Book Review and giveaway: The Embroidered Garden by Kazuko Aoki

Today I have the pleasure of reviewing The Embroidered Garden: Stitching through the Seasons of a Flower Garden, a beautiful book by embroidery artist Kazuko Aoki. Overall, this book is a wonderful advanced addition to your embroidery library - if you are a beginner, this book is a great way to expand your skills and hone your attention to detail.

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews.

This book review has been long in the making, as any of you who follow me on Instagram have seen. I am embarassed to say I received this book more than a year ago from the publisher, stitched up my project, then life took over and I never posted my review. Well, this is a beautiful book, so not another fall will go by without me posting my review!

What's in the book

As a gardener, Kazuko Aoki has created wonderfully organic designs incorporating the flowers that inspire her into each season - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. There are 4 large wreath designs for each season, and 4 smaller band-size designs, as well as a series of small projects for each season - about 29 patterns total.

You will quickly learn that nothing in this book can be categorized as "easy", every line counts - and what looks simple has an underlying attention to detail that results in something quite extraordinary.

Here's a brief peek through the book:

Spring pattern

Garden diary project

Butterfly brooches

Summer wreath

Autumn wreath

Winter wreath

This tips and techniques section is very helpful - but you may need to whip out your magnifying glass - the pictures and text are teeny-tiny!

The pattern pages are very complex, and depending on the stitcher, somewhat overwhelming. They are scaled smaller than the finished project, which will necessitate a trip to the copier. My approach to the patterns was to use them as a general guide to stitches and color, but not to follow them too religiously.

My Project

Tip: If you trace directly over the wreath pattern image it will fit perfectly into an 8 inch embroidery hoop.

I had a wedding to go to, and I wanted to have a present that was unique and extraordinary - I found just that in the Winter Wreath pattern.

Although the pattern was undeniably gorgeous as is, I really wanted to approach this in a unique way, and tailor the project to the bride's wedding colors, which were navy blue and gold.

I was very fortunate to find some beautiful navy blue linen in my mother's fabric stash, and chose that as my background. Of course the dark fabric produced a series of challenges - I initially used white carbon paper to transfer the image, and yellow chalk pencil to refine the lines.

When those lines faded, I traced the image, and stitched directly onto the tracing paper:

Both techniques worked well, and both had their drawbacks - my advice if you are stitching on dark fabric is to be open to trying out a new technique, and see what works best for you!

I used as many types of floss as I could handle for my piece:

6 strand DMC embroidery floss, vintage floss, gold metallic floss and thread, white DMC pearlescent effects floss, and rayon floss. Everything worked out really well and added to the overall sheen of the piece.

What I loved about this project was all the new things I learned - like using split stitch to fill an entire shape. I had never thought of doing that before, and I loved the organic texture it created. I also found myself relying on (and developing) my drawing and tracing skills. Visit my personal blog if you'd like to see even more process photos!

In patterns as complex as these, you must ultimately accept that reproducing it exactly is neither possible nor advisable - the magic of these patterns is what you bring to them yourself.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to lovers of Japanese craft books, and stitchers looking for an added challenge, but there are projects suitable for beginners as well.

Giveaway!

I enjoyed this book so much that we are doing a giveaway from our own small funds, so I will need to limit the giveaway to US only - so sorry!

Please leave a comment on this post to enter - and tell me - what is your favorite season and why? I'll leave comments open through Saturday, October 7, when I'll choose one random winner!

Edit: 10/9/17 - We have our winner! Sarah posted the random winning comment, please see below! Thank you all for joining in! :)

Review + Giveaway: Mr X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch

I've been a fan of Jamie Chalmer's site MrXStitch since I first discovered it, years ago, so I was really excited to receive The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch for review from the publisher - what a treat!

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews.

