Crafty Reading Inspiration

I love craft books and I don't think you can ever have enough. They are lovely to have and although they are not always the type of book that you read from cover to cover, they are great to dip in and out of for inspiration. 

The neatest section of my craft bookcase!

Here are the latest additions to my crafty reading inspiration...

If you've been reading along lately you'll know that I'm really getting into embroidery, so when I spotted The Stitch Bible by Kate Haxell I treated myself to a copy. There are some great traditional embroidery books out there, but I find this book refreshing as it gives a quirky modern twist to the traditional techniques.

The book is arranged into sections focusing on stitch techniques, such as Freestyle, Crewelwork and Drawn Thread and there are some great projects to use these stitches at the end of each section, like the boldly stitched Smartphone case above, which is embroidered using Hardanger stitches. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and trying out some new stitches! (I'll post the pictures!)

I've also just bought this book, Woolly Embroidery, which is a translation of very cute Japanese embroidery patterns, focusing mainly on Crewelwork, Stupmp Work and Canvas Work. Being a real magnet for all things wool, wool embroidery really appeals to me. I'm looking to combine Harris Tweed with wool embroidery for some new jewellery pieces, so I'm excited to jump into this book and get inspired. 

The first section of the book is dedicated to very sweet woolly embroidery designs for items such as cushions and bags, followed by a "How To Stitch" section and the tutorials for the featured designs. I love the "can do" focus of the book- the whole ethos is centered around "If you can sew a button, you can embroider" and it encourages you that whatever you stitch will be lovely because it's hand worked, even if it's not perfectly stitched. It really fills you with the confidence to experiment with freestyle designs too. 

So I'm off to start embroidering! What great crafty books have you discovered lately? Share them in the comments below!