Doodle Stitching: The Holiday Motif Collection: Embroidery Projects & Designs to Celebrate the Seasons

by Aimee Ray

Happy holiday doodles! This cheery installment in the popular Doodle Stitching series by powerhouse author Aimee Ray gives embroiderers a festive collection of motifs to try. Of course, it's filled with super-cute Christmas ideas, from Santa's sleigh to the Nutcracker ballet, but also with designs for New Year's, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, Hanukkah, and more. Loaded with more than 20 how-to projects and 300+ new motifs—in the book and on the CD—this is the ultimate year-round stitching resource.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction, Christmas, Holiday, Adult

132 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2014

About the author

Aimee Ray is an artist, graphic designer, illustrator, and author of craft books.

Reviews

[Scottsdale Public Library]

Aimee Ray is back with Doodle stitching: the holiday motif collection: embroidery projects & designs to celebrate the seasons.
What can I say: cute, whimsical and fun embroidered craft ideas for every season and holiday. From New Year’s to Mother’s Day to Dia de los Muertos and everything in between there are lots of projects and ideas. A CD with 300 motifs is included.
A must read to get in your embroidery fix!
-Amy O.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas and resources, for holiday gifts or for decorating your own home. I used this for stitching pattern ideas last year, and this year again, to make tree ornaments, a pillow, and embroider onto holiday cards. The CD included at the back of the book is very helpful, and despite my beginner skills, my projects turned out well. (Library copy)

[Aphelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes Aimee Ray's cute Doodle Stitching style and expands on it, with projects from different contributors including Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive (author of Stitch Love: Sweet Creatures Big Small: Cute Kitties and Cows and Cubs and More...and a Yeti) and Laura "Lupin" Howard of Bugs & Fishes (author 0f Super-Cute Felt: 35 step-by-step projects to make and give and Super-Cute Felt Animals - 35 delightfully dainty, step-by-step projects to create a wonderful menagerie, to keep for yourself, or to give as gifts to your friends) who are two of my favourite crafters!

Although the majority of the projects are Christmas themed, I was also pleasantly surprised to find a whole Year of Holiday Motifs in the back of the book! These include more Christmas patterns, but also some for the other major holidays of the year. The motifs are in colour and can be traced from the book, but there is also a very handy CD with all the project motifs on it, in printer-friendly black and white. Although I did not try the CD, the idea of being able to resize, change or combine different motifs is a major advantage to me, and resulted in the 5-star rating for the book.

Highlights for me included the Felt Star Tree Topper, which I think would also make lovely ornaments in a slightly smaller size, the Penguin Stocking Ornaments, and The Felt Winter Village. Simple stitches and mostly felt construction make this book suitable for a beginner; there is enough information on floss and basic materials to get anyone interested in stitching started.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such cute ideas! I cannot wait to get started especially on the soft nativity set.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on the fence about most of the books in this collection, but I like this one well enough that I plan to purchase it. The instructions are good, the motifs are cute, and the projects are ones I am interested in. The bonus is a CD with scalable versions of all the motifs and templates.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these books! They are so great for simple ideas and great how to explanations!

[Marcie Lovett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Aimee Ray's embroidery designs and appreciate the CD she attaches to the book. This book is filled with Christmas projects, with a few other holiday motifs thrown in at the end of the book. Some of the other holiday motifs could be used on a few of the projects, although they probably would work better for other uses.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Holiday Motif Collection of Doddle Stitching has quite a charming collection of primarily Christmas and winter projects. The rear of the book holds pages of other holiday motifs but no project suggestions. Although I enjoyed browsing the embroidery patterns, they are not unusual or altogether original concepts. I borrowed this book from my local library.