Mindful Embroidery: Stitch Your Way to Relaxation with Charming European Street Scenes

Hand embroidery teachers Henry and Petronella combine traveling with crafting in their charming book of designs. Encouraging embroidering as “an ancient form of mindfulness” that makes “worries and anxious thoughts” disappear, the authors lay out designs based on locales throughout Europe. In France, they design a street scene of Paris’s Montmartre neighborhood with the Sacré-Coeur Basilica in the background, then a café in Provence. In Italy, Florence’s Basilica di Santa Croce is given a black outline to avoid distracting color, while in Venice, a canal scene is marked by contrasting vivid blues and greens. For Portugal and Spain, respectively, the designs evoke the colorful tiles found throughout Lisbon and Barcelona. Returning to the theme of embroidery’s therapeutic function, Henry and Elin visit hygge homeland Denmark with designs for historical Copenhagen neighborhoods; an image of a red double-decker bus in London cruising by Big Ben is equally cozy. Instruction for each design is articulate and supported by close-up photos. Stitches are limited to five: straight, back, split, satin, and French knot, with transfers on “robust” linen effected with carbon paper on top. Beginning or advanced embroiderers will find much to enjoy and create here as they armchair-travel with thread. (Sept.)