Slow Stitch: Mindful and Contemplative Textile Art

by Claire Wellesley-Smith

The pleasures to be had from slowing down can be many, with connections to sustainability, simplicity, reflection, and tuning into traditional and other multicultural textile traditions.

Slow Stitch is a much-needed guide to adopting a less-is-more approach, valuing quality over quantity, and bringing a meaningful and thoughtful approach to textile practice.

Claire Wellesley-Smith introduces a range of ways in which you can slow your textile work down,

Richly illustrated throughout, and showcasing work from the best textile artists who work in this way, this is a truly inspirational book for those looking to reconnect with their craft and to find a new way of working.

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

128 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2015

Reviews

[B. Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic. Not only does it include further reading, it also includes many, many different artists. (It comes back to the author & her practice, but she efficiently weaves her own practice into the practices of others.) I actually found myself in these practices as well. For so long I've spoken about how I work with transient materials and how I value the memory in old fabric and repetitive processes, but I've never been able to find artists that synced up. Well, it turns out they exist and they're very articulate - describing things in ways I only wish I could.

The other nice thing about this book is that it describes different stitches, dye methods, and piecing methods without coming across like a pinterest board. You can tell from reading that the author is brilliant and has thoroughly studied textiles. I feel like I am finally headed in the right direction for my art reading. Onward!

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why do people not understand that 'mindfulness' is merely (overused) marketing speak? I did not learn anything new from the book - it's all been printed before. And for me, art has to be something which moves me, which impacts my soul. None of the 'art' in this book came anywhere near that. I was disappointed. Cas Holmes book, Stitch Stories, tells the same story as this one but does it much better. Her art is often gentle and thought provoking.

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soo fantastic.
Had to return it to the library before I was really done with it, but I got the gist and am planning on starting a "stitch diary" now.
Art that's more about the process than the end result totally speaks to me (and is good for me). I do really love making practical and/or beautiful things, but hand-stitching whatever I feel like as a meditative practice sounds amazing.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have given this book more stars except it seems very close to Jude Hall's blog Spirit Cloth.

[Anya Toomre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful philosophy, beautiful cover, pictures and stitching. Lots to be inspired by n this book.

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book.

[Glo Sollecito · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is ideal for anyone who would love to explore the experience of stitching in a free expansive way. No rigid patterns, specific stitches or rules. I love the artfulness of thought, contemplative nature of her approach and the attention to seeing the deep beauty that comes from time and use. It also happens to be perfect for our times. I read it really S-L-O-W, a page or two at a time as a part of my morning practice.

[Amanda Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me, a fine introduction to the personal benefits of and reasons for hand stitching, some nice ideas and close photos of work, and some inspiration. This isn't a how-to book, there are no projects, and the resources aren't particularly helpful in the US, but I still found some great ideas, especially around using natural dyes.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was full of truly lovely work, but it was largely in essence "fine art" textile work, which felt slightly at odds with how the book valorizes historically practical textile work. Would love a similar take on slow stitching that incorporated practical textiles like garments, housewares and quilts.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of stitching as contemplative work, as well as reusing old fabrics, but I don't know what she does with the work pictured. It is neither finished nor presented, and if I stitch for hours, there needs to be something done with the work at the end.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and beautifully illustrated. There are snapshots - photos and stories- of pieces from community projects and individuals. All are beautiful and heartfelt pieces of work which bring together what it means to stitch slowly and mindfully and really appreciate reworked fabrics. The work celebrates a different mode of making and binds together history and stories. It’s also really good for you, with stitchers commenting that it’s good for their mental health. A real antidote to mindless consumption.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book I believe I found from its mention in "Sharp Notions." The cover demonstrates the kind of work included in the book, and the movement of this sort of stitching evolved from the Slow Food movement. Plenty of pictures. Not a how-to, but rather a presentation of ideas, including topics of materials, techiniques, introduction to Kantha and Japanese boro traditions, as well as mending and piecing, and stitching individually and communally. The mid-rating is simply because this type of craft is not quite my interest.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not living in an environment that would support all the wild growth, plants to make dyes, twists to add, singularity of time available to pursue what is essentially, fine art. It's a dream world for me. I do quite a bit of stitching, mostly machine, but I'm no stranger to hand stitching. My current focus is on mending, repair, recycling, upcycling and general repurposing cloth/fabric to have another stretch of usefulness.
I have no objection to embracing the art and artfulness of stitch. I'm just on another journey.

[Mandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. There were some good project ideas and advice, but a lot of it just came off as pretentious to me somehow. I may take a too practical approach to textile arts, in that I create things to be used somehow. The author of this book does do that, but most of her examples are pieces of tattered cloth that are naturally dyed and hand stitched together to create an art piece that has meaning to the creator, but not necessarily to the onlooker. So while I enjoy hand stitching or "slow stitching," this book was not really for me.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Non-fiction November 2019 - Design (1). Explains how the slow movement developed and inspired many aspects of life, here in stitching artistry involving several different approaches from using material and dyes locally produced to discovering what you have on hand to re-purpose. Reading this book and studying the photo illustrations lowers the blood pressure and puts one in a contemplative mood to begin incorporating slow stitching into one's own creative practice.

[Robin Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read about this book in a Facebook group and being the old stitcher I am I thought I should see what is now called slow stitching. We've always been slow by the way. Claire Wellesley-Smith has done a very nice job of explaining her process, tools, and fabrics, as well as given us a list of resources. Her book indeed, inspired me, since I've been wanting to stitch again. My only wee complaint (I bought the Kindle book), the pictures are lower resolution so taking a much closer look is blurry.

[stevegahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book

This is the first book I have read of this sort, and what a great book it is. Its very well written, extremely interesting with a nice blend of history and technique and encourages you to have a go at slow stitching and how to go about it. Its really inspired me and I very much recommend it.

[Charlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives the reader the history of the slow stitch movement along with materials and techniques to incorporate. Wonderful photos of works are included to enjoy or to try to emulate techniques and stitches. Specific projects are described. There is enough variety to provide something for any stitcher--a nice collection for the needlework aficionado.

[Teena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subtitle of this book tells it all - Mindful and contemplative textile art. There is a current focus on ‘slow stitching’, enjoying the process rather than rushing for a quick end result, using (or re-using) unusual materials, and creating art rather than taking a ‘colour by numbers’ approach to craft.

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books about slow embellishments and this one is a good one for ideas. There are a lot of books on this subject but this one has good photos and instructions for a number of projects. It is a good book to get through the library and see if you want to buy it for your own personal library. It is a good read. If you would like to start slow stitching, this is a good resource.

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You might want to pick this book up. As soon as you hold it in your hands, you'll want to open it.
I was surprised by how interesting this book turned out to be.
I never had a name for all the embroidery stitches I have learned, but now I know they are my "stitch vocabulary".
I also learned about "soft fascinations" and "desire paths".

[Vivian Wiltshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had heard of slow stitching before and thought I would give it a go but this book does nothing to make me want to do this technique....if you can call it that. To me its like a mish mash of stitches and textiles and not in a good way. Definitely not my thing or style at all and so I did not like this book but did enjoy looking at the textiles so I gave it a 2.5 stars out of 5 stars!!

[Emma Filtness · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book, wonderfully illustrated with great photographs that pick up and showcase the details of texture and stitch. A thoughtful, reflective and practical book full of inspiration for those interested in a slower and greener practice.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The slow movement is a movement for all of culture. Food, art, clothing and more. This is a beautiful book. The art portayed uses natural fabrics and simple stitches. I would love to try the natural dyeing techniques as well.

[Ambur Taft · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting & imaginative but way to chaotic for my crafting....I had to look at it as an artwork book and appreciate what each person has created and the thoughts behind hand stitching as a therapy and a lost tradition and not as a book I would purchase and use as a reference.

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow Stitching

This is a great introduction. When I finished reading it, I wanted to rush down to my studio and drag out all my threads and saved fabrics from my mother and mother-in-law and do something creative, something that was my own, but still part of them.

[Yellowoasis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful, inspiring book. Forget the fusty, dusty old image of hand sewing - this book urges you to get a needle and thread and some fabric and just start. I'm looking forward to her next book with eager anticipation.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading a number of books in this vein I think this is one I enjoyed the most- less of a step by step instructional book and more a discussion of the techniques and the art and meditation of slow stitch.

[Tia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book inspiring. I enjoyed learning about different textile artists and techniques and motivations. I love some of the ideas. I even have done some natural dying now because of this book. Now I just need to get stitching

[Danna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did get some inspiration out of the book but was left wanting more on both the stitch as meditation side as well as variety of techniques and inspiration. Seemed too heavily weighted towards promoting the author’s classes and seemed to be missing a clear focus.