Little Stitches: 100+ Sweet Embroidery Designs

by Aneela Hoey

It's grown-up playtime! Choose from more than 100 original embroidery designs, hand-drawn with a modern take on retro style. Aneela Hoey's illustrations are printed on transfer paper to use and reuse―tear out the page, trim out the design, iron it down, and stitch away! Learn 11 easy decorative stitches plus techniques for adding texture, then embroider these charming images on 12 whimsical and practical projects, perfect for keepsakes or gifts. Projects include a baby quilt, cushion covers, cozies for jars and tissue boxes, and more. Embroidery is the perfect handwork to take along anywhere you go!

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

152 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was way shorter and simpler than I expected.
But it had patterns at its end

[Maisey Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative about different types of stitches and how to do them. The patterns weren’t for me. I would have loved to see more leaves and flowers.

[Lilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book with a few dozens of easy yet very cute patterns. I did use a few of them and I am in love with the result !
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Une collection de très jolies broderies faciles à réaliser. J'ai utilisé quelques unes et suis très satisfaite des résultats.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've known how to embroider since I was a young girl, though limited to a few basic stitches. This book provides various stitches and techniques to help expand my skills. So while that's inspiring, none of the projects got my creative juuces flowing.

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her designs, though there is not a great variety. I'm not a big fan of her actual projects (what, may I ask, is the purpose of a cover for a box of kleenexes?) but I would happily put her designs on other things.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's quite a lot of really cute patterns on here. Weirdly only a few hit my "gotta make it!" brain button.
The swing on the cherry tree.
The squirrel.
Most of it wasn't really my bag as far as wanting to make, but all of it, if someone made it for me, I'd be chuffed!

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice ideas to get my creative juices flowing. Great details on how to do the stitches.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

a good overview of the basics although felt that it did not really give a range of techniques or ideas. Good for a beginner

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

It contains a very well explained how to-do list of all basic stitches with drawings. Then some projects you can follow or get inspired by.

[Jaime Lyerly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good detailed instructions to make the designs, but I didn't like the designs. They looked too child-like for me to put the effort into stitching according to these directions.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Little Stitches' has to be in my top two favourite stitching books! It is completely full of beautiful designs to stitch and then projects to use them in. I would recommend it if you are starting stitching, as the guide for stitches is clear and easy to follow and you could start straight away with the projects. I make my own designs but I learnt plenty from it and I'm still gathering inspiration from it now. There are over 100 sweet designs from rowing boats to hedgehogs, all in a unique style and I love the way Aneela uses the embroidery thread for texture.
There are plenty of alternative designs to pick from in the back of the book, with transfer and traceable patterns to put onto the cotton and then stitch into.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very few projects and not a large quality of motifs which are all very whimsical which seems to be the rage right now. I like it in moderation but these are too much and not particularly interesting. There's a plethora of people motifs which is just not something I'm drawn to for embroidery, and certainly not in this quantity. Plus they all look the same.

There are a few motifs of animals that I think are adorable and a few of sewing and embroidery objects which aren't common but are nice for making accessories for crafts. I don't think the stitch instructions are very good but ea h project has a grid for explaining what stitches in which color are used for each piece of the motif. There are also adequate instructions in the back for how to make a quilt for one of the projects.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute and modern embroidery patterns. Lots of little boys and girls to ply your needle on, as well as easy to follow directions on how to perform some basic stitches and how to individualize your pattern by varying the stitch or the thickness of the floss. Cute book, but not cute enough to buy. Just borrow from the library as needed.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book motivated me to pull out embroidery floss and shop for hoops. The patterns aren't my style as it's a bit of a vintage, cutesy approach to stitchery and I prefer a different twist. However, the approach and design ideas were inspiring and will help with technique in my own designs.

[Helena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable patterns, clear instructions for projects and also clear how-tos for various embroidery techniques. I think I might have to add this one to my collection (I don't dare use the iron-on transfers from the library copy!).

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's just not my style. I'm wanting to get into cross-stitch, and I just didn't care for the designs & projects in this book. On the up side, the basic stitch instructions and images were pretty easy to follow, although color images would have been more helpful.

[Chriseda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the embroidery patterns as much as I'd hoped I would (just a little too twee for me) but I did come away with some good craft project ideas for my embroidery.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of cute embroidery projects. I'd like to own this one.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

So very cute.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does a good job of explaining basic embroidery stitches. Provides lots of simple designs, but they don't personally match my aesthetic sensibility. OK for artwork, good for teaching.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some cute designs and basic projects -- again, too cutesy for my taste. Still, pretty to look at and a really good explanation of types of stitches and when to use them to certain effect.

[Angela Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great embroidery book! A bunch of patterns that I am excited to use!