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Stitch Play

At last, I found what I was looking for -- Lynn Krawczyk's The Hand-Stitched Surface, which is a playground of a book for people who love to hand stitch.

If you want to grab my attention, humor is best. The author opens the book with: "I wrote this book in fifteen minutes. No, really, I did." (She didn't.) I like starting out with a chuckle. What she presents after a nicely written, realistic intro is a detailed collection of techniques, tools and tricks that anyone can easily follow if they want to learn or develop their hand-stitching.

What's different about this book is that the author applies hand stitching to mixed media rather than textiles only. There are eight fabric and seven paper projects to try out, and I'd say nearly all of them are beginner friendly.

While informative and beautifully photographed, this book doesn't take itself too seriously, particularly in some of the projects (a frayed fabric necklace isn't on anyone's fashion list.) There are some great techniques to learn, especially with the non-textile projects (I have hand-stitched paper, and it's not as easy as you think. Paper tears.) Mostly it's a fun book, and I think everyone could use a little of that -- especially now.

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nightsmusic said…
Oooh! That looks like a fun book. (and me too, paper tears...)
July 10, 2020 at 8:03 AM
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