100 Essential Embroidery Stitches is a handy directory of 100 need-to-know freestyle embroidery stitches to refresh or add to your embroidery skills. Embroidery is like ‘painting’ with thread and this book gives you all the techniques you will need to create your own works of art. Whether you are new to embroidery and want to widen your repertoire or just need a comprehensive reference guide to look things up, you’ll find everything you need to improve your embroidery skills and feel confident tackling a wide range of projects. Organised into five main sections, the 100 stitches lend themselves to a variety of different uses. Running stitch, backstitch, chain stitch, split stitch and stem stitch are used for outlining, while others are used for filling and making textures, patterns, motifs and borders. Each stitch is rated for difficulty and is laid out with a decorative stitched sample and clear step-by-step instructions. There are also sections that cover other essential knowledge on tools and materials and preparing to stitch. Main sections include: Lines and outlines, Bands and borders, Isolated stitches and motifs, Filling stitches, Couching and laid work. AUTHOR: Susie Johns is an artist and designer who has written dozens of craft books, including Circus Embroidery, Knitted Woodland Creatures, How to Embroider, Fat Quarter: Bags & Purses and Fat Quarter: Vintage. Her patterns and designs appear regularly in consumer craft magazines in the UK, such as Let’s Knit, Sew and Let’s Get Crafting, and she has written numerous patterns for suppliers such as DMC. She has also demonstrated various crafts on television. She lives in London.