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Books that move your craft and business forward.
Explore a considered shelf of books for makers, digitizers and custom-product businesses. Every title is selected for a practical reason — so you can spend less time searching and more time making.
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Recommended reading for the work you do.
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22 selected books
Book
The Complete A-Z of Embroidery Stitches
Inspirations Studios
A hand-embroidery reference for finding and comparing stitch techniques.
Book
Raffia Embroidery
Tihara Smith
Explore raffia as a decorative hand-embroidery material with a distinctive surface character.
Book
The Textile Artist: Sculptural Textile Art
Priscilla Edwards
Explore textile art that moves beyond a flat surface into sculptural form.
Book
Chloe Giordano Needlepainted Woodland Animals
Chloe Giordano
A hand-embroidery reference focused on small woodland animals and needlepainted detail.
Book
The Textile Artist: Expressive Stitches
Jan Dowson
Explore expressive textile work where marks and surface texture help communicate an idea.
Book
RSN Stitch Bank: 200 Essential Embroidery Stitches
Royal School of Needlework
A hand-stitch reference for exploring a wider vocabulary of embroidered marks.
Book
The Royal School of Needlework Book of Embroidery
Various authors / Royal School of Needlework
A broad hand-embroidery reference for comparing techniques and planning further study.
Book
Needle Painting Embroidery
Trish Burr
A hand-embroidery reference for exploring needle painting and color transitions.
Book
Appliqué Art
Abigail Mill
Explore appliqué as a way to construct a picture from fabric, color and stitched detail.
Book
Machine Embroidered Art
Alison Holt
Study freehand machine embroidery through landscape, texture and the natural world.
Book
Freehand Machine Embroidery
Poppy Treffry
A creative reference for freehand machine stitching and sewn accessories.
Book
Free Motion Embroidery
Katie Essam
Explore free-motion machine work as a way to draw with thread and fabric.
BookIntermediate
Embroidery Machine Essentials - Applique Adventures: Companion Project Series: Book 6
Mary Mulari
A short project book for machine appliqué that goes beyond the basic method. It shows how to work with altered fabrics, overlays, backgrounds and layering, across 13 pro…
BookBeginner
Tiny Stitches: Buttons, Badges, Patches, and Pins to Embroider
Irem Yazici
Small-scale hand embroidery for making your own patches, badges, pins and buttons. The book offers 50 motifs and 20 beginner-friendly projects with step-by-step instruct…
BookBeginner
Embroidery in 10 Lessons: Step-by-step instructions for first-time stitchers, plus 10 designs for denim, shoes, linens and more
Juliette Michelet
Ten short lessons for first-time hand stitchers. They cover transferring a motif so it sits exactly where you want it, starting and finishing neatly, the essential stitc…
Book
The Embroidery Stitch Bible: Over 200 Stitches Photographed with Easy-to-Follow Charts
Betty Barnden
A hand-embroidery stitch dictionary with more than 200 stitches, from basic chain stitch to Florentine canvas work. Each stitch gets step-by-step instructions, a diagram…
Book
Punch: Digitizing for Embroidery Design
Bonnie Nielsen
A digitizing book by a professional puncher with more than 25 years in the embroidery trade, written for people who create stitch files for industrial embroidery machine…
BookBeginner
The Complete Machine Embroidery Manual
Elizabeth Keegan
Aimed at sewing-machine owners who stitch ready-made embroidery designs. It explains the types and file formats of designs, how to get a downloaded design onto your mach…
BookBeginner
Modern Machine Embroidery: 11 Projects from Pickle Pie Designs with 25 Must-Have Embroidery Motifs
Lisa Archer
Written for people just getting started with an embroidery machine. Step-by-step instructions cover stabilizer, thread, fabric and hooping, then move on to appliqué, cus…
Book
Pocket Guide to Stabilizers: Carry-Along Reference Guide
Sue O'Very
A 56-page carry-along reference that does one job: helping you pick the right stabilizer. It explains the main types, including tear-away and cut-away, and matches them…
BookBeginner
Embroidery Machine Essentials: How to Stabilize, Hoop and Stitch Decorative Designs
Jeanine Twigg
Covers the whole home-machine embroidery process in one place: choosing designs, thread, stabilizer and needles, then hooping, placing the design and stitching it out. M…
BookBeginner
Machine Embroidery With Confidence: A Beginner's Guide
Nancy Zieman
A plain-spoken beginner's course in machine embroidery. It walks through the tools you need, setting up the work area, machine types, choosing designs, positioning with…
Why this shelf exists
Practical recommendations, not an endless list.
A focused point of view. We choose books that can help a maker, digitizer or customization business solve a real next-step problem.
A clear reason to read. Each listing explains why it earned a place on the shelf before you leave the University.
Respect for original work. Covers, authors and purchase or publisher links stay connected to their original sources.