The Hand Stitched Surface

The Hand-Stitched Surface offers inspiring techniques and beautiful projects for creating richly layered mixed-media surfaces on paper and fabric to encourage stitchers to slow down and savor their handiwork.

“Improvisational hand-stitching lies at the heart of Krawczyk’s collection of embroidery projects . . . The overall style is loose and free-wheeling.” —Library Journal Add new color and flair to your home with hand-stitching projects! Written by noted surface designer Lynn Krawczyk, The Hand-Stitched Surface offers inspiring techniques and beautiful projects for creating richly layered mixed-media surfaces on paper and fabric. It’s a fast world we live in; it’s important to remember to slow down and savor your handiwork, and hand-stitching is the perfect craft for that. After Krawczyk gives you an overview of tools and supplies you’ll be using, she will move you into a section on stitching essentials which covers a range of basic stitches and how they can be modified. You will learn the following skills: Mixing thread weights for textural effects Unique ways to create patterns for hand stitching Exploring color Tips and tricks for improvisational stitching And much more! The fifteen keepsake-quality projects are perfect for the times when you feel you need to disconnect from the modern world and enjoy a quieter, more meditative hobby. “Delightful.” —The Papercraft Post

Hand Sewing Magic is an essential reference to all things stitching, featuring how-tos for dozens of stitches, from the basics for sewing and mending to stunning embroidered embellishment. Hand Sewing Magic is a modern, all-in-one guide for hand stitchers of all levels of skill and experience, and for all applications. In this unique guide book you will: Get an in-depth overview of essential tools and materials, including thread, needles, fabric, and other key supplies. Explore a comprehensive visual dictionary of 35 stitches plus dozens of variations, from basic mending to stylish decorative embellishment to unique art stitching. Discover key techniques, from starting and ending threads to the right way to use an embroidery hoop, from stitching curved shapes to color shading, and more. Learn essential tips and tricks from influential and innovative stitchers, including Joanne Sharpe, Allison Aller, and Catherine Redford. 10 simple and stunning projects show unique ways to use stitches and techniques. With Hand Sewing Magic, you’ll make the most of your hand stitching and give all your projects a beautiful handmade look.

The latest book from the bestselling author Kim Thittichai focuses on the range of ideas and techniques for layering your textiles. These layers can produce simple to extreme surfaces for stitch. Layering is a major feature of today’s textile art, whether to create relief, colour, texture or dimension. The author takes you through a number of key materials – papers, synthetic and natural fabric, translucent materials, wires, paints and sprays – that can be incorporated into layered textiles. Various techniques are combined with these materials, from using heat guns, soldering irons and lazer cutting to machine and hand stitch to give the reader endless ideas for their own creative work. As always, the author has provided exercises for the creative process and the techniques but combined them with the work of the best textile artists around the world today. It provides the ultimate guide to the subject of layered textiles for readers looking to experiment with their own textile art.

Crazy patchwork has long been a popular subject amongst quilters and embroiderers, allowing them the freedom to be creative and to incorporate a broad range of techniques into their work. In this beautiful book, expert needlecrafter Hazel Blomkamp explores a wide variety of hand-stitching techniques and produces five stunning projects in which everything is created using just fabric, a needle, threads, ribbons and beads. She provides expert guidance on embellishment techniques such as beading, embroidery (with both thread and silk ribbon), needlelace, needle weaving and tatting, as well as on patchwork and quilting. Three projects are worked completely from scratch, and even the patches themselves are created with a needle and thread. The fourth project is a traditional crazy patchwork with hand-stitched embellishments, and the fifth project combine a traditional crazy patchwork with a Jacobean embroidery panel. The book will draw in both embroiderers and quilters, and inspire them to combine their skills in new and exciting ways.

A sampler is a project made from a "sampling" of different stitches or different motifs. Once the learning tool that helped generations of girls master basic needlework skills, this traditional project is still a great way to learn and practice embroidery skills—as well as a creative way to add color to a room or a fabric item. • Covers samplers in several different styles: cross-stitch, counted thread, surface, and freestyle embroidery • Creative uses for sampler art beyond the basic wall hanging: gift bags, ornaments, scarves, tote bags, and more • Includes a how-to section with step-by-step instructions for basic embroidery stitches and sewing skills • 16 projects for decorative sampler designs plus creative variations • A NeedleKnowledge® Book

Design and create realistic hand-embroidered landscapes, from coastlines to deserts, escarpments to plains. Judy Wilford's stunning process combines different genres, textiles, traditional stitches, and embroidery styles. Part 1 covers the materials and equipment, lays out a simple landscape, and demonstrates background layering and surface stitching. The second section contains a range of projects, each developing and extending the various techniques.

Draw, stamp, screen print, and more to create gorgeous art cloth! Intentional Printing walks you through a two-part approach to fabric design. Author Lynn Krawczyk starts by showing you how to develop your own distinct printing style by first identifying the colors, themes, and processes that speak to you and then using those ideas repeatedly to explore your furthest possibilities. At the same time, Lynn urges you to think beyond simply printing fabric and consider how the finished cloth will be used. She demonstrates a variety of printing, stamping, painting, and color techniques, encouraging you to identify what draws you back again and again and to push your personal themes as far as possible. Using examples of her work, Lynn then shows how she adapts her own preferred imagery to projects, explaining what works and what does not. You emerge with a solid knowledge of basic printing techniques, an understanding of how to apply them for maximum impact, and an appreciation of your own personal creative voice.