30 Day Challenge: Embroidery: A Day-by-Day Guide to Learn New Stitches and Create Beautiful Designs

Cutesy Crafts blogger Anderson’s breezy debut provides 30 nature-centric embroidery projects designed to be completed over the course of a month. An introductory rundown of necessary supplies notes that woven fabrics are easier to work with than knit fabrics, and step-by-step instructions show how to thread a needle and transfer templates to fabric with an erasable pen. The projects introduce a new stitch or knot per day, starting with the simplest (the stylized “Geometric Hummingbird” design is made up solely of straight stitches, or “the most basic of all the stitches”) and building up to the more complex (the “Lovely Lemons” motif uses the basketweave stitch, which Anderson describes as “part embroidery, part weaving,” to give the fruit texture). Other designs include a flowering cactus made from looped blanket and satin stitches, a pinwheel featuring split and herringbone stitches, and a beach scene created with French knots and whipped back stitches. The uncomplicated and cumulative designs are ideal for beginners, and tips on embroidering T-shirts and tote bags are a welcome bonus (“You want to use very short stitches for clothing items. This is especially true for stretchy T-shirts”). The result is a fabulous primer on embroidery. (Jan.)