This is a beautifully illustrated introduction to embroidery as a creative practice. This book doesn't teach step-by-step how-to's (though it does provide a reference section on methods). Rather, it teaches how to truly appreciate and create embroidery with your own unique vision as an artist. This is an intuitive, self-guided approach to art-making that teaches the artist to trust themselves and cultivate their own vision. I think it's a very empowering and inspiring read for both beginners and advanced artists. As an artist trained in other mediums, it really made me want to explore more fiber arts and stitching in my work.

Artists & crafters know that there is truly "medicine in making" and so I love that the author of this book dedicates the first chapter to showing us inside her creative process. In describing creativity as a practice, she's really modeling a kind of arts-based mindfulness, the kind of "tuning in" to inspiration and intuition that helps artists find their own voice. She shares her methods for looking at nature for inspiration, her sketchbook practice for visualizing ideas, her toolkit, supplies, and so on. A highlight is the short discussion of the "beauty in the flaw"--in sharing how perfectionism kills invention, the author encourages a "beginner's mind" approach that will serve all artists well to cultivate. The second chapter gives a visual history of global forms of embroidery, with a focus on many stunning indigenous traditions (Otomi, Banjara, and so on). The third chapter explores fundamentals of design, such line weight and pattern, texture, color, and composition--all of these elements are defined with curated visual examples. The 4th chapter discusses how to cultivate your own vision, including practices for inviting inspiration from nature, and profiles several contemporary artists who are doing great work with embroidery. The 5th chapter brings all of this together with some sample projects, but even these inspire the artist to make their own designs, not copy a pattern from a book (there are no patterns in this book, which I love). The projects are more like journal prompts or exercises that aim to have you drawn on the skills learned this far in the book while using your own vision to create the design. There are some sections at the very end covering embroidery basics and stitch methods--so the basics are here, but they aren't the focus of the book.

My thanks to the author, Christi Johnson, and to Storey Publishing for providing an advance digital copy of this book for review. I truly loved it and will look forward to its release so that I can get it in hardcopy to add to my studio's bookshelf.

Thank you Net Galley for an advanced copy of 'The Art of Embroidery Design' by Christi Johnson. This book had beautiful art, but I wish it explained more on how she achieved each piece. This book is definitely not 'beginner friendly'. I may pick this one up in the future once my embroidery skills improve.

From the moment I opened Christi Johnson's The Art of Embroidery Design, I was captivated by its beautiful designs and wealth of information.

As a crafter, I'm always eager to learn new techniques, especially in embroidery, and this book did not disappoint. The layout is visually appealing, and the stitch guide is informative and supported by clear pictures showing exactly how each stitch should look, making it an incredibly valuable resource.

Whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced embroiderer looking to try something new, this book offers inspiration and guidance for developing your own unique stitching style. The step-by-step instructions make it accessible to all skill levels, and the creative designs encourage you to explore and experiment.

I highly recommend The Art of Embroidery Design to anyone interested in embroidery, whether you're just starting out or seeking something different to expand your skills.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for gifting me an e-book ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Art OF Embroidery Design is simple enough to help beginners but full of inspiration for more experienced embroiderers. It is beautifully laid out and clear instructions and thoughtful practices for anyone who is new to embroidery or interested in moving beyond pre-packaged patterns and embracing embroidery as personal expression and art form.

An excellent book that not only guides you through embroidery stitches but also encourages you to make any embroidery your own by creating unique art works that reflect you. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in creating their own designs, it is encouraging and full of brilliant advice.

Easy to follow and with some great designs. A great introduction to the art of embroidery, and simple enough for a beginner to follow.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC for this book. It is jam packed with ideas to encourage readers to explore their artistic side through embroidery.

Christi Johnson's book The Art of embroidered Design is a thorough manual for making unique embroidered designs. This book, which combines creative activities with practical skills, is ideal for readers of all ability levels. Johnson covers every aspect of design, including formulating a vision, selecting colour schemes, and applying textural effects. The book includes a variety of inspirational samples from historical and modern global needlework artists, such as those from Mexico, India, and Nigeria. Although the practical approach with the stitching and drawing activities is beneficial, some readers may find the material to be complex. All things considered, it's a helpful tool for anybody wishing to increase the originality and expertise of their needlework.

An interesting look at how to design your own embroidery piece. Lots of fun tips and advice, I especially liked the Mexican pictures, now to try finding more examples of the designs. Also like the tips for the basics at the end. This book would be good for someone wanting to explore the art more instead of just copying a pattern. Would highly recommend.

Besides being an avid reader, I am an avid crafter. I am no expert at embroidery, but I do have a love for it.

