Lunch-Hour Embroidery
130 Playful Motifs from A to Z
Embroiderers of all skill levels will be inspired by the book’s easy designs, and will be delighted to see how to complete many simple projects in the pockets of time they find throughout the day.
Lunch-Hour Embroidery from Martingale is filled with sweet embroidery designs, accessible for use in a wide variety of projects.
The book offers a rundown of the basics of embroidery, including what kind of fabric, thread, and needles to use; how to transfer a pattern to fabric; and tutorials for ten different stitches.
Designs correspond to the letters of the alphabet, with a two-page spread for each. Along with uppercase and lowercase letters, three designs are featured for each letter, such as layouts for an apple, anchor, and alligator, and for mountains, mittens, and mushrooms.
This strict adherence to form—three designs per letter, always—gets a little silly at times, leading to the inclusion of surprising images like a stitched x-ray fish, underpants, and a zipper—the call for which is likely to be pretty rare.
But the patterns are charming. It’s easy to imagine how they might be combined or used alone within many home décor projects. The coffee and tea designs, for example, would look great on tea towels or napkins. A dog, elephant, and owl could join other cute creatures, and would be lovely stitched on quilt blocks for a playful baby blanket, sampler, or wall hanging for a nursery.
The book emphasizes simplicity, incorporating a few instructions before its pages of stitch samples and charts. Newer stitchers might feel like they want a little more hand-holding, more examples of finished projects, or tips about working on finished goods.
Embroiderers of any skill level with a bit of confidence will be inspired by the book’s easy designs, and will be delighted to see that they can complete many simple projects in the span of a lunch break, or in other little pockets of time throughout the day.
Reviewed by
Sarah White
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
