Stitchery Book review ... 'Tis the Season for gifts fa la la la la la

The excellence of a gift lies

in it's appropriateness rather 

than its value.

The above statement I believe to be so very true, its not what is spent on someone but finding something that is unique to them.  Their favourite bubble bath, a pretty bundle of fabrics which to create or even a book you know they would love.   The book I have just bought for myself is one such book for lots of us stitcher's and creators out there.  This is not on my Christmas list this year because I wanted to buy two books to review for you all and this is the first one.  It is called Slow Stitch by Claire Wellesley - Smith and it says  its a mindful and contemplative textile art book.... How very delicious! When you open the book up there is a little write up but I am going to repeat for you the first paragraph ' The speed of life in the 21st Century can be overwhelming but taking a calmer, more measured approach to the creative process can help you find new joy in the experience of making - and to produce textile art that it personal, sustainable and beautiful.'

This book is a page turner and you will not regret either buying yourself this as a treat or indeed asking for it as a gift for Christmas for yourself or buying it for a stitcher in your life.  Who ever gets this book will adore it I can promise you.  It is under £20 on Amazon ( Around £16)

There are four parts to its contents:

Part One .... Slow

Part Two ... Materials and Techniques

Part Three .. Cross-cultural activity

Part Four ... Contemplative 

Then there is a fabulous introduction and a piece called about me, which is about the lady who wrote it .... 

I have to be very careful to give you a great taster but not to spoil it for you so I will only show you three photos and I will skim around the book a little.  This is not a particularly a project book but indeed an ideas and encouraging you to think about designs, textures, resources and sustainability.  There is a little on natural dyeing which I have covered on here before a few years ago.

Hand stitching and rhythms and developing your stitches and exploring  the processes.  Kantha stitch strangely enough along with fabric exploration of layers of fabrics as well all things that I have touched on but there are always more things to learn for us all.

I have started reading this book instead of my reading book the past couple of nights because, firstly I can not put it down but also I wanted to be able to do this little review for you because this book is fabulous.  There is talk of using what you have to hand, what is the essential tools in her opinion and of course sourcing

and buying what you feel you need and starting a collection for your creating and stitching.

There are guest designer and stitchers in this book with some of their work and I am particularly taken with Lotta Hellebergs work with  leaves and vintage fabrics with patchwork detail.  This book is creative and makes you want to go explore what materials you have and do your own piece of fabric art.  As she say life is in the fast lane these days and this a calming a wonderful past time which can be done from a armchair and your imagination can take you to great creative heights ...

I can not recommend this book more highly and its not only got beautiful photography ( after all stitching is a very visual thing and we love to see beautiful things do we not?) it is also very informative and a great read.

So get writing your Christmas wish lists ladies because this is a book for you vintage stitchery lovers!

Have a wonderful day and Happy Stitching! XX