Book Review: Whimsical Stitches vol. 3

Mary Legallet,self-published, 2022, ISBN: 978-1-7339461-3-1

Because of paper shortages, this book was delayed and only came out late last month, but it’s worth the wait. This is the best of Mary’s books so far.

You’ll find all the aspects that are win her earlier books – stitches organized by look or technique, a chapter devoted to small stitches. links to pictures on Instagram, and lots of open stitches. You’ll also find one stitch per page with large clear diagrams. The book is missing the compensating stitches often found in her diagrams, but she makes this up with plenty of stitches that use more than one thread, bringing an exciting aspect to her work.

The new features in the book improve it greatly. First there are stitch notes for the majority of stitches, giving the reader ideas on how to make the stitch or ways to vary it. Second she has added numbering to her diagrams. Because her diagrams shows several rows, she’s able to put numbering for different parts on different rows. For example, a tied stitch might show numbering for making the basic stitch on the first row, with numbering for the ties on the second. This helps keep the numbering both clear and instructive.

The best part of the book is her new effects index. Every stitch is listed in alphabetic order in a table. The columns in the table first tell you the page number for the stitch and the chapter it’s in. It’s the next columns that give you the pay off. They list seventeen types of areas you’ll find on canvas and put dots in the ones where that stitch will work. You’ll find stitches for trees, water, animals, birds, and backgrounds along with others.

Look down a column to find stitches that work for that kind of item. Look across to see where the stitch would work well.

So often we find ourselves wanting to know where a stitch would work. This innovative and easy-to-use feature does just that.