The Geometry of Hand-Sewing: A Romance in Stitches and Embroidery from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making

by Natalie Chanin, Sun Young Park (Illustrator)

This sewing guide reveals a breakthrough method to simplify learning stitches of all kinds, with more than 100 stitches from the simple to the fanciful.As makers, we tend to learn different stitches over time without thinking much about how they relate to one another. But when Natalie Chanin and her teams at Alabama Chanin and The School of Making began to look at needlework closely, they realized all stitches are based on geometric grid systems. They also discovered that learning new stitches—even elaborate ones—became simple and easy when using grids as guides. In The Geometry of Hand-Sewing Chanin presents their breakthrough method, featuring illustrated instructions (for both right- and left-handed stitchers) for more than 100 stitches—from the basic straight and chain to complex feather and herringbone. Photos of both right and wrong sides are included, as well as guidelines for modifying stitches to increase one’s repertoire further. The book also offers downloads for two stitching cards with the grids on which every stitch in the book is based. These printable cards can be used as stencils for transferring grids to fabric.

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

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 7, 2017

About the author

Natalie “Alabama” Chanin is founder and creative director of Alabama Chanin and the author of six books.

Her designs for hand-sewn garments constructed using quilting and stitching techniques have been lauded for both their beauty and sustainability. Made from 100% Certified Organic Cotton combined with up-cycled and re-purposed materials by artisans located near Natalie’s home in Florence, Alabama.

Natalie has a Degree in Environmental Design from North Carolina State University and works simultaneously as designer, manufacturer, stylist, filmmaker, mother, artisan, cook and collector of stories from her home in Florence, Alabama.

Reviews

[Tammy V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything this woman does is beautifully thought through and put together.

40 years ago I regularly designed and worked embroidery, and I taught it in community classes. Nevertheless, I went ahead and bought this book just because I like Chanin's designs and wanted to see what she had to say about decorative embroidery. I wasn't disappointed.

All stitches are illustrate and if you are a perfectionist (I'm not) you will enjoy that she shows you how to use grids for the stitches.

She includes stitches I"ve never seen and some great ideas for applique (which her designs often incorporate).

Newcomer or old hand, anyone who hand embellishes anything (clothing, accessories, wall hangings) will surely find something new to take away and use.

This is a great reference book, and as such you can pretty much make it through at one sitting just to see what's there, but you'll want it in your library to go back and study again and again.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

UPDATE
I’ve had the opportunity to try many of the stitches and have subsequently revised my rating from 5 stars to 3. I have not been able to create many of the stitches by following the given diagrams and instructions. In some cases a Google search led me to accurate instructions. It is a beautiful book that generates great ideas. But research outside the book is required to reproduce them.

ORIGINAL REVIEW
Beautiful stitches — many I had never seen before. The stitch diagrams were difficult to follow in the ebook due to italic text combined with stylized depiction of thread. But I think between diagrams and photos and text explanations I could figure it out. Great resource. Would like to have seen more examples of stitches used in clothing.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

After waiting six weeks to borrow this book from the library, I ordered myself a copy immediately upon seeing it. This is the book on Hand-Stitching that I have been looking for.

The punch templates and the patterns to go with them are brilliant! The charts for all of the stitches cross-referenced with the templates is genius.

I used one of them on immediately with the stitching project I had at hand. This is one book that is going to enjoy heavy usage with happy results.

[Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for love of the title: The Geometry of Hand-Sewing: A Romance in Stitches and Embroidery. It sounds erudite and intriguing.

In reality, I think this book will work best for those of you with rather more spatial perception than I have. My poor dyspraxic brain looked at the images and thought... what?! This is a shame because although I have been embroidering on and off for around 25 years, there were still some stitches/stitch adaptations that were new to me. I will have to look elsewhere for videos of them, I think. I have no doubt from the suggestions that the author is highly practiced and has a lot to share. I only wish it had been a little easier to make notes on the Kindle edition. Unfortunately, the text appears to have been uploaded not as text but as images, which was not particularly user-friendly.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a few things from this book and enjoyed seeing the different threads, but I got the ebook version and it's probably not the same experience as a physical copy. It mentions cards and grids that maybe were supposed to come with the book, and were (perhaps obviously) not there in the electronic version. I do think I will try to come back to this book later when I'm at a point of designing my own things to practice the stitches.

[kerrycat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic photos and directions - an absolute must for beginners and a great refresher for those of us who have been stitching for a long time. The finished work shown is just gorgeous.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a gift from a dear friend for Christmas. Although I knew how to make many of these stitches before (I started sewing at age 9), I confess I did not know all of the names of them, nor had I really thought about using geometric templates for my stitching until I began reading about Japanese Sashiko and Boro about a year ago. I loved reading a little about the history of some of these stitches, as well as going through the diagrams. I learned embroidery by DOING, never by reading, avid reader though I have always been. In that way, this was a bit of a revelation to me—looking at the detailed instructions, having photos of the front and back of each stitch-type, and thinking about how to combine stitches in new and interesting (mostly geometric) ways.

