Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery

by Leanne Prain, Jeff Christenson (Photographer)

A Library Journal Best Book of the Year

Hoopla , by the co-author of 2009's bestselling Yarn The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti , showcases those who take the craft of embroidery where it's never gone before, in an astonishing, full-color display of embroidered art. Hoopla rebels against the quaint and familiar embroidery motifs of flowers and swashes, and focuses instead on innovative stitch artists who specialize in unusual, guerrilla-style patterns such as a mythical jackalope and needlepoint nipple doilies; it demonstrates that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles with which they work.

Hoopla includes twenty-eight innovative embroidery patterns and profiles of contemporary embroidery artists, including Jenny Hart, author of Sublime Stitching ; Rosa Martyn of the UK-based Craftivism Collective; Ray Materson, an ex-con who learned to stitch in prison; Sherry Lynn Wood of the Tattooed Baby Doll Project, which collaborated with female tattoo artists across the United States; Penny Nickels and Johnny Murder, the self-proclaimed Bonnie and Clyde of embroidery; and Alexandra Walters, a military wife who replicates military portraits and weapons in her stitching.

Full-color throughout and bursting with history, technique, and sass, Hoopla will teach readers how to stitch a ransom note pillow, mean and dainty knuckle-tattoo church gloves; and create their own innovative embroidery projects. If you like anarchistic DIY craft and the idea of deviating from the rules, Hoopla will inspire you to wield a needle with flair!

With a foreword by Betsy Greer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Art, Reference, How To

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2011

About the author

Author and designer Leanne Prain writes about crafts (especially textiles), design, art, and activism.

Her books are The Creative Instigator's Handbook, Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (co-authored with Mandy Moore), Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, and Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles published by Arsenal Pulp Press.

Reviews

[Arie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's some pretty great ideas in this book - I may have to see if I can nab it from the library a while longer...


One of Sherri Lynn Wood's embroidery-tattooed baby dolls


"Home Invasion" by Sarah Terry"

[Kerfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best of the recently published stitch books I've seen. A combination of showcase, instruction, and projects, and including a wide range of artists, techniques and general inspiration, this would be a good gift for anyone who stitches or loves stitching.

I was familiar with some of the work, but I don't feel anyone here is overexposed or just riding a trend. And of course some appeal to me more than others. I was particularly taken with Sherri Lynn Wood's dolls and banners and the maps of Liz Kueneke, Annie Coggan Crawford and Krista Muir. Ray Masterson's tiny masterpieces (and story), Aubrey Long Ley-Cook's animal/animation, the colors of Takashi Iwasaki, the faces of Cate Anerski and Alexandra Waters, Lynn Kearns' tatto gloves, and the virus doilies of Laura Splan also deserve mention. And I enjoyed the words, attitude, and work of Richard Saja and Penny Nickels as an apt conclusion to the book.

Plenty of references--websites, books and magazines, museums--enough to keep you busy on the computer for days, if not weeks.

One complaint: can we officially retire the word "subversive"? Is there anything left in the inter-and-over-connected art world to subvert? Just make and enjoy what speaks to and for you.

[Lucy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like Yarn Bombing, her previous book, this one covers a wide variety of modern art-embroidery designers, most with a very edgy feel to their designs. There are only a few that I really liked; some I was indifferent to; others I disliked. As with Yarn Bombing, there are some projects included, few of which I'd want to have, much less spend time executing. There's some About Embroidery and How-tos, but they're scattered through the book. Instead of being together at the beginning or the end, you have to depend on the Table of Contents to find them if you're actually looking for them.
It is a good way to encourage you to look outside traditional embroidery styles and think of it as self-expression, no matter what your personal style may be.
I like the interviews with the designers, many using the same questions, but getting sometimes wildly varying answers.
I'm glad I checked this out from the library and didn't buy it. For me, would have been a waste of money and shelf space.

[Roshell Bissett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I have just started embroidery and have been doing it now for a few months. I went to the library to get some inspiration and learn more about the art and found this book. I read it from cover to cover and loved reading the interviews of each artist talking about embroidery. Many different project ideas have sprung to mind because of this and now I feel like I have years of various textile projects set in front of me. What a great feeling!

[Dianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy hand embroidery, so I was drawn to this book.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoopla contains thirty artist profiles / interviews, instructions for nearly thirty projects, embroidery basics, a brief history, and a few resources. Within these 400 pages, there is bound to be something for everyone.

The projects are quite unique. Personally, I found many of them odd and not to my liking — but taste is personal. Overall, I was glad that I discovered this hefty book in the public library, and had not purchased it.

Featured artists whose work I found most interesting include:

- Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching
- Krista Muir, working with Shane Watt, on fictional map piece “Moderato"
- Ray Materson, who taught himself to stitch while incarcerated
- Sasha Webb, and her series of Goddess Women
- Kirsten Chursinoff, layered nature studies
- Aubrey Longley-Cook, animation of running dog, and series “Zombie Zoology”
- Cate Anevski, colorful faces, illustration work
- Laura Splan, doilies and lace-inspired stitching
- Penny Nickels, embroidery based in printmaking

I also appreciated this short list of films where embroidery has a cameo: La Bohéme (1926), The Heiress (1949), Les Brodeuses / Sequins / A Common Thread (2004), The Curse of the Golden Flower / Man cheng jin day huang jin jia (2006), and Bright Star (2009). A number of books, magazines, and blogs are also listed as resources.

[Jo]

This book is thick, packed full of stitchy goodness. Loved the volume and variety of embroidery. The author does a fantastic job of presenting a wide range of artisans from around the globe, each with diverse creations and points of view. There is an instructive element to the book with several projects, but the real strength of this book is as a compendium of what's happening in the embroidery world at this moment in time. There are many, many artisan profiles and features and while it's not new to have multiple contributors to a themed craft book, many of these books have an "in crowd" or cliquey feel; this collection of artisans is so balanced in it's diversity there is something for everyone and the overall vibe is very inclusive. While there is a nice balance of embroiderers worldwide, I was so excited to see so many Canadians featured, as Canucks are so under-represented in crafty books. Recommended for anyone interested in hand stitching arts.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful surprising and artful coffee table type book about modern cutting edge embroidery. you won't really learn HOW TO do this, but you will be inspired to WANT TO. amazing and creative ideas. i think author won best book for this (from nyt's?) and also won for her first book, "yarn bombing" for best book of year. so stunning and inspirational as to blow people away with mundane fabric works that transcend granma's utilitarian doilies and scarves. Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this cover to cover in two days. The artist/crafter interviews are great and the images! I'm a sucker for books about needle art in general, but this one took pains to display unique art from all over the world, sampling a great variety of styles and pieces, as well as providing some good history about needle crafting.

[savanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the contents of the book quite interesting; it changed how I thought about embroidery. I was checking out random books at my local library, and so happened to nab this one off the database. It was not what I expected, but I was still pleasantly surprised. All the artists here are very creative and have given me inspiration for my future projects.

I did find the layout both interesting and confusing. It felt like an adventure skimming through the pages and meeting the creatives, yet the “how-to-do” sections seemed to be misplaced. That could have been an entire different portion of the book, or not there at all. It would have been better experience-wise if the book was more a historical/biographical piece about embroidery and the people who helped shaped the needle-and-thread world.

OVERALL SCORE: 3.75 / 5

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there were more than five stars I could give. This book is the best I've read so far about the art of modern embroidery and its artists. There are great photos, interviews and projects. There are recommendations of books, blogs and podcasts. There are tattoo stitches dolls, male and female artists, and a wealth of knowledge. I loved reading the motivations and journeys of some of the artists. The projects were explained from execution to finishing. It is 400 pages and generous with its references and recommendations. I took this book out of the library but I'll be buying my own copy. It is worth owning.

[Stephanie Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. I could have personally done without the tutorials on how to get started and the patterns, although really cool, also didn't really seem useful to someone who would be wanting to read this book. It seemed all kind of mashed together. overall though, interesting read. It's cool to hear how other embroidery artist gets started.

[Patt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I have been sewing and doing handcrafts since I was 11 years old. I have always searched for new ideas and different ways of seeing traditional objects, this book did that for me. It gave me ideas and stimulated my desire to create something new.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photos highlighting embroidery taken to its limits, from sublime to subversive. I feel so motivated to embellish my art further after absorbing all the great ideas and interviews. This is what more craft and art books should be!

