Overview
Old-fashioned ABC samplers are nowhere to be found in this collection of 26 stylish and witty designs that give cross-stitch a forceful new look. Unconventional wall hangings fill the first section of the book and dazzle with their bold colors, unusual lettering, and offbeat quotes from songs, books, movie dialogue, and even truck stop bathrooms. A second group of patterns features intriguing, small designs called "tattoos" to sew on T-shirts, jean jackets, bracelets, and handbags, and a final section shifts to the decoration of household items such as pillows, dish towels, and a cloth-wrapped money jar. Each project is accompanied by commentary explaining the inspiration behind the design, and sidebars offer tips for personalizing the final product by adding beads, dyed fabric backgrounds, or frames made from hardware and found objects. Basic technique demos teach beginners how to form cross-stitches, mix cross-stitch with other embroidery, choose and use embroidery thread, stitch on linen, and work out designs on blank graphs.
Synopsis
Old-fashioned ABC samplers are nowhere to be found in this collection of 26 stylish and witty designs that give cross-stitch a forceful new look. Unconventional wall hangings fill the first section of the book and dazzle with their bold colors, unusual lettering, and offbeat quotes from songs, books, movie dialogue, and even truck stop bathrooms. A second group of patterns features intriguing, small designs called "tattoos" to sew on T-shirts, jean jackets, bracelets, and handbags, and a final section shifts to the decoration of household items such as pillows, dish towels, and a cloth-wrapped money jar. Each project is accompanied by commentary explaining the inspiration behind the design, and sidebars offer tips for personalizing the final product by adding beads, dyed fabric backgrounds, or frames made from hardware and found objects. Basic technique demos teach beginners how to form cross-stitches, mix cross-stitch with other embroidery, choose and use embroidery thread, stitch on linen, and work out designs on blank graphs.
Suite101.com
A long way from your run-of-the-mill cross stitch design. The book will appeal to crafters from other areas as well as cross stitchers looking for something different.
Editorials
Bangor Daily News
The designs in this book are among the best I've seen in a long time.Suite101.com
A long way from your run-of-the-mill cross stitch design. The book will appeal to crafters from other areas as well as cross stitchers looking for something different.Library Journal
Knitting is cool. Crocheting is hot. But what about cross-stitching? Not so much-until now. In this cross-stitch primer, Holland-Daly, owner of the cross-stitch kit design company Monsterbubbles, takes the aspiring stitcher from learning the craft to experimenting with projects like a cross-stitched fly swatter and a framed hanging with a twist, reinvigorating a craft that, while fun for beginners, can over time get tiresome. Readers will learn how to cross-stitch on unusual materials like screens, make cross-stitch necklaces or patches for jeans, employ unusual threads and colors and found materials, stitch quotations and abstract concepts, and more. Highly recommended for public libraries.
—Jan Zlendich