In a nutshell - Jamie's book is perfect for those of you who would like to see cross-stitch through a unique lens - Jamie's book is all about modern, unexpected, and unusual cross stitching. If you're widening your sphere of interest from very feminine or cutesy stuff, this could be a good place to start - this book also has interviews of numerous stitchers to get you inspired to see embroidery and cross stitch in a new way. I think it could also make a great gift for a beginner to embroidery, and particularly a male beginner to embroidery who might enjoy a male perspective on stitching on trains, for example. :)

One of my favorite features of this book was seeing Jamie's decidedly not-female hands getting his embroidery materials together and stitching:

I'm not sure why I got such a kick out of that, but I think it might also help a reluctant male stitcher to see that embroidering isn't merely a girly act - it's about creativity and art form, neither of which need to be manly or feminine, but can take something from both of those tropes.

What's in the book?

This book is divided into 6 large sections (with nicely photographed section titles) which include patterns, tips, and interviews as follows:
Tools and Materials
Colour
Glow in the Dark
More Than a Hobby (embroidery as therapy, craftivism, and art form)
Pattern Design (create your own cross-stitch patterns)
Thinking Outside the Hoop (includes projects stitched on leather, plastic, and metal)

With 23 cross stitch projects and 4 cross stitch alphabet fonts, there is quite a bit of variety to be found here. There are also 5 interviews with embroidery "outliers" Zoe Gilbertson, Kate Blandford, Severija Inčirauskaitė Kriaunevičienė, Lord Libidan, and Les Deuz'Bro.

I really enjoyed the Pattern Design section and how it walks you through all the considerations you might make in terms of stitch count and the number of colors used:

Most impressive is that every example along the way was stitched, so you can compare and contrast. I found it fascinating to see that you don't need a ton of colors and stitches to get the basic idea down, and it's a great argument for approaching one's custom pattern as simply as possible. Plus, the project is a pineapple, and who doesn't like pineapples?

My favorite pattern of all was of course the squirrel pattern. Alas, poor squirrel, I know I'll never finish thee, but it won't stop me from loving thee from afar. :)

Giveaway time!

The publisher has generously offered a free copy of The Mr. X Stitch Guide to Cross Stitch to one of our lucky readers in the US and Canada! To our international readers, just stay tuned - we have some upcoming giveaways that include you, too!

To win a free copy of this book, please leave a comment on this post, and answer the following question - what is the weirdest place you've ever stitched in? As you read above, Jamie is fond of stitching on trains. I'll leave the comments open through next Thursday, Sept. 7, 9 PM US CST, then close the comments and choose 1 random winner.

Edit: 9/11/17 - We have our winner! Thanks all for entering!

Review: Colour Confident Stitching by Karen Barbé

It is a pleasure to review this fabulous new book, Colour Confident Stitching: How to Create Beautiful Colour Palettes by textile artist Karen Barbé. If you are at all curious about expanding your use of color and texture in your embroidery, this is the book for you!

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews - we use funds in our Amazon account for new giveaways and reviews.

When I received this book from the publisher I was in the middle of planning some of my own projects, and I found reading this book and taking in the way Karen approaches color to be very inspiring. I had already started making little color cards of my own to keep track of my embroidery threads from project to project - Karen's approach of lining up colors as inspiration before you begin stitching is marvelous, too!

I find Karen's stitching within the book very inspiring - I am reminded of the loveliness of designers like Yumiko Higuchi, Irona Happa, and one of my favorite embroidery books ever, Handbook of Lettering for Stitchers by Elsie Svennas (read a wonderful overview of it on Pintangle).

Color Theory - The majority of the book is about color theory - and I love the way Karen writes about color. Her analysis of different color palettes, and how to develop them, is very inspiring. In particular, I love that she talks about how having a different color background can change the entire mood of the piece.

Color Palettes - I really enjoyed this section - there are 9 example color palettes drawn from a variety of different sources - fabric, collections, images, home, and places, just to name a few. They are all quite beautiful and could be a wonderful springboard for anyone who is intimidated by choosing a palette of colors for a new project.

Patterns - there are 5 projects in this book, so it is light on patterns. But I will say the patterns are versatile and they inspire you to think deeply about color.

