Book Review: Doodle Stitching

Doodle Stitching, by Aimee Ray, arrived just last week! Amazon had it marked down to $9.83 and I snapped it up!

Today I had a chance to sit down and look through it, and by the time I had finished touring its pages, I *knew* I had to share it with you!

For me, one of the main selling features of a crafting book is a variety of detailed step-by-step projects. Doodle Stitching did not disappoint!

Let me show you the cover. It's cute without being cheesy, and I love the woodland-themed embroidery on the piece that is shown. (When we eventually have kids, the nursery will be woodland-themed.)

Love the way that the cover is designed. Just enough "cute" to make me want to look further.

The table of contents is so yummy! Materials and Tools, Projects, and even Patterns! 

  

And look at the little embroidery at the bottom of the page. Folky, boho, and ultra cute!

 

The selling point for me: Projects with tons of details. Materials needed, stitches used (there is an entire section on JUST stitches!!), and step-by-step instructions.
The next page shows actual patterns that you can copy and/or enlarge as you like.



There are lots of little creative touches too, if you are looking to take your embroidery to the next level. Pictured above is a suggestion for doodling right onto fabric in order to start your embroidery design.

Here is another "take it further" suggestion - using a pattern from the book and adapting it for the project or to your individual taste. I like the freedom that these little hints suggest.

Another great thing about this book is the variety of projects that are included. There are patterns to create embroidered hair bands, to embellish clothing, and stand-alone things like making a bag from scratch (sewing instructions included!) complete with embroidery.

Did I mention that the author is completely adorable? She is.

She is also a great writer with so many ideas. She has done a wonderful job making embroidery accessible to the ultimate novice (me!), while offering project ideas and patterns for those who are already embroidery masters.

Oh - for the writing junkie, there is a list of numbers in a very cool font.

One major thing that is missing is a general alphabet to use. I love including writing in my art and doodles, and I think that there is a fairly large attraction to words and letters for many artists. A funky alphabet to embroider would have been a natural inclusion to this book.

Luckily I'm pretty handy on a computer, and I found these links of cool fonts for embroidery:
http://www.needlenthread.com/2009/10/hand-embroidery-lettering-and-text.html
http://www.apairofpears.com/2012/02/embroidered-typography_20.html