Mystical Stitches

I absolutely love how this book takes simple stiches, clear tutorials, and creates ideas and meditations that would allow for some free-flowing embroidery creativity! I would have loved for there to be a couple hoop patterns, however. But, I do really love this book and how it will challenge my embroidery craft to be more creative and push boundaries in that area. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for the review!

This is an amazing book! I don't always think about the connections between my mind and the craft projects that I am working on. This book has really made me think about how I look at the things I am making.

Not only does this book hold many beautiful motifs that I want to stitch onto everything (I can sense a clothes dive coming soon!), it also contains some lovely ways to help your creativity flow. I wouldn't say that I am very spiritual but I do enjoy yoga and find many benefits in meditation when I am getting stressed, so looking at crafting through the methods in this book is fascinating to me. That does not mean that you also need to be into these things to find something in this book.

I think it has a very fresh perspective on crafting and I love that Johnson encourages the reader to do whatever they feel. There is no judgement in this book to create the perfect thing, only to find what makes you happy and create something that means something to you.

This book really has made me think about my daily crafting in such a different way and I think that many crafters will also find the magic in these pages.

This book has some great ideas in it, with plenty of easy explanations for those who are new to embroidery. I really enjoyed the way it brought stillness, slowness, and meditation to the forefront, as a way of practicing mindfulness while stitching. I loved the designs and creative ideas scattered throughout the book as well.

A beautiful book about stitching, symbols and calming rituals. The book starts of as a practical guide to stitching. It covers materials, methods and easy to follow tutorials. But the book also covers the art of creative rituals and the meaning of different symbols. A wonderful comprehensive guide to mystical stitching.

Wow, to say I am surprised is an understatement. What a truly enriching and spiritual outtake on crafting, and its benefits.
When I read the title "mystical stitches" I expected a tutorial on how to embroider different beasts and lore. To read the description of the book I found out it was much much more than that.
I thoroughly appreciated the authors guide on accessing our creative and our emotional flow through this book.
The step-by-step guides were clear, concise and helpful. I cannot wait to improve my own work further through practicing the techniques and emotional considerations seen throughout this informative creation.

This was a beautiful, calming, and meditative read. I started embroidery this year and I am looking forward to working some of these patterns!

What a beautiful book! I love how the author shows how the use of simple stitches, with clear and concise tutorials, helps create ideas and meditations that encourage your creativity with free-flowing embroidery work. I find this to be a fantastic instructional book and feel that it will challenge my embroidery crafting skills by encouraging me to relish my creativity and encourage me push boundaries in asset and expression.

I would like to thank Christi Johnson, Storey publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and enjoy this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have pre-ordered and followed online. What a wonderfully guide to a timeless hobby. This fit the bill for exactly what I have been looking for personally. There is something calming and meditative in needle work, be it embroidery or knitting. Creating with a purpose is even more special. I cannot wait to receive my copy and begin my creative journey.

Beautiful book! The illustrations are not only instructive and easy to follow but so pretty! I love the idea of using creativity and crafting as a spiritual and meditative practice. This book teaches you about mysticism as it can relate to embroidery and teaches you the practical skills involved through several informative projects. Wonderful book.

I’m what you would classify as a beginner sewer, but my cohorts where I am sewing, disagree! But, we are, are own worse critic! Now, I definitely am a beginner at doing embroidery and this type of style of sewing!

I enjoyed this book because the instruction was extremely detailed and explained enough that as I am a total dingy, but I could follow the directions.

The graphics were superb and her overall look of the book was phenomenal and I loved it and would definitely recommend this book to anyone!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

Let me just start off by saying what a beautiful book this is. I enjoyed the way it was written, the layout and the photos but as a complete novice, I think I was expecting more in the way of actual patterns.

I will absolutely use this book when I’m more confident in what I’m doing, I just adore anything Mystical and this book didn’t let me down. It also inspired me in my other craft hobbies (knitting & crochet).

This will be a great addition to my craft bookshelves.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Brilliant book, perfect for encouraging new or experienced embroidery artists and inspiring new ideas. I'm a beginner to the craft but as a long time cross stitcher and sewist I'm ready pretty handy with a needle and thread, but wanted to learn more about the stitches and get some ideas. This book gives me all this and more. I love the bohemian, ephemeral style of the designs and think this will be a firm favourite that I'll turn to again and again.
Beautiful photography, clear instructions and helpful guides.

Embroidery has been around for centuries, and this book takes a look at how artistic symbolism can help us to manifest change in our personal lives. This book suggests that creativity is a jumping block for magic, and introduces us to the idea that imagery is the basis for spiritual and inner communication. I loved the idea that intention is tied to our subconscious mind, which prefers to speak in symbols, and that by working with images and patterns we can boost our spiritual power. This is something I will take with me and continue to think about as I create art.

This was a wonderful read, thank you to NetGalley for sending me a free ARC!

I love the designs in this book!

I have always found that crafting things helps me to find peace and it is nice to see a book that goes along with that idea and goes into much more depth.

The designs are beautiful, the photographs are amazing and this book will help to encourage your mystical, creative self to keep creating wonderful things.

This beautiful book is a great addition to an embroidery book collection for someone who is looking to add a little magic to their embroidery. While I normally do hoop work and this focuses more on clothing, I still find the designs and their meanings to be quite inspiration. It also made me want to try sewing designs on clothing, which I probably will shortly. It has clear and concise instructions for not only the common stitches, but also the designs themselves. If you've never embroidered before and are looking for a magical way to get into the art, this book is for you.

As a fairly new embroiderer and someone with an interest in the occult this book was perfect for me. The pages where they showed you the different stitches was a great instructional piece for new embroiderers or a helpful reminders for people like me who knew the basics but usually need a refresher on the wide variety of stitches available. Although it doesn't include any patterns, it did inspire me to replicate the designs in the book. I also found it wonderful that there was some information about the different symbols and what they could be used for.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in embroidery and the occult and I will be picking up a copy for my sister-in-law.

This copy was kindly provided to me by the publisher and Netgalley for review. All opinions are my own.

This book is just so gorgeous. Beginner friendly with easy to follow instructions and so much inspiration! I literally can not wait to take up my tread and needle to make a plain denim jacket. Absolutely beautiful work throughout.

This book is wonderful and packed full of new stitching projects to try, I still haven't worked through all of them but hopefully will, a must for crafters.