Here are the patterns included and the stitch you will learn / practice with it:

• Sleeping Mask: Laid stitch, couched cross stitch, sewing, embroidery floss
• Embellished Knitted Sleeves: Duplicate stitch, crewel or tapestry wool
• Tea Towel with Woven Patches: Weave stitch, pearl cotton
• Framed Embroidery: Chain stitch, satin stitch, embroidery floss
• Cross Stitch Tea Party: Cross stitch on cardboard, embroidery floss

My favorite project was the framed embroidery, because it included 2 types of stitching I've been wanting to practice: densely packed chain stitches as outlines and geometric satin stitches.

Following along with the pattern was tricky for me since the pattern is quite small and thus requires for absolute precision in drawing and stitching.

Beginners, take note that you will feel less frustration if you enlarge the pattern on a copier and practice the intricate chain stitch. Tiny details are key in this project.

I broke up the large design into two parts, first a few chain-stitched motifs:

I would have loved to have a larger image of the stitching so I could decide how to tackle the project.

Second, I tried the satin-stitched circle, and practiced making woven patches:

My satin stitching is very far from perfect - but this small project was a great way to practice it! I used 4 strands of floss for the woven patches. You can see more of my process photos on my Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/nyfloresita/)

One of my takeaways after reading through this book and trying out the projects is just how detailed, meditative, and slow Karen's creative process is - it makes sense that she is a textile artist, because you can see how she is willing to take a time-consuming task and make it into an art piece.

Crafters who would love to add new stitches to their repertoire, learn to think about color in a new way, and appreciate detailed patterns and projects will love this book.

I highly recommend this book for all levels of stitchers, with a caveat for beginners - the stitches and processes in this book are not simple, but if you approach your work slowly and meditatively, you will be rewarded for your time.

To see more of the inside of this glorious book - visit Karen's blog for some lovely images:
http://www.karenbarbe.com/blog/colour-confident-stitching-book-is-here/

I also highly recommend a visit to Karen's blog - I spent hours happily scrolling through her gorgeous posts: http://www.karenbarbe.com/blog/. You can also find Karen on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/karenbarbe/

Book Review: Simply Stitched (and Giveaway!)

Hey everyone! Today we get to take a look at a wonderful embroidery book called Simply Stitched: Beautiful Embroidery Motifs and Projects with Wool and Cotton by Yumiko Higuchi.

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews on Feeling Stitchy.

Don't miss the giveaway at the end of the post where you can win your own copy of the book!!

The author, Yumiko Higuchi, is an amazing embroidery artist. You most likely have come across her work somewhere on the Internet - I know I have seen her embroidered pouches all over Pinterest! So I was very excited to have the opportunity to check out her latest book.

In Simply Stitched, you will find 20 modern and unique embroidery motifs to stitch (plus projects) using a combination of wool and cotton thread.

There are projects for everyone - including a teapot cozy (above), pillow, zipper pouch, and a holiday stocking. There are even a few no-sew projects in the book - such as stitching the designs on a hat or sweater.

All projects include materials list with suggested thread colors, motif template with stitches, and clear, easy to understand instructions.

All stitches used are included in the Stitch Guide at the end of the book.

The book has beautiful color photos of all the stitched designs and completed projects. How cute are those roosters??

I love how all of the motifs could easily be stitched on ANYTHING or could be swapped to different projects in the book.

For example: The tote bag below is beautiful with the suggested flowers - but could also be stitched with either of the anemone or the rooster motifs in the photo above - and be just as cute!

So I tested that theory when I decided on a project to complete from the book.

I wanted to make the needle case which has a thistle embroidery motif. But I really wanted to stitch the bumble bee motif from a different project.

So I made the needle case and embroidered the bumble bee instead...

I think the end result turned out great! What do you think?

I have never stitched with wool before either. This book is great for embroiderers who want to try out stitching with wool.

Here is the inside of the needle case. I used white cotton fabric with grey felt for the inside and black ribbon to tie it shut.

As I mentioned before, the project instructions were very easy to understand - I have very little sewing machine skills and was able to sew up this little case no problem!

I love the use of wool and cotton together. The wool really adds texture and dimension.

If you want to see more of Yumiko Higuchi's work, check out her website: www.yumikohiguchi.com or follow her on Instagram: @yumikohiguchi 

Giveaway Time!!!

To win a free copy of Simply Stitched, please leave a comment on this post by 9 PM US CST, August 12, 2016 and please tell us: Do you ever stitch with wool? What is your favorite thread/floss to stitch with?

