The Simple Things

Lifelong crafter and founder of Oh Sew Bootiful sewing kits, Steph Arnold shares her passion for stitching in an encouraging book that celebrates self-expression through embroidery. "Its a great way to be mindful, of looking for the positives in each day," says Steph, as she explains the stitches, techniques and equipment needed to get started on your thread journaling journey. The aim of 365 Days of Stitches is to create a visual keepsake of your year, memorialising the important daily and monthly events with resonant motifs (there are a thousand included in the book) and wonderful words.

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Customer Review

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 havent 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. Theres 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 havent I scaled up before to fit more on?

The stitch guide is by far the best I have used. Ive 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. Theres 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. Ive now got tons of ideas.

The book is a handy size which means its 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, its the perfect present!

Heres to years of creative stitch journaling courtesy of Steph and Search Press!

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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. Ive tried to keep an embroidery journal before but lost inspiration and didnt complete the year. The ideas in this book have my creative juices going and Im 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.