Stitch Stories: Personal Places, Spaces and Traces in Textile Art

by Cas Holmes

The events of your life, from local walks to exotic trips, can provide endless inspiration for textile art. This inspiring book shows you how to record your experiences, using sketchbooks, journals and photography, to create personal narratives that can form a starting point for more finished stitched-textile pieces.

Acclaimed textile artist and teacher Cas Holmes, whose work is often inspired by her life and the journeys she makes, helps you find inspiration through your own life and explains how to record what you see in sketchbooks and journals, which can often become beautiful objects in themselves. She explains how you can use photography, both as documentation and as inspiration, and sometimes incorporate it into the work itself, along with found objects and ephemera.

Throughout the book are useful techniques that can be harnessed to add extra interest to your work, such as methods for making layered collages, how to 'sketch' with stitch, and advice on design and colour. If you want to create beautiful, unique work inspired by your life and travels, this is the perfect book for you.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts, Sewing

356 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2015

Reviews

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It seemed to take a unique approach compared to other similar books I've encountered. It is partly a book about art, highlighting the work of several professional artists (including the author, Cas Holmes) who work in textiles and mixed media. At the same time, it's a "how-to" book, with tutorials on specific processes like gelatin printing. And it offers inspiration and advice on the broader topic of thinking like an artist (advising to keep a journal of art ideas, observe nature closely, etc.) It helps the reader move from appreciating others' art to feeling it is possible to make one's own art. It's also a beautiful book, with a velvety fabric cover. Delightful all the way around.

[B. Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I appreciate about the textile books I've been reading is not only do they have a lot of "recipes" for how to do things, but they also contain a wealth of information in the back - artist's websites, art suppliers, further reading, bibliographies... lots of stuff.

This had several artists I didn't know about before. That's the thing about making art, you have to be informed about what other art exists. I'm starting to see a contrast between textile art that I knew about before and the textile art I've been studying recently. It's fascinating, and I'm going to keep learning about it all.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume Cas Holms discusses how textile art techniques can be used to produce narrative works that tell stories about nature, personal histories, politics, etc. She includes the work of many textile artists as examples and offers many exercises to try with detailed directions.

What I enjoyed most about this one is how Holms draws inspiration from so many different sources: nature, history, tragedy, etc.

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book by Cas Holmes. She is one of my favourite textile artists but this book is full of inspiration from a variety of artists. The quality of the commentary, photography and layouts never disappoint, not to mention the luxurious feel the hardbacks always have. This is a book I will be coming back to time and time again.

[Joann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully inspirational book for stitchers.

[~Anita~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cas Holmes reuses how tos on her basic methods in her books. Other than the one on collaboration which I haven’t read, I would recommend picking up her most recent book.

[Rebecca Goldthorpe]

Massively inspiring!

[Karly Drake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book and very inspirational. I read it just to stir my imagination and it did!

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

beautiful

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and inspirational, a beautiful textiles journey.

[Chils27 · Rating 5 out of 5]

glad to borrow this book from the local library. it introduces many artists and techniques, very informative.

[Beki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely inspiration and some great tips. Found some beautiful artist's work inside

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so different to two other books published by Batsford recently. Some of the ethos driving all three authors, is similar, but the results are very different. Cas' art is gentle and much of it floats in its space. She gives generously from her experience. Very inspirational - I am about to start some small collages, as she suggests, to further develop my own creativity. Thank you Cas.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book.
An inspiring stroll through mixed medium stories with snippets and pondering from the artists and their friends. Insightful advice and practical exercises.
One to keep on the shelf.

A book I keep coming back to.