Five years ago, Japanese embroidery artist Hiroko Kubota's embroidered cat shirts set the internet alight. Hiroko uses a technique that lets you 'paint with thread'. It requires a small needle, single strands of embroidery floss plus lots of shades of the same colour, and two stitches - one bigger than the other - that repeat again and again. This adorable collection of five projects, core techniques, and templates lets you recreate Hiroko's magic.

Pick up a needle and thread and be inspired by these delightful, contemporary cross stitch designs. Cross stitch is a traditional craft that allows beginners and experts alike to enjoy the experience of creating something, whether it's for themselves or a gift for a loved one. As you stitch, you gradually see something pretty come to life and, once it's finished, you can think, 'I made that'. Hannah Sturrock loves to stitch and wants you to love it, too. Here she shares over 30 beautiful patterns with you. Discover five chapters of fabulous ideas: For a Beautiful Baby; For Big Kids; For a Special Occasion; For a Nature Lover; and For the Home. Make an adorable barnyard scene picture for young ones, or a comic-book style cross-stitched mobile phone case. Add an extra handmade touch to presents with stitched gift tags, and create a Christmas toy sack that will be treasured throughout the years. Bring the beauty of nature into the home with the flower hessian tote and the stunning floral finch cushion. You can even take cross stitch to a new level, decorating walls with washi tape birds and stitching velvet ribbon onto woven chair seats. Make use of other innovative materials, too, including soluble canvas - which allows you to cross stitch on any fabric - and glow in the dark embroidery thread. Hannah's designs are a little bit different from what is available elsewhere. She uses simple outlines with striking patterns and clean, fresh colours, and takes inspiration from new interior fashions, vintage textiles, nature, toys and more, always striving to be contemporary and stylish.

For Italian immigrants and their descendants, needlework represents a marker of identity, a cultural touchstone as powerful as pasta and Neapolitan music. Out of the artifacts of their memory and imagination, Italian immigrants and their descendants used embroidering, sewing, knitting, and crocheting to help define who they were and who they have become. This book is an interdisciplinary collection of creative work by authors of Italian origin and academic essays. The creative works from thirty-seven contributors include memoir, poetry, and visual arts while the collection as a whole explores a multitude of experiences about and approaches to needlework and immigration from a transnational perspective, spanning the late nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. At the center of the book, over thirty illustrations represent Italian immigrant women's needlework. The text reveals the many processes by which a simple object, or even the memory of that object, becomes something else through literary, visual, performance, ethnographic, or critical reimagining. While primarily concerned with interpretations of needlework rather than the needlework itself, the editors and contributors to Embroidered Stories remain mindful of its history and its associated cultural values, which Italian immigrants brought with them to the United States, Canada, Australia, and Argentina and passed on to their descendants.

There are endless practical and decorative uses for the humble embroidery hoop: from pretty wall art and hanging mobiles to functional pin boards, key racks, mirrors and storage. Kirsty Neale explores the numerous different ways to decorate your hoops with a range of techniques including applique, embroidery, crochet, papercraft, painting, stamping, cross stitch and patchwork. The 100 projects offer a diverse range of ideas for using everything in your craft stash to create unique items for yourself or your friends and family, for every room of your home and for any occasion!

This is a collection of 50 fun and sassy cross stitch sayings to remind us not to take life too seriously. Each themed chapter presents the ideal answer to the endless demands on a woman's time - husbands, chores, children and work. Whatever the crisis, these witticisms are sure to put a smile on your face! As well as hanging signs, framed pictures and cards, a great selection of project ideas have been developed to help you share the fun with your family and friends. This book offers perfect gift ideas for your girly pals; choose from, among many others, a piggy bank patch (Money can't buy love but it can buy chocolate), a desk diary (Better days are coming, - they are called Saturday and Sunday) and a potholder (Dinner is ready when the alarm goes off).