Pom-Pom Forest Animals

Susanne Pypke

Stash Press (C&T Publishing)

Previously I reviewed another title by this same artist and author, on another pom-pom theme - birds. Now she has turned her attention to all the more furry than feather finds, the creatures who live amongst us, yet not generally with us.

Pom-Pom Birds

Susanne Pupke

Stash Books (imprint of C&T publishing)

As a child, did you ever dabble with wool? If so, you may have learned how to make a simple pom-pom. Most of us only challenged a colour choice, never the shape or what a pom-pom could be - become.

Fantastic Felted Cats

A Guide to Making Kitten Figures

Housetsu Sato

Tuttle Publishing

This book focuses on the feline, guiding readers through every stage to create felted cat figurines. Each project has a numbered step by step pattern to follow with related imagery. This book contains all the templates too.

Sew Lingerie

Maddie Kulig

Stash Books

Maybe you have thought about making your own clothes; the usual skirts, dresses….have you thought about what lies beneath? At times, finding something to fit can be a nightmare, the too tight knickers….do not try to pretend you have never had a disaster that way.

Needlefelting an illustrated guide to creating characters from wool

Michelle Hickhan

The Crowwood Press

As a young artist, who was totally new to anything relating to the textile genre, I remember first teaching myself how to felt; then needle felt. I actually gained confidence using these skills which led me on to a career in textile art as a whole. Why did I begin with these? Because they were reachable, easy to learn and results could appear before my eyes in a beautiful way.

Dare I admit it, I find the art of crochet currently beyond my stress ability. What do I mean by this? I come to my life as an artist, via fine art, the messy end of the tactile. No ruler in view, no pattern to behold. Yet this art form and yes it IS an art form in my eyes, is one I envy others and would secretly love to master. It is mathematical, methodical….almost otherworldly at times.

The feel of a stitch, the reminiscing of by-gone days…..a child’s view of the house old, a memory. We do not need to look far to find security, it can come right from within the place we spend most of our time - home. As humans we seem to be obsessed with harking backwards…things were better when….I wish it could be like that…again. So why not let this infiltrate into our artwork too?

Within Textile Creativity through Nature, there is a definite focus towards the felt, again wool being a natural medium - lending to her love. Its about what you can do with the fibre, not just seeing a flat piece of felt.

Creative Mending

Beautiful Darning, Patching and Stitching techniques

Hikaru Noguchi

Tuttle Press

Mending matters - these two words definitely apply to this offering. This subject matter is timely, we have hot a period of dare I say mending as cool. I

Peter Panda and Pals

10 Sweet and Easy Amigurumi Designs to Crochet

Femke Vindevogel

Search Press

Do not be put off by the small size of this book nor its cute persona. I first discovered this form of crochet via a beautiful lifestyle store on holiday. In this relaxed location, I would totally visualise making some myself.

This ‘20 to make’ idea is a series with all different subject areas included by Search Press. This publication sits in a stable hardback cover at a small but mighty (Approx A5) size; making it an ideal travel companion.

What is Furoshiki? Madly, this is no new textile fabric fashion, this is a key part of Japanese history which has spun the years, whilst coming into fruition in a variety of years depending on the time period. In its beginning, it was customary to only use these wrapping techniques for temple objects - precious. As we have moved into a throw away society, it now holds a new import

We may have succeeded in having less plastic and food waste, but what about the rest of the throw away society which seems to have become the norm? Financially, it may feel less of a strain to purchase cheaper clothing and interior items, but often they are not appreciated, thus yes we do just bin and forget.

Poetic Woods

Experimental Watercolours and Collage

Ann Blockley

A niche subject matter - yet universal. As an artist who is heavily mixed media and textiles based, I was surprised to open this title and find skills which I could easily add to my tool box of creative activities.

This book is simple, bold with so much packed into its little pages. With this artist as a guide, learn how to create thirty patterned pieces to then add all to one quilt. Personally though, I do not see why you need to do them all and add them all. They could all be beautiful one of patterns to illustrate and beautify any interior. I am already imagining making covers for cushions using up to just four of the patterns at once.

Within this title, Botelho showcases twelve projects which focus on the zoomed in view. We are not looking at landscapes here, this book is all about the finer detail of many a natural environment which we often tread through and never really appreciate. Take for example the sand beneath our feet, the bark of a tree, the inner cavities of a shell. Next time you go for a walk, try to remain present, with a focused view - what could you photograph and depict within your own stitchery?

Blackwork, Whitework….traditional in form…yet are they still relevant to our current art lives now? I questioned myself decades ago, as a virgin student, new to the tactile and loving all mess related methods. Could I ever pull off something this neat? I will wager that if I could, at age seventeen master this form of embroidery, then so can you.

I have always found flowers inspiring for my own creative practice. Not just within themselves, but also developmental thoughts - what could be done with them? Can I grow them? How to dry them? In fact….which ones DO dry?

Within this book, Jost provides a simplistic list highlighting all the ones we cab in fact dry successfully. (page 14-19) She is a well known florist, so she has the life experience to provide us with an accurate text.

What is improv? Many of us like to have a plan to work from when embracing textile methods - we are all aware of many books and tutorials which lead us through a step-by-step journey. This is often applied to the subject of Quilting. This book turns that walk the line on its head. Imagine having a bit of fun, improvising, creating a piece which isn’t perfect? This book showcases how to add a little of an edge to your quilting practice.