidery #NetGalley

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Embroidered Garden Flowers, Botanical Motifs for Needle and Thread by Kazuko Aoki

Beautiful book. Great photos and detailed information about the basics of embroidery. So many flowers with excellent detail. I like the way that the patterns are given, with a picture of the flower and the type of stitch near each area. The thing I would change is to have the picture of the embroidered flower next to the pattern so that you don’t have to flip back and forth.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher Roost Books and Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Description from the Publisher:
Featuring 63 plants, this collection of embroidered flower motifs was inspired by a year of studying the garden. Beginning with the spring and going through the late autumn, the flower varieties presented here are presented with care and realistic detail. With beautiful color combinations, wonderful texture, and a studied but artful expression, this is an exquisite guide for those who love flowers and embroidery, and for those who want to share in the pleasures to be found with fabric and needle.

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The Jewelry Recipe Book by Nancy Soriano

I was amazed at the detail at the beginning of the book, including how to choose the right jewelry for your body shape. I learned quite a few things - did you know you could dye beads or other pieces? And I got a few ideas - glue buttons to earring posts and to rings for unique jewelry statements. And who would think of using pieces of candy for earrings, necklaces or hairpins?

I think it would have been better in the basics to have step by step photos to illustrate the instructions. There are some techniques that would be better to learn by seeing rather than reading.

Lots to inspire!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Artisan Books and the Netgalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

From the Publisher:
The Jewelry Recipe Book takes materials available at large craft stores (as well as specialty shops and artisan shops on Etsy)—beads, shrink plastic, leather, lace, pearls, sequins, polymer clay, yarn, and pinecones, to name a few—and transforms them into one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry. Each of the 35 mini chapters organized by material consists of three projects and three skill levels, adding up to more than 100 stunning pieces that could easily be found for sale at Urban Outfitters or Anthropologie. Every piece is beautifully photographed, as are the majority of how-to steps, and the information is presented in an easy-to-follow way, like a recipe. The book also includes an overview of simple jewelry-making techniques and tips, with best practices for how to work with various materials; how to wear jewelry; and how to work with design elements that include color, scale, and shape.


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Plant Craft, 30 Projects that Add Natural Style to Your Home by Caitlin Atkinson

Very well done. Great ideas for decorating with and enjoying plants. Information about the plants themselves, and projects to display them. There's detailed information on different types of plants. Just enough, not so much it will put you to sleep. Great photos, well organized. Even a chart with basic information on how to use and care for different plants. 

There are several projects. Information on gleaning items to enhance your plant craft, and plans to display and make your own containers with clay, concrete and even a wood bench with a built-in planter. I really like the wall container and the wreath. 

From the Publisher:

Discover the simple beauty of adding natural style to a space!

Not everyone has a garden—but with only a handful of materials and a little bit of time, everyone can bring the beauty of nature into their home. Plant Craft features projects inspired by the natural world and made out of live plants, cut flowers, foraged branches, and more. You'll learn how to create a colorful floral mural, an elegant table centerpiece, a serene underwater sculpture, a whimsical mobile, and more. The step-by-step instructions are clear, easy to follow, and fully illustrated with color photographs, and the projects vary in difficulty. Given the right care, they all have the potential to grace a home for a long time.

I received this book in return for writing a review. The opinion is my own. I was not required to write a positive review, however I do recommend this book if you're thinking of bringing plants indoors in a stylish way and you want them to be healthy. 

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