365 Days of Stitches

I have seen many of these embroidery samplers on social media, each one personal, telling a story of the individual and their year long journey. I don’t think you need to be an advanced embroiderer to be able to create a beautiful doodle of your days, months and year. It is a wonderful way of highlighting special events, moods and things to remember. It will also be a mindful and relaxing way to spend an hour each day to reflect on how you are and what you doing. This book is just divine. From start to finish Steph Arnold holds your hand and gives you quality advice, from sorting your threads, choosing your fabric and the size of your hoops. There are step-by-step visual and written instructions for 15 embroidery stitches which are so easy to understand you really cannot go wrong. -- Tracy Shephard * createcraftread * Having taught textiles for over 17 years I could have done with this book back when I started. Out of all the many books I have gathered over the years I haven’t been as keen to use one as much as this. In this book Steph covers everything from what you need to get started, how to attach your fabric to the hoop and how to finish your piece ready to hang on the wall. All the steps are supported with photographs and illustrations to make it super simple especially for the newbies and younger stitchers. There’s even some iron on templates to help you start creating your personalised embroidery journal. They are large in size which was a lightbulb moment. Why haven’t I scaled up before to fit more on? The stitch guide is by far the best I have used. I’ve seen so many over the years but this one beats the rest. All the stitches are broken down into 4 or 5 steps (something I try and do as a teacher so as not to confuse and put them off). Steph and the Oh Sew Bootiful team are masters at not overcomplicating things. The photos are plentiful and the book is laid out in a way that is accessible to all. Sometimes I struggle with ideas but with this book it is easy to find inspiration. There’s a quick reference contents page at the front of all the sections and at the back an index of all 1000 motifs. The alphabet, numbers and diacritics are really handy too. The way each motif has been illustrated and photographed stitched up means you could adapt existing ones to personalise them such as changing the colour, adding symbols etc. The addition of the featured artists and their creations is brilliant. Ultimate goals right there. I’ve now got tons of ideas. The book is a handy size which means it’s perfect for popping in my kit and taking on my travels. The Great Outdoors section is going to be used on repeat (and the Sweet Treats! Overall 10/10 and 5*. You will not be disappointed and neither will all the stitchers you gift it to, it’s the perfect present! Here’s to years of creative stitch journaling courtesy of Steph and Search Press! -- Sue Riley * Customer Review * This book is beautiful. There is full colour photography throughout, showing each of the motifs stitched into a sampler, shown by season, occasion and theme. There are example embroidery journals and information about people who have kept them, as well as guides to stitches you might use. There is information about supplies to use and how to go about keeping you journal, there are even iron on transfers to set the journal up in different ways. I’ve tried to keep an embroidery journal before but lost inspiration and didn’t complete the year. The ideas in this book have my creative juices going and I’m going to get started on a journal straight away! I definitely recommend picking up this gorgeous book for inspiration for a fun and exciting way of keeping a record of the little happy moments in life as a keepsake to look back on in years to come. -- Naomi Markham * Customer Review * Keep a personal embroidery journal to reflect on life events and occasions over one year. Record events a day, or a week at a time but, whatever your approach, this is a fun and visually appealing way of keeping a diary! * Machine Knitting Monthly, October 2023 * Steph Arnold invites readers on a year-long adventure of self-expression through embroidery. If you like the idea of thread journaling then this is the book for you! Steph shows how to keep a diary in a visually appealing way, and how to enjoy recording life events as an exercise in mindfulness. There are 1000 motifs designed by Steph for you to select from as you create your journal. A must-have guide for experienced thread artists and beginners who are looking to take on a mindful creative project! -- Stitch Magazine * Issue 145 * Textiles have historically acted as vehicles for recording lives through stitch. It seems that over recent years, there’s been an increase in people using stitch to create, more specifically, embroidered journals as a record of their lives. This is the first book that I’ve come across that is specifically aimed at supporting and inspiring people to keep an embroidered journal of their own. [...] This is a really beautiful book which is jam-packed with ideas, motifs and creativity. It has beautiful photography throughout with a really clear and easy-to-follow format. I’d highly recommend it for anyone interested in embroidery, stitching, journalling, creativity or textiles! -- Naomi Clarke * naomialice.co.uk *