Mandell’s anthology here reveals how fabric can be more than fibres. It can strengthen our human times, our social complexities. This title is not directed at a homey cosy audience, it craves the thoughtful, the engaged citizens we can all become if we so desire. I will put it this way, a needle and thread will never be simply observed by you the reader as cold silver and floss again.

Couffe shows how this method can be practical and of use, with many hood bound samples and also some gift related pieces, such as purses and mobile phone cases.

Of mind or matter, mending a mind, mending a material….now more than ever, we all yearn for more vital forms of repair than finding a hole in ones’ sock and locating a way of patching it together again. It isn’t just our visual outerwear which needs cared for - it begins inside. We now live within a society of mental health matters, of a relieving openness surrounding those formally uttered in ‘whisperic’ (yes I have just made that one up) tones. Within this title, Smith connects the requirement for inner repair to the outer repairs which are textile art inclined.

Textures from Nature in Textile Art: Natural inspiration for mixed-media and textile artists

Written by Marian Jazmik

Published by Batsford

This is her first published title. As an artist her focus seems to be on incorporating mixed media with her embroidery offerings. We will come across such methods as using heat distressing to develop highly fruitful textures, how to focus on details from nature to inspire our art, heat guns, soldering irons, dyeing…..the list goes on.

Simplistic pleasure can be found via the act of a stitch. This lesson is one Smith endorses within the pages of this title. Slow stitch as a term has become ever fashionable. I know myself as a tutor, the classes most sought after are those with a mindfulness edge. I hear of lunch hour art classes, small caplets of time snatched together in a pledge for a better work setting and frame of mind.

Textiles Transformed: Thread and thrift with reclaimed textiles by Mandy Pattullo explains that we don’t have to look far to be inspired, and that vintage materials and techniques can be combined to create treasured timeless pieces….

How Art Heals: Exploring Your Deep Feelings Using Collage, authored by Andra F Stanton forward authored by Tien Chiu

As a practicing artist myself, I specialise in the practice of repair via making. So this book in title and thematic matter was tempting. Often we run away from emotions, grief is to be quietly subtle, broken….we don’t admit. Yet what if we were allowed to discuss it? Art should be a part of our lives.

Hand Stitched Quilts, authored by Carolyn Forster published by Search Press

It has become a fashion within the arts to take things at a slower pace, enjoying the moment, smelling the roses as it were. Yet on a personal level, I had never before connected this “skill” of the pace with the technique of quilt making. Yet Forster has isolated this niche within her title.

Does even the title ‘dressmaking’ scare you? As an artist and practitioner in the textiles field, it still has that affect on me. It seems unapproachable, too mathematical a skill to teach my messy artistic brain. Yet within this Search Press title, Helen the author pieces together all the information we need to know and filters out what we don’t.

Moments matter, don’t let them scatter.

It shouldn’t have taken us as humans a worldwide pandemic to stop and smell the roses as it were; yet lets’ face it, it did.

Everyday. As a word, we judge it as ordinary, mundane, dare I say it: Boring, without any magic.

Holmes, within this title sets herself up to turn our provisional definition of the ordinary around. I stake you not to leave this book without promising to yourself not to lack appreciation for our wonderful world again.

First thoughts? I felt out of my depth, the front cover shows a sample of perfectly placed, shaded stitches, forming a few nature posed motifs. I am an embroiderer, however I enjoy creating my ‘version’ of events. This seemed in binary opposition to my own practice….how could I aspire to this neat world? Yet I looked within, and now deem this to be more than a traditional fixed title, let me explain.

A Fine Tradition 2, More Embroidery by Margaret Light

Published by Search Press

This book is the second offering from Light on this subject matter. On first glance from the covers perspective (I am afraid I missed the first published title) I thought: ‘Lovely but very traditional’. This can be read as a negative, a book for only the walk the line embroiderers.

Woven garments, woven rugs, interior items….often we associate this method of making with out of reach notions. We may all want to have as go on an industrial sized loom, yet how many of us will achieve that aspiration? Imagine though, if it could be made accessible, achievable whether you want to be a “loom traveller” or work from your home / studio.

Reflections, Echoes & Aspirations, by Jan Beaney & Jean Littlejohn

Book 27

Double Trouble enterprises

Post covid19, many suffered some form of emotional change. Did you use the change in circumstances to alter your life? Many did. I know that I became a lot better acquainted with my local area! For these artists and authors, instead of dwelling on the world climate, they centred their eyes towards their talent and used their gifts for good.

s this publication only for those working in interior design? As an artist covering a variety of techniques, this book made me curious, as to its worth or sitting within my mixed media textiles leanings. However I throughly enjoyed its filled nature combining sketches and diagram with text alluding to building our drawing skills. This is obviously a book trying to reach out to the budding interior designer.

Hand-Painted Textiles: A Practical Guide to the Art of Painting on Fabric, authored by Sarah Campbell, published by Herbert Press

The title gives away the inside story - there is no cover story to confuse here. Campbell is an artist herself practicing within this field, she has become a brand and was working in tandem with her sister, until her sad early death. She is a professional, a key example of a designer who has made her artistic practice work as a sustainable career. She has written books before and with all her experience and back-knowledge in the field, a publication with matter is proffered.

Making and Drawing by Kyra Cane. Who is it for? I just love the mixed media multi faceted nature of this publication. As a mature student, I remember my old university lecturers bandying on about it. So yes, I went out and certainly purchased a copy.

From best-selling author and crafting queen Claire Gelder, this gorgeous mini guide is packed full of knitting know-how, practical illustrations and comes with four simple projects.

In The Art Of Repair, the introduction is her personal story, the rest is all connected back to her personal story. Within The Art Of Repair, you will sense and read about many mending techniques; Kantha, Boro, Darning…they are all explained with true sense. But it is the writing around the methods which holds the magic.

Create Naturally is a marriage between the natural word and the artists who work within them thematically. With fifteen artists showcased and a foreword by Kaffe Fassett, this book will inspire you to get outdoors before you begin your own creative pathway.