[Annette Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the spirit of this embroidery book. It gives embroidery an update. The projects are cool!

[Sayraphim Lothian · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE this book so much! Love all the projects and can't wait to start on making some of these awesome projects!

[Margarita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful exploration of modern day embroidery and some of the artists that practice it. Also, a few projects to try at home and basic stitches explained.

[Johannah Gage · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely book with beautiful formatting and great pictures -- nothing really new here, but a nice book for the casual embroiderer to flip through.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories. Digital version was disjointed.

[Helyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and a visual feast, but I found it near impossible to locate any of the artists online. It was frustrating and weirdly dated.

[Marj Gaber]

Cool projects! Really enjoyed checking this out.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of great art and craft and this book tells you how to do a lot of it!

The chapters are The Evolution of Embroidery with such sections as tattooed baby dolls, embroidery as art, and manbroidery plus interviews with some of the artists. Charting Unknown Territory has sections on participatory embroidery and more interviews. Another chapter goes over the tools and materials need and a project. Following that are chapters on Stitches, Freeform work, graphics, finishing techniques, resources, and a section with more interviews. There are patterns scattered throughout and then one chapter that is just projects.

Some of my favorite pieces of the art include 14 hoops of embroidery of a dog running in different positions like in a flip book. Another is the embroidery of part of a military drop cloth. The drop cloth had a outlines of the pieces of an M16 assault rifle that was originally used to help soldiers disassemble their guns. The part that's embroidered looked phallic to the artist and he did those pieces in genitalia colors and patterns as well as sexual. I just liked the tie in between guns and sex.

Some projects I really liked were the Wolftastic Scarf (with big canine paws!), placemats and doilies festooned with spiders and bugs, (Fine, I'm weird.) a molecule diagram for Oxytocin, the love hormone, a series of mixed media nature embroider with twigs woven into the fabric to make a frame. The end result has a similar feel as a Gods-eye or dreamcatcher. One that I plan to use as inspiration is a piece of notebook paper with doodles and writing on it. I was also impressed by the nearly photorealistic portraits and of course I love the three dimensional on the cover. Please note that a lot of the artwork is disturbing and/or weird.

The projects start out great with a separate box of what floss and fabric used, and other supplies needed for the project including needle size and items for finishing. The stitches used are included as well.

But that's where the goodness ends. The instructions are in dense paragraphs without illustrations. This is not a book for beginners. I'd say mostly it's for intermediate skills and higher.

Still, this is a fascinating and fabulous book both to look through and for inspiration and ideas.

p.s. One of the projects baffled me. It was a heavily embroidered bed cover with a cat rolling around on it. What kind of crazy person puts embroidery where their cat or dog can scratch it and ruin it simply be stretching and flexing their claws?

[Skylar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoopla is an Informational Nonfiction book, teaching about a subject that provides facts. Informational Nonfiction could include travel books, history books, newspapers, dictionaries, photography books, how-to books, etc. This book provides information about the different kinds of embroidery and different artists who embroider. There are 10 chapters, each with about 6-8 sections. Each section is either an interview with a artist, information about embroidery, or an example of a project. There are lots of pictures of people’s embroidery projects and a few diagrams of designs. There is a table of contents that contains the chapter and section titles and an index that contains vocab, artist names, and project titles with page numbers.

I think the book is organized and laid out in a way that helps readers access and understand the information effectively because there is a great table of contents with everything you need to know on how the book is laid out. Within this book, I think the interviews with the different artists are the most interesting because you get to hear their inspiration and how they feel when they embroider. After reading an interview with an artist, you can see how they find inspiration and maybe try it out yourself. You can also use their tips to help you become a better artist. After learning information about embroidery, you can understand what you are doing and learn new techniques. After looking at examples of projects, you can be inspired to do those projects or make our own projects. I think the author wrote this book in an organized way, but I think it could be even more organized. She could have just put all the interviews in the same section and all the projects in the same section so it is easier to find them. I think the author seems like a credible expert on embroidery because she is very into the arts and has written other books similar to Hoopla. The author seems to have a strong passion for embroidery with a biased towards learning crafts instead of using technology all the time. I usually don’t like reading nonfiction books, but I liked this how-to book. I would recommend Hoopla to people who would like to learn how to embroider and get tricks about embroidering. Also, I recommend this book to people who like non-traditional art. I rate this book four stars!

