Stumpwork Studio: a Review and Giveaway

I’m so thrilled to have been asked to participate in the blog tour for Megan Zaniewski’s second book, Stumpwork Studio: Mastering 3-D Embroidery. I had an absolute blast with her first book, Stumpwork Embroidery and Thread Painting, and have even used it in some of my academic work. Stumpwork Studio includes 15 gorgeous nature-inspired projects and you’re going to want to stitch them all–I do. Read on for my full review, see what I made, and find out how you can win your own copy!

Once again, Megan has presented a thoughtful and accessible book. You will find everything from what supplies to look for (and they don’t have to be exact!!) to how to accomplish every single stitch and project. Nothing is out of reach. Tutorials, patterns, and so. many. pictures are there to absorb. I think a confident beginner can accomplish these without having much prior stitching experience. And for experienced stitchers, you will learn new tips and tricks to make life easier.

I obviously needed to stitch up a project. Did you know that spiderwebs symbolized good luck in Victorian-era stitching? When I saw Megan’s Blackberry Bramble, I knew that’s what I wanted to make. It has so many fun elements (like all of her designs!) and if you’ve been here for a while, you know I love wrapping everything so I couldn’t pass up those branches.

Now, in true me fashion, I started with what I had on hand. To transfer the pattern, I traced it onto Sulky Stick ‘n Stitch. And, because I’m lazy, I just used the pen I had next to me.

I dug and dug through my fabric stash and couldn’t find anything close to the gorgeous red Megan used