I have always embroidered: I had a pair of cut-off overalls I wore throughout high school and college to which I constantly added designs (all hand-drawn!); I embroidered most of my daughter’s backpacks from Kindergarten on, and I have made many stuffed toys and blankets for my grandchildren and even my youngest nephew. However, I had not ever thought of embroidery as something to be considered as part of an initial design—it has always been an embellishment I added. I am looking forward to embellishing new projects with more purpose and creativity since reading this book. >^..^<

[Ali Deters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep. This is a keeper.

[Allyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for anyone interested in learning embroidery. Author Natalie Chanin has laid out all the information your grandma or aunt never did, not just which needle to use but why and what they’re called. Not just how many strands but which thread and how and why to use it. The stitches are shown in photos as well as diagrams which make them easy to understand. There are even durable practice templates conveniently located in the back of the book that you can use without removing them if you wish. But beyond all that, which is more than ample reason to buy this book, the layout and color scheme are masterfully and artistically accomplished. Laid out simply in soft hues, the pictures are informative as well as soothing to gaze upon. If you have any interest in learning embroidery, this book will be an excellent guide for you.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful reference. I have been a hand sewer, stitcher, embroider fan since high school. People look at me and scoff when I say I hate machine sewing and are shocked when they see the things I make by hand sewing. It is so refreshing to see a book with such depth and the analysis to each stitch. Many of these are stitches I have never tried but will be improving upon my skills with this boo

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm using this for hand embroidery, and it's wonderful. Each stitch design has a written description, at least one picture of how it looks on fabric, as well as line drawings of where exactly to put your needle and in what order- with both left to right or right to left. In addition, and this is a huge thing, in the print book she includes 2 sturdy plastic sheets so you can mark correct spacing on your fabric. With simple stitches this isn't too important, but when you're putting more complicated, or combined rows together, perhaps in a larger size or making a circle design, you want the stitches to be even. Now, there's no more guessing, just put marks on your fabric through the holes in the plastic sheets (your sewing will cover up the marks... I just used a pencil). She has pictures of combined rows of stitches on fabric to give you some ideas.

I picked up a copy of this at my library, tried out the plastic stitching cards with several new stitches, and ordered a book. I don't know how the plastic cards could be included in a Kindle edition. I don't think it would be worth it to not have the cards.

[Heidi Thorsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This contains many of the stitches used to construct and embellish garments in the Alabama Chanin style. Previously, I'd just been looking up individual stitches online as I worked my projects. It will be nice to have the instructions permanently available in this book. I can't wait to try using the templates to make even dots, that should give my next project a nice finish. I especially like the variations listed and examples of combining stitches with two colors of thread, I will be trying them all in time.

[Henry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. A visual delight, and the grid system breaks down complicated-looking stitches in a way that is easy to follow and guarantees even stitching.

My one complaint is that there is no way to keep the stitching cards with the book after they have been torn out. I wish that there was a pocket for them on one of the inside covers, or that the spiral binding had been taken advantage of so that the cards could be clipped back in (like a bookmark in a planner).

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this as a gift and had to read it all before letting it go. Compact but precise guide to stitching for both construction and decoration, with infinite variety, all shown in clear illustrations. The clincher was the plastic templates bound into the back of the book. They can be used for practice, like a child’s sewing cards, or as templates to mark a project.

[Amiee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chanin is a great slow stitch resource that is often recommended to me. This guide to specialty stitches was explained using a system of grids that I thought was easy to understand and apply. It had some nice examples and the photography is clear and shows both sides of the work. This is the kind of book I would buy to reference many times.

[Carolyn Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a COOL BOOK. Natalie Chanin takes simple stitches and principles and uses them to teach age-old techniques in a fun and useful way. The stitches can be functional or decorative, or both. The kind of book I would give as a gift or buy for myself! It is art, and it is romantic, and it is SO COOL.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely with clear instructions

I’m a long time sewist who is always looking to up my game. This book is absolutely lovely. It’s a joy to read, the ideas are great and the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and Alabama Chanin's designs.

[Tzigane Caddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! An essential guide for hand-sewing. Well laid out. Excellent illustrations and instructions, along with a helpful grid template for creating scores of embroidery stitches.

[Marissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library and am definitely going to plan to buy my own copy.

[Karen H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love!!! I will be playing with this book for a long time to come.

[Susan Kluger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good explanations with pictures and templates.

[Krista Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly fabulous book to get a beginner started on pretty fancy embroidery.

[Jaye Sudar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book with wonderful templates.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful book - thoroughly enjoying the information provided - it's well illustrated, informative about stitching - a great & delightful resource.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated technique book.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got it from the library, but definitely buying one for me and giving copies of this. What a great book!! Love the illustrations and photos. Instructive and inspiring.

[Kitri Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference material if you are into learning how to hand stitch.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary!

This is a very interesting detailed instruction guide of how to do any type of hand stitching and the tools and supplies you need to perfect your projects.

[Ro Ags · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

Concise and full of information, clear instructions. Beautiful and useful stitches for any type of project. Now I’m looking other books of this studio.