The Art of Embroidery Design

Embroidery was my covid hobby and it has not gone away. I love learning new stitches and techniques and this book was fun and interesting. Would definitely recommend to my crafty friends.

Christi Johnson is like that one art teacher you had growing up who encourages and finds creativity in everyone. Her books are like a cozy, colorful library of creativity that you want to just climb inside and stay forever. From picking a sketchbook to write down your ideas to overcoming perfectionism, The Art of Embroidery Design is your opportunity to learn more about who you are as a creative person and then create your individual style. There's no judgement here, just encouragement, new ways of thinking, and gorgeously colorful pages of inspiration.

This was a fun embroidery book that would be great for a beginner who doesn't view themself as an artist. Johnson walks the reader/crafter through the stages of reaching a point of being confident in making your own designs. She talks about looking for inspiration and various historical embroidery styles from around the world. I especially liked that chapter with the embroidery from around the world, because it really reminded me that this is a craft that connects you to generations of those before you. Johnson then walks you through the elements of design, just like you would in a high school art course, but with a focus on how specifically to incorporate colors and textures and line into embroidery as a medium. She ends with a few project ideas. Throughout, she provides sketchbook activities and the steps to build a sampler as you go, practicing her teachings. She also showcases different artists, highlighting the many, many directions you can take your embroidery. The one thing I'll say is that, if you're an absolute beginner, all of her beginner teaching is parked at the back, the important things like how to set up an embroidery hoop and what the different stitches mean. But if you've got all the basics down, then just start at the beginning.

I was so taken with this gorgeous book that I am considering taking up embroidery -- an art my mother and grandmother loved to do. But Christi Johnson brings a whole new dimension to the art, with glorious examples that took my breath away. Will make a tremendous gift for all the embroiderers in your life! I'm also buying it for my own birthday present. Hurrah!

This book is a fabulous start for someone who is curious about embroidery. Maybe you're like me and are just dipping your toes into this creative craft or you have already started.

I would also like to pint out that it is easy to read and understand.

In anycase, Christi is not only teaching us about embroidery and how to make different stitches. She takes us on her own creative tour as of how she works out a new artwork, because yes, just as the books title says, it IS about the artwork of embroidery and the posibilities are endless.

You'll also get a dive into where and how to find inspiration, aswell as a guide about colortheory.
The book also brings up how embroidery has been done and used in different cultures.

And of course, she speaks about differnet threads and tools to use.

I would absolutely recommend this book to someone who have an interest in creating, especially if they already have an interest in design and clothes, but you might aswell make a 'painting' from the threads.

What a lovely book. This is definitely the one you need to learn embroidery. The basic stiches are covered, but what makes this book special is how is takes you by the hand to help you create your own vibe, whatever your artistic background or lack thereof. Just start creating your own embroidered fantasy now !

For artists who wish to tackle embroidery design, this book offers good guidance on creating patterns. Author Christi Johnson embraces the cultural history of embroidery beyond the pre-stamped kits found in big-box hobby stores. Highly recommended purchase for library collections with well-developed craft collections.

I tore through this book-- it was great. Thoughtfully written and beautifully designed. I was the perfect audience for this book-- embroidery is one of my primary hobbies and brings me great joy, though I sometimes feel that I can't access a creative side that would help me develop my own style. I especially appreciated the highlights from other embroidery artists, as well as the concrete activities that I can use to tap into my own unique creative process.

I loved this book! I recently got into embroidery and this book was very grounding for me. I loved how colorful and informative it was. I also appreciate that it wasn't just a book of designs for the reader to copy. It did a great job of grounding the reader in the history of embroidery then empowering them to creating something of their own. I found the reading and design prompts very fun and helpful. I also love the idea of elevating an original artwork/drawing by turning it into an embroidered piece. As an artist I am always looking for different ways to use my skills and this book has inspired me to make so many different piece! Simply Amazing!

I thought this would be more of a how-to, but it's more of a museum on the pages. I enjoyed it nonetheless.

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.

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!.

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.

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.

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!

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.