Creative Stitching

I am used to purchasing used books at discounted prices, so this was a big spend for me, and a big gamble. I have found that often other embroidery books that say they have 'a hundred' stitches have really only figured out 50 ways to use the same three stitches (straight, blanket and chain) to make them look slightly different. Then they do the same one's in ribbon and count them as 'different'. Sue Spargo's book is not like that at all. There are MANY different stitches, all beautifully illustrated. Each stitch is well diagrammed so that it's easy to follow along and complete it. Then there are photos of samples using it with different threads and with other stitches. It's great to see what a stitch will look like in wool, cotton floss or cotton perle thread before you even get your needle out.The whole book is embroidery eye candy. Just paging through is inspirational. It is small as someone mentioned, but I think it makes it easier to use next to my work. I tend to work in my lap with the book on the arm of my chair. Since it folds nice and flat with the coil binding, it works great for me. Plus it's packed with beautiful stitches.Sue Spargo is an artist who works mostly with wool felt and perle cotton or wool embroidery thread, and the stitch examples are her work. Hers is a folk art style with birds and leaves (etc.) Her website is [...] if you would like to see similar designs to the book samples. So inspiring! She also has kits, however I've got plenty of supplies near me so I haven't purchased those. The book is well worth the money and I have already used it many times for my embroidery. This has been the best embroidery book I've purchased in a long time.

I have no less than 6 "decorative stitches" books but Sue Spargo has some new ones and her technique of layering and design makes ts book a must-have. This book accompanies her Craftsy class and provides instruction for the projects on her calendar (I have both). Her instructions are thorough, clear and concise, and illustrations helpful and easy to follow. It is spiral bound so I won't have to cut it apart and punch holes for a ring binder as I must do with most of my technique and pattern books (thank you Sue)! I expect to use these stitches for embellishing my appliqué and in crazy quilting.

I would like to say that this is a great book. I read the reviews of both of her stich books. I want to inform stitchers who love Sue Spargo to buy BOTH books. They are different. The first is more of an introduction to her stitching world of tools, fabrics and threads and stitches. The second builds on that with information on texturing fabrics, thread to use with the correct needle to make life much easier for us and beautiful photos of her work. Both books are worth it. I just took a three day class with her and it was FABULOUS!!

Sue Spargo's own work is wonderful, but her skills as a writer of instructional material leave a lot to be desired. Potential readers should know, first, that this is a self-published book, full of distracting errors in grammar and punctuation, as well as peculiar page layouts. Even more important, the directions for producing individual stitches are just plain awful: confusing and frustrating. The ideas for using the stitches will help you imitate Sue's work (or give you ideas for your own), but if you are a beginning stitcher, you'll need a stitch guidebook to help you out. The best one I've found is Marion Nichols's "Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches." Encyclopedia of Embroidery Stitches, Including Crewel (Dover Embroidery, Needlepoint)

My Art Quilt group are all going to get their own copy. They know I am not letting it out of my sight! Sue Spargo has some great designs and wonderful eye for putting stacks of scrumptious stitches together. I have been following her blog and just waiting for her to put them together in a book. The designs look complicated but with her step by step instructions, feel like I can do all of them. In my life, a very timely find...I think there are more out there that need this! LOVE.

This book has been very helpful to me. I am a longtime quilter but had little experience with embroidery and am referring to this book frequently as I tackle a few new wool projects. It is clear, concise, colorful and fun to look at. Excellent advice on threads, tools, and of course different kinds of stitches. Ms.Spargo's projects are lovely, and this book is a must have reference. I also like the smaller size and spiral binding. It fits easily into a project basket.

Beautiful book. I saw a friend's before purchasing. I showed it to a couple of relative's who don't do this kind of work but they liked it so much they said they might get it too and try some of her projects. Sue shows lots of pictures of her stitching and how to do them. Clear and easy to use with a spiral binding to lie flat. A bit pricey but worth the extra money. This book will get lots of use!

Amazing book will keep and use as a reference for years to come. Hesitated before buying because of the cost, open the box small spiral bound book- thought I could return it but opened the book and it was excellent- spent the next hour looking at the book, picked it up each of the next several days- very, very glad that I bought the book...if in doubt I would say yes it is worth it- highly recommend

A great book for those just starting out