This book is not just your average, everyday embroidery tutorial book. This is an all encompassing, gorgeous book that takes you from tradition and symbolism, to texture color and composition, and stitches and techniques. That is not even all that is covered! The photos are so gorgeous, even if you never picked up a needle and thread, you would fully enjoy just perusing the book. I am learning so much and I can not recommend this book enough! It is not often that a craft book brings something new and exciting to the table. Most seem like copies of each other. But this book is just top notch and I appreciate all the time and love that obviously went into it!

This book provides many things in one. At the back of the book, beginning at p. 159, author Christi Jordan includes an introduction to embroidery for absolute beginners. (This isn’t the book I’d recommend to newbies, but, in fairness, Jordan does show you how to start.) The Art of Embroidery Design also lives up to its name for advanced needlewomen. For those talented crafters, Jordan gives you a step-by-step model on how to create your own patterns.

But there’s one more element: I’m an extremely mediocre embroiderer, but I enjoyed Christi Jordan’s book in the same way that I love leafing through a coffee table art book. Jordan includes lovely works of textile art from across the world and time. Gorgeous!

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Storey Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

I have long wanted to take up embroidery, and read a couple lovely books on it, but this is the book that has made me finally go to the crafts store and get supplies, and slowly and confidently embark on this long dream of mine.
The reasons why this book stood out for me amongst the other 1-3 books I read on embroidery is certainly the step by step, vivid and accessible approach.

4.5 / 5.0

Rounded up to 5 stars because this book is more of a workbook than a project tutorial. I was expecting the how-to and was happy to discover the exploration in creativity, which prompted me to have ideas of my own rather then just instructions on how to reproduce select projects.

This is not for an entry level stitcher, they probably will find this overwhelming, or maybe not... maybe asking the reader to think outside of the box from the very get go is exactly what creatives need.

Thank you to the author for writing this, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me access to the eARC, and the tech editor for double checking it.

An acclaimed embroidery designer and the best-selling author of Mystical Stitches, Christi Johnson teaches how to create original stitch designs and expand creativity, with sketchbook and sampler exercises and inspiring examples from a wide range of embroidery artists, both historical and contemporary.

A beautiful book for anyone who loves needlecraft, this lady has previously written Mystical Stitches and this book focuses on creating one's own designs by showing how simple this process can be. I very much enjoyed reading how she creates and gleaned real insight into looking closely at everyday things. Written clearly and concisely with excellent illustrations, this is a very worthy addition to a stitchers library. I look forward to more publications from Ms. Johnson. Thank you Netgalley and publishers for an advance copy of The Art of Embroidery Design.

Firstly, this book is not a book with designs to embroider. Should you get this? Absolutely. Books like this remind us to enjoy the process of craft. The photographs not only inspire but give culture connections to embroidery design. I particularly enjoyed the section referencing colour theory and the concept of a colour globe. This book encourages a stitcher to see inspiration in the world around us. To create a journal to practice and experiment with stitches.
Perfect gift for anyone who enjoys needlework.

This book was provided for review by the publisher.
My comments are reflecive of my honest opinions of this book.

a beautiful book! probably for a slightly more advanced audience than myself given the stitches explainers are all the way at the back of the book and I don't know most of them. Stunning photos and I loved all the ideas to get design ideas included!

This book exudes happienness for the needle craft. The pictures are what make this the perfect guide for when artists are ready to move away from the pattern ans into the flow of thier own vision.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

Johnson has created an absolutely beautiful book here. It has a variety of examples from different cultures and artists to show case different forms of embroidery and design. The author offers up tips and tricks for designing and practising your own embroidery art. Perhaps not a super beginner friendly book, as it could be a little overwhelming to be given such complete free rein on the design of our work.
And honestly, just a visually stunning book to flip through.

This book is one of the most welcoming and encouraging books on embroidery that I have seen! I love how the author embraces her own style & mistakes and encourages her readers too as well. While my style doesn't match hers, there are still a lot of great tips to outline the process of bringing your embroidery ideas to life. Theres even some stitches that are new to me in the back of the book that I am looking forward to trying out!

This book is a work of art and encouragement. I loved it so much. I expected to find a how to on embroidering like the artist who wrote it, but instead it was like a master class on how to find your own inspiration and then begin to make that. I love to garden and go to my local nursery and this author has me looking and sketching the shape of different leaves and mixtures of colors. I came to this book looking for guidance on how to do big and technical embroidered artwork (and that’s definitely in there), but I fell in love with the idea of little embroidered snippets on a jacket or purse that have personal meaning to me or are just pleasing to my eye. I came to it looking for complicated and have closed the book with more knowledge and enjoyment for where I’m currently at with this art.

I recommend this book to any type of artist looking for guidance in finding your own inspirations around you.

Thank you Christi Johnson, Storey Publishing, and NetGalley for letting read the advanced copy of this book. I really enjoyed it.