Abstract Embroidery

Get inspiration from Emily Botelho - the genius behind Salt Stitches - and learn to create highly detailed abstract works of embroidered art.

From mini hoops to larger fabric canvas work, ideas to capture your natural surroundings abound in this stunning book.

Drawing on her love of nature, Emily Botelho creates highly textured and incredibly detailed embroidery pieces. Her work is organic, intuitive and celebrates patterns found in the natural world. She uses three environments – coastal, mountain and urban – to illustrate her creative process, describing how to find inspiration and where to look for interesting textures, color palettes and items to use as embellishments.

Each piece is constructed of fabric printed with a source image that Emily photographs, based on her knowledge of which textures will translate well into stitches. She then layers stitching and embellishments over the fabric to approximate the textures and colors that inspired the work. Her wide catalog of embroidery stitches allows her to create visual and tactile interest in each piece.

Emily is a firm believer that you don't need to go far to be inspired and she encourages you to engage in close observation of the natural world on your doorstep, whether you have stitched before or not. Due to the abstract nature of the craft, there are no patterns to follow or step-by-step instructions. You decide when a piece is finished, which gives you complete freedom to explore the textures that you’re working with. Every single piece will be unique, and that’s the beauty of it!

Emily Botelho, who works under the name Salt Stitches, formerly had a career in the fashion industry, and turned to embroidery in 2018. She has built a substantial following, sharing and selling her hoop-based works on Instagram and via her website www.saltstitches.com. She teaches at workshops all over the world, including the UK, US and Spain. Emily emigrated to Canada where she stitches full-time from her sofa.