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A Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Hoopla, by the co-author of 2009's bestselling Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, showcases those who take the craft of embroidery where it's never gone before, in an astonishing, full-color display of embroidered art. Hoopla rebels against the quaint and familiar embroidery motifs of flowers and swashes, and focuses instead on innovative stitch artists who specialize in unusual, guerrilla-style patterns such as a mythical jackalope and needlepoint nipple doilies; it demonstrates that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles with which they work.
Hoopla includes twenty-eight innovative embroidery patterns and profiles of contemporary embroidery artists, including Jenny Hart, author of Sublime Stitching; Rosa Martyn of the UK-based Craftivism Collective; Ray Materson, an ex-con who learned to stitch in prison; Sherry Lynn Wood of the Tattooed Baby Doll Project, which collaborated with female tattoo artists across the United States; Penny Nickels and Johnny Murder, the self-proclaimed Bonnie and Clyde of embroidery; and Alexandra Walters, a military wife who replicates military portraits and weapons in her stitching.
Full-color throughout and bursting with history, technique, and sass, Hoopla will teach readers how to stitch a ransom note pillow, mean and dainty knuckle-tattoo church gloves; and create their own innovative embroidery projects. If you like anarchistic DIY craft and the idea of deviating from the rules, Hoopla will inspire you to wield a needle with flair!
With a foreword by Betsy Greer.
With hilarious DIY projects, like needlepoint nipple doilies, Hoopla proves that there's a place in every woman's heart (and wardrobe) for some cheeky thread work. —Elle
Prain (co-author of Yarn Bombing) offers out-of-the-ordinary designs, starched with humor. Informative and inspirational interviews with embroiderers prove they don't sew like their grannies. But Grandmother would approve of the practical sections—on history, tools from needles to the humble thimble, types of embroidery, and finishing techniques. —Publishers Weekly
Prain’s examination of the world of alternative, free-form embroidery is both inspiring and educational. Part art book, part guide, it will appeal to crafters who are looking for something beyond the stamped patterns available in big-box craft stores. —Library Journal ("A Best Book of 2011")
Projects don't disappoint, with directions as clear as the designs are funky: handkerchiefs emblazoned with microbes, a modern cuckoo clock stitched on Aida cloth, and knuckle-tattoo church gloves. —Booklist
If you thought embroidery was just for hankies and little girls’ church shirts, you will quickly dispose of such nonsense when you peek into the colorful pages of Hoopla ... the how-to portions of the book are beautifully interwoven with inspired photographs and thoughtful interviews with embroidery renegades whose work is like nothing you’ve ever seen. —Foreword Magazine
Leanne Prain: Leanne Prain co-founded a stitch-and-bitch called Knitting and Beer in order to expand her skills while knitting at the pub. A professional graphic designer, Leanne holds degrees in creative writing, art history, and publishing. She lives and crafts in Vancouver, BC.
Jeff Christenson: Jeff Christenson is a Vancouver photographer.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Betsy Greer
Acknowledgements
Chapter One: A Craft of Misconception
Taking Stitching Seriously
The Slow Stitch
Tattooed Baby Dolls: An Interview with Sherri Lynn Wood
A Brief and Incomplete History of Embroidery
Embroidery Today
Manbroidery: An Interview with Johnny Murder
Poetic Threads: An Interview with Tumim & Prendergast
It Takes All Kinds: Types of Embroidery
Embroidery as Art: An Interview with Jenny Hart
Chapter Two: Unknown Territories
Participatory Embroidery: An Interview with Liz Kueneze
Diarizing Eating Habits: An Interview with Abby Krause
Embroidered Place-making: An Interview with Annie Coggan Crawford
Embroidered Contradictions: An Interview with Laura Splan
Were I So Besotted: An Interview with Iviva Olenick
Sins and Needles: An Interview with Ray Materson
Chapter Three: Tools and Materials
Stitch Like You Mean It
Kitted Out
Needle Me
A Fine Thread
Project: Rain and Snow Cowl
Hoop Dreams
Cut to the Chase: Scissors
Choosing Your Fabric
Stabilizers
The Humble Thimble
How to Transfer Your Designs
Chapter Four: Stitch-witchery
One Stitch Wonders
Basic Embroidery Stitches
Counted Cross Stitch and Needlepoint
Project: Wolftastic Scarf
Project: Eye to the Sky Pocket Protector
Painting with Thread: An Interview with Kirsten Chursinoff
Project: A Creature of Curiosity
Chapter Five: Freeform Work
Colorful Abstractions: An Interview with Jacque Lynn Davis
Project: Wide Ruled Scrawl
Elevating Ordinary Objects: An Interview with Andrew J. Phares
Project: Photo Feelism
Clever Canadiana: An Interview with Sarah Haxby
Bliss in a Teacup: An Interview with Rebekah Nathan
Project: Against the Grain
Chapter Six: Graphically Inclined
Animated Embroidery: An Interview with Aubrey Longley-Cook
Cross-stitching Pixels: An Interview with Eliot M. Henning
Project: Along for the Ride
Project: The ‘Always Prepared Pouch’
Intentional Abstractions: An Interview with Takashi Iwasaki
Unnerving Needlework: An Interview with Brette Gabel
Oddness and Illustration: An Interview with Esther Oh
Project: Paulo and Stella Totebag
Double-Take: An Interview with Cate Anevski
Project: From One Mutant to Another Wall Hanging
Chapter Seven: Unexpected Stitching
Project: All Good in the Hood Quilt
Project: Eat the Kitsh Apron
Project; Evolution or Revolution Wall Hanging
Project: Knuckle Tattoo Church Gloves
Project: Microbe Hankies
Project: Obsessive Beautification
Project: Hip Hop: Ode’s to the One’s & Two’s
Project: Home Invasion
Project: Love Gun
Project: Oxytocin Notion
Project: Make Your Own Luck Wallet
Project: Ransom Note Pillow
Project: Bosom Buddies
Project: Chug Like a Champ Pillow
Project: Modern Cucuclock
Chapter Eight: Finishing Techniques
Your Plan of Attack
Keep It Clean
Drying
Trimming Loose Ends
Pressing Issues
Display and Storage
Project: All A-Flutter Necklace
Chapter Nine: Stitching Resources
Embroidery Blogs and Websites
21st Century Embroidery: An Interview with Jamie Chalmers aka Mr. X Stitch
Make it Social
Around the World in 80 Stitches
Flossy Flicks
By the Book
Project: Guerilla Embroidery
Chapter Ten: Without Reservation
Meet Me in the Dayroom; An Interview with Alexandra Walters
Unusual Embellishment: An Interview with Claire Platt
Public Embroidery: An Interview with Ulrika Erdes
Rebel Toile: An Interview with Richard Saja
Subverting the Traditional: An Interview with Rosa Martyn
Project: Bite the Hand That Feeds You
Making Art All Day Long: An Interview with Penny Nickels
Index