Modern Crewel Embroidery Book Tour

Today is the start of a two week Instagram Book Tour to celebrate the publication of my new book Modern Crewel Embroidery.  It’s happenning over on Instagram because so few of my guests keep a blog, however some of them do and will be writing blogposts as well, AND I will be writing a round up post at the end of the two weeks so I can feature all of the ‘stops’ here and share them with you.

As you can see by the schedule above I am kicking things off on day one!  Writing an accompanying blog post gives me room to share far more of the book and space to write more about it.

Over the last few weeks I have been revealing more and more of the projects from the book on my Instagram feed and now I’ll share them here too with more to follow in subsequent posts (15 projects take up a lot of room!).

Clamshell Pillow

For the book tour I’ve invited lots of my best quilty pals alongside some much admired embroidery designers to help me celebrate the book release.  Most of them have been busy making their version of projects from the book to share in their posts, with others sharing a review (embroidery is very time consuming and I know how busy craft professionals are!). Plus lookout for some eBook giveaways!  I’ve even managed to create my own extra versions of one of the designs, but more on that later…

Labyrinth Pouch

Let’s talk about the book!

I fell in love with wool thread for embroidery a few years ago and have hardly been unable to use anything else since! Regular readers will have been able to follow my Modern Crewel Embroidery progress from my first post about my Pomegragate Tote Bag here to the launch of my first Aurifil wool thread collection here. You guys will of course know that the word ‘crewel’ simply means embroidery with wool. Most people think crewel work involves certain stitches or techniques but it’s much simpler than that.

Arts and Crafts Tree Wall Hanging

Wool is a great choice for embroidery because it works up quickly and the fluffy threads hide imperfections more readily than cotton or silk. It also gives a raised matte texture which is so pleasing to the eye. My approach to embroidery design is all about colour and texture. I do not use thread to create realistic interpretations of nature or recreate traditional patterns, but instead use it as a 3-dimensional colouring tool for my graphic maximalist patterns.

Loops Stitch Booklet

I have tried to exploit this added wool texture while offering a new modern twist, simplifying the stitches and aesthetic. The book contains 15 samplers, designed to show off the range of different stitches that are taught through detailed illustrations, both in the basic stitch guide and as bonus stitches which pop up throughout the projects. Much of my inspiration comes from my other great craft love Patchwork and Quilting, and designs include hexagons, clamshells and free-motion-quilting patterns. These samplers are then turned into all sorts of projects such as pouches, pots, pincushions and pillows. There is even an embroidered belt and of course plenty of hoops!

Tendrils Pot

Most of the projects are stitched with my beloved Aurifil 12wt wool (available as single spools and collection boxes from my website). Like the look of the designs but want to use your own stock of cotton embroidery thread? No problem at all, these embroideries will look fantastic in all sorts of thread. I have also created a conversion chart from Aurifil 12wt wool to DMC thread to help you when using stranded cotton.

I wanted the book to be both visually stimulating and inspiring, and to offer patterns to suit both embroidery beginners and more experienced stitchers.

With so much vibrant colour and so many fun projects to choose from I hope this book will get you itching to stitch and exploring the wonderful possibilities of modern crewel embroidery.

So which of the designs did I recreate for this post? Well it’s the Leaf Brooch.

It seemed such a perfect project for Autumn with beautiful leaves mounting up under the trees here at Shangri la Farm. So I chose two more colourways and now have three different leaf brooches to choose from. I just adore the close up texture of these! Something about the wool thread on top of the felt ticks all my boxes.

I couldn’t resist collecting some of the prettiest leaves (like those lovely yellow ginko!) for a photo shoot.  This is one of the the quickest projects in the book and it’s very easy to make each one a little different by changing the stitches in the different sections each time.  They are actually very addictive and I’m thinking all my friends may be getting one for Christmas this year!

I do hope this first stop on my book tour has inspired you to give stitching with wool a try.  My book is now available to buy in the US from the publisher Stash Books (C&T Publishing), Morris Textiles and any good bookshops, and will be soon be available in the rest of the world.  I am patiently waiting for my stock to arrive here so I can send off all my pre-orders!  I have been working on a mid November estimate for UK stock but as a naturally optimistic person I was hoping it might come earlier. However with all the global shipping issues I will now be happy if it at least arrives by the time of my Book Launch at the Dovecot Studios on November 30th (still a few tickets left!)!

Please do follow along with the book tour over the next few weeks and look out for future posts over here.