Mystical Stitches
Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment
Christi Johnson’s Mystical Stitches encourages spiritual forms of artistic expression. Part arts and crafts book, part meditative spiritual guide, it reveals the power of symbols, showing how to create them through fiber arts.
The book centers on crafting a unique talisman, or “a physical representation of the changes we wish to call into our lives.” It explores the healing, affirming power of symbols, meditation, and the creative process itself, drawing on Johnson’s lifelong love for handcrafted fiber art. Its work is packed with practical tools, from stitch instruction to a treasury of symbols, including shapes like the circle and ankh, zodiac signs, and symbols representing natural elements and forces. Its larger projects include bags, clothing, and jewelry. All have free-spirited styles. While every stitch is done with excellence and care in mind, the final results are rugged in their beauty.
These projects accommodate crafters of a range of skill levels because of their detailed directions and insights into art basics, like how to choose colors. The stitch key at the end of the book is thoughtful and clear, helping to explain every shape and symbol in the book. Throughout, the book invites deep self-expression that embodies, through tangible visual symbols, the power of the spiritual imagination.
The welcoming illustrations and photographs balance softness with bold colors, showing meditative concepts at work in the final projects, from yoga-inspired stretches to the intricacies of different types of stitches. They are easy to understand, helping novices to gain crafting confidence.
The fiber arts crafting book Mystical Stitches has deep spiritual roots.
Reviewed by
Melissa Wuske
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.
