Joyful Stitching Transform Fabric with Improvisational Embroidery

Stitch playful projects

Dive into Laura’s delightful world of embroidery and learn how to create small, free-form embroidery pieces that are alive with color and texture. With instructions for 21 basic embroidery stitches and 6 projects, all in Laura’s signature colorful, whimsical style, you’ll transform a flat, plain surface into a joyful, design-packed art piece. Stitch on wool, felt, or silk, and enjoy the simple pleasure of slow stitching. Includes a gallery of display ideas, as well as additional ideas for using free-form stitching.

• Begin with simple shapes and fill them with improvisational stitchery
• Change up the provided designs, swapping out colors and trying new stitch combinations, to create your own unique work
• From popular, best-selling author and teacher Laura Wasilowski

Laura Wasilowski's current flame is the art quilt. This latest love is a marriage of fabric, color, hand embroidery, and whimsy that she truly enjoys. Laura Lives in Elgin, Illinois, where she hand dyes fabric and threads for her business, Artfabrik.

Introduction: Free-Form Embroidery
Materials and Tools for Stitching
Fabrics: Wool • Felt • Silk
Threads
Embroidery Tools
Needles
Other Tools
Transferring Designs for Embroidery
Wool Transfer Method
Felt Transfer Method
Silk Transfer Method
Embroidery Stitch Directions
Back Stitch
Blanket Stitch
Bullion Knot
Chain Stitch
Couching
Cross Stitch
Ermine Stitch
Fern Stitch
Fly Stitch
French Knots
Herringbone Stitch
Lazy Daisy / Detached Chain Stitch
Long and Short Stitches
Needle Weaving
Pistil Stitch
Running Stitch
Satin Stitch
Scattered Seed Stitch
Sheaf Stitch
Stem Stitch
Straight Stitch
Projects
A Tasty Bite of Apple
A Rare Songbird
Love at First Stitch
Folk Art Garden
Hand of Fortune
Yellow House Landscape
More Ideas for Free-Form Embroidery
Display Options for Free-Form Embroideries
Project Patterns
About the Author