Stitch Magic with Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn

This guide includes a selection of stitching from different cultures and a selection of contemporary work provides inspiration for experimenting with the basic hand stitches. Chapters give advice on the choice and planning of stitches and the creation of unusual backgrounds. The techniques within different stitch families are introduced - couching, detached chain, twisted chain, cretan stitch, cross stitch, buttonhole stitch and knots - including advice on building them into imaginative, textured surfaces. The text also contains sections on blending and integrating stitches, combining hand- and machine-stitching and using stitches for a specific purpose, such as for texture, joinings, borders, marks or landscape. A gallery section gives an overview of the work of leading embroiderers.

Jan Beaney has been involved in the world of embroidery for over thirty years as a designer, tutor and author. Jan presented the successful BBC TV series Embroidery and has appeared more recently on ITV's This Morning and BBC's Good Morning Anne and Nick. Her previous books include A Complete Guide to Creative Embroidery (co-authored with Jean Littlejohn) and Stitches: New Approaches, also published by Batsford. Jean Littlejohn is a highly experienced embroiderer, teaching widely in the UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Having worked with embroidery for over 20 years, she is a verifier for the City and Guilds examination board. She has exhibited her work on both sides of the Atlantic and contributes regularly to embroidery magazines. Her book Fabrics for Embroidery is also published by Batsford.