Book Review: Mandalas to Embroider

Hello all - here's a review I've been looking forward to doing for some time - Carina Envoldsen-Harris has created a lovely new title called Mandalas to Embroider: Kaleidoscope Stitching in a Hoop, with colorful, easy designs that can be adapted to any level of stitcher.

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.

This book is beautifully photographed, with lots of bright, compelling images of each project. Carina’s wonderful sense of color is evident throughout this book. It's a delightful book, and I recommend it to any stitcher! And stay tuned to the end of this post for a giveaway!

What's in the book

There are 24 total patterns with iron on transfers, and materials, stitch, and color guides.There are 12 large patterns made to fit in a 6 or 7 inch embroidery hoop, and 12 mini patterns for tiny Dandelyne hoops.

I love that the Table of Contents includes a visual guide of every project in the book, to pique your curiosity, and give you a clue of where you might want to start:

The intro includes a bit of info on the spiritual significance of mandalas, I must say it is wonderful that they included that, as those of us coming from another culture might be inclined to view them as merely pretty art. I appreciate that Carina takes the time to explore their significance.

There's a Materials and stitches section which walks you through each stitch used, a brief guide on hoops,  and a how-to guide for mini Dandelyne hoops, which is a lovely plus.

Pattern pages

Each pattern page includes a color line diagram, with DMC floss suggestions, a stitch guide, and a large, lovely photo of the finished piece. One thing I love about the Winter Solstice pattern, is that it incorporates DMC Coloris floss, a bright variegated floss that looks quite nice stitched up as a mandala.

Each of the mini patterns have a common theme: The Explorers, The Gardeners, and The Artists, and I love that each of the mini hoops has a female name- it gives them a nice dash of personality.

The last section in the book contains the iron on transfer patterns, and a brief guide to using them. The book also has a handy large pocket in the back for storing your cut transfers.

 

What I made

Using the transfer patterns was a breeze - I used a hot iron with no steam, ironing the front and back of the fabric first, to heat it up, then pinning the transfer face down and ironing.

The transfer lines we nice and dark, no trouble at all! I wasn't happy with size of my fabric, so I tried again, and the second transfer was just as crisp and dark - I suspect each transfer is good for many ironings:

On to my stitching - Carina's color palette was lovely, but I love to strike off on my own, so I decided to choose my own colors and stitches.

I used a thick pale blue perle cotton, and couched it down with 2 strands of pale blue floss:

Next I chose a light taupe floss, and chain stitched all the little leaves. It took awhile, but I think it paid off well in texture and interest:

Next I chose 2 nice blues, and did a combination of split stitch and chain stitch for the centers:

Next, I followed up with a split stitch in a nice bright red:

I could have repeated this same pattern for all of the cute radish-like shapes, but instead I chose to rotate all 3 colors is different combinations. Not sure if that was successful, but it was quite fun:

I again used chain stitch on the petals in the center, and large lazy daisies in the thick perle cotton. I love the texture these different weights and stitches provided:

Overall, I'm quite happy with my stitching of this project - I love that the design is simple, but you can adapt it with any stitches you'd like to try out, as well as experimentation with color.

Here are all the threads I used:

Again, I highly recommend this book - the patterns are enjoyable, intricate, and very adaptable!

The Giveaway!

Carina and her publisher kindly sent us this book for review (thank you!) and are offering 1 giveaway copy of Mandalas to Embroider to one lucky Feeling Stitchy reader! This applies to all our readers, no matter where you live!

To win, answer this question (from Carina herself): What's the stitch that you "fear" the most? I'll leave comments open through Wednesday evening (CST), June 27, when I'll close the comments and choose 1 random winner, and announce it here. Ready? Set? Go!

Winner in the Reader Feedback Giveaway!

Thank you to all who left comments on our Reader Feedback post! It sounds like most of you love what we're doing already, many thanks from me and our volunteer bloggers for that!

One of the main things I heard was a desire for stitchalongs... so I started planning a stitchalong which I'll be unveiling to you all near the end of the month, stay tuned for that!

And now, our winner is:

Athena (Tina) Sheppard • 13 days ago

Hay! I hope that you all have a wonderful new year. Thank you first of all for your wonderful blog. I love learning new and wonderful things. I would love to see some Stitchalongs with wonderful tutorials to go with. However I enjoy reading book reviews as well. Please keep up the good work and I look forward to seeing what is in store for us in the future.

Tina chose Rebecca Ringquist’s Embroidery Workshops: A Bend-the-Rules Primer, a very lovely looking book, which you might want to check out as well:

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. This Reader Feedback Giveaway was funded from our Amazon account.


You all had so many good book suggestions that I put them all into an Amazon list, please explore : http://a.co/b1oYjDp

Stitchy Snippets- Edgy Embroidery

Happy Halloween everyone. I hope you are all feeling spooked! :)

Take a look at this fantastic collection of decorative embroidered skulls and bones by Moonrise Whims. I love the combination of the dark and gruesome with colourful, floral motifs. Renee Rominger, the great mind behind Moonrise Whims, has also published a book full of designs called 'Edgy Embroidery'. You can find out more here.

(Editor's note: By the way, the 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. Would you like us to review this book on Feeling Stitchy? Leave a note in the comments if so!)

Stitchy Snippets - Applique Art

This beautiful and charming textile art is by illustration artist Mika Hirasa. Combining a collection of antique cloths with decorative embroidery, Mika Hirasa creates playful characters and stories in her art work. Much of her art work is commissioned for advertising and magazines and book covers. Talking about her art, Mika Hirasa states that her 'fabric art gives off a warmth that can only be felt from hand-made works'.

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!! :)