** This giveaway is open to the US and Canada only **


P.S. My favorite floss to stitch with is good old DMC cotton 6 strand floss - although, I may start to stitch with wool more often now!! :)

Book Review: Stumpwork Embroidery

One of the fun things about being a blogger for Feeling Stitchy is that free books and materials sometimes come my way. I received a copy of Stumpwork Embroidery: Techniques, Projects, and Pure Inspiration by Kay and Michael Dennis to review.

Stumpwork is an embroidery technique that I would like to be able to do. I will be honest and admit that I found the projects in this book very difficult to complete. While each project does walk you step by step through it, I feel as though many projects in the book are geared towards the embroiderer who has a better grasp of how to do stumpwork already. I started a project making a butterfly with 3D wings, but I have a hand injury that's preventing me from finishing because of the dexterity involved.

Stumpwork Embroidery starts out with an introduction to Kay Dennis' journey into stumpwork, and then goes into the history of this art form. I found that aspect fascinating! In this photo below from the book, it's a closeup of a British stumpwork box from circa 1650. Look at that detail and how well it's held up over the centuries.

Some of the projects in the book, like this poppy seed below, are definitely projects that someone who has some basic understanding of embroidery can accomplish.

Completed poppy seeds from the book Stumpwork Embroidery

The author, Kay Dennis, is a big fan of needlelace, and she is exceptionally creative at creating interesting projects! Needlelace is made using needles and thread to create many stitches to make lace. It requires dexterity and an attention to detail. The end result is fantastic!

Once my hand is sufficiently healed, I'm going to dive further into this book to master the techniques. You can find me on Instagram where I share on the Feeling Stitchy and my personal Random Acts of Amy accounts.

Have you tried stumpwork? Have you read this book? Or do you have recommendations for other books or resources on stumpwork? Please leave your comments below!

Book Review: The Hand Stitched Flower Garden (and giveaway!)

I am so excited because today we get to take a look at The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden: 40 Beautiful Floral Designs to Embroider, Plus 20 Great Project Ideas by Yuki Sugashima! We received a free copy of the book from the publisher and will be giving away 1 copy at the end of this post!

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews on Feeling Stitchy.

The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden is a beautiful book of nature inspired embroidery motifs and 20 awesome projects including an egg cozy, a cell phone cover, and jewelry (just to name a few).

The first thing that caught my attention (other than all the gorgeous photos) was that the embroidery designs and projects are organized by season - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter - so you can stitch something all year long!

Here are floral examples from the "Summer" section.

I especially like how the book not only includes surface stitches, but also dimensional stitches, and beading.

Each of the 20 projects includes:

- suggested color palettes with DMC floss #'s
- list of embroidery stitches used
- list of all materials needed
- detailed step-by-step instructions with photos

The book also includes: a stitch directory with photos, 7 pages of actual size templates, and a tools and techniques section.

Since we are currently enjoying Spring here in my neck of the woods, I chose something from the "Spring" projects to stitch - a cute little butterfly pin cushion (as seen in an earlier photo above).

I knew immediately I wanted to stitch the pin cushion because it includes two techniques on my list to learn: the long and short stitch and dimensional stitching (those wired wings on the butterfly).

The project instructions were so easy to follow and guided me step by step from stitching to assembly.

I referenced the stitch directory to learn the long and short stitch for the butterfly and the "Techniques" section of the book showed me how to stitch the wired wings.

I love how my butterfly turned out and am already trying to decide what to complete next from the book!


The Hand Stitched Flower Garden is for any stitcher who loves floral inspired embroidery. There are designs and projects for all levels of experience - with motifs that can be stitched with a few easy stitches for the beginner to dimensional stitching for someone who wants to take their stitching to the next level!


Check out Yuki's blog for more of her beautiful stitching: https://yhandmade.wordpress.com


Giveaway time!!

To win a free copy of  The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden - please leave a comment on this post by 9 PM US CST,  May 13, 2016 and please tell us: What season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) is your favorite time to stitch and why?

** This giveaway is open to US and Canada only! **