[Cory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly good -- I sat down to flick through it and wound up reading the whole thing. Very, very quick read because it's visual-and-project heavy. It's a bunch of profiles of embroidery artists -- the usual suspects and self-promoters, and a few others who seem to be less well known but producing really interesting work. There's a lot of beautiful, inspiring stitching photographed, and some projects -- some a bit kitsch for my tastes, but a few that allow a novice to take an idea and develop it further. One thing I found very interesting was that Prain didn't edit what are obviously reflections of conflict in the community -- artists complaining about the manbroidery tag, or about other artists who picture celebrities, and the book finishes on a rather condescending quote where an artist claims not to understand why accomplished stitchers follow the patterns that others make.

I think this was better than the knitting volume Prain did, but perhaps that's because I'm a member of the knitting community, whereas I'm not an embroiderer, so...perhaps I'm more easily impressed with things that wouldn't impress a hardcore stitcher. I would say -- I picked it up from the library, but I'm seriously considering buying a copy to add to my craft library. There's a project or two I want to stitch.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book exploring how many different people use embroidery in their lives, and the great storytelling potential there is in this.

I was interested in the diversity of the embroiderers. I am going to use that term despite some of the people in the book preferring to use the term 'manbroidery" as it is all embroidery, regardless of who has the needle in their hands.

There are stories of people and stories of place. Some people took it up as a way to pass time in gaol, and there are some wonderful project associated with this, and with providing income after gaol. (The British Library work of art for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta has been partly embroidered by prisoners.). Some of the examples in the book are by individuals, and others are collaborations.

There is also background information for getting started in embroidery and some projects you could consider. Embroidery has a lot of potential for linking to local studies in public libraries, and there would seem to be some great possibilities for collaborative work. I really enjoyed reading this book, and am considering trying some embroidery.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. While it does include some patterns and a limited amount of how-to information, it is really an exploration of artists who use embroidery as a fine art medium. The book includes some profiles of artists working with embroidery today. Most of the artists included are very edgy and interesting. The author also includes some history of embroidery as a craft and as art. Gender issues necessarily come up throughout the historical pieces and in the interviews with the artists.

[Kristel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, certainly, but don't think I'd buy it. It's got tons of photos of some really interesting embroidery and interviews with the people who've done it, but otherwise there's not a whole lot there, just a handful of projects and an lingering sensation that everything's already been done.

(I have transferred two of the patterns to fabric and started stitching one of them, so I guess there were about as many useful to me patterns as I find in most craft books - some interesting ideas and not a ton that I'll want to make.)

[Marcia Hyde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book for people interested in subversive art, embroidery art, or both!
I am committing the cardinal sin of writing reviews here, because I didn't actually read the whole book, but I did read some from each chapter in this book.
As someone who is REALLY into embroidery as art (not just craft), I liked this--the authors scoured the world to find true embroidery artists. Very inspiring. Warning: not for little kids! There are some pretty racy things in there. There are some "swear words."
A fun book for artists or just something to flip through and read here & there.

[Kimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great place to start for anyone interested in the wide world of embroidery. While there is a relatively brief section that focuses on the mechanics of embroidery (stitches, materials, etc.) it mainly revolves around interviews with various artists along with photos of their work. As someone just starting out with embroidery I found it very inspiring to read about how many of these accomplished artists had started out the same way I did: developing an interest and picking up a needle and thread.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I'm biased. Three of my projects are included in the book, as is one of my sister's.

Gorgeous works of embroidery by an eclectic and very diverse group of textile artists is included in an omnibus of interesting embroidery. Patterns, how-to's, and interviews make it a fascinating and hands-on read. I kept pouring through my copy when it arrived, and not to look at my own projects -- instead, to be in awe of the vast array of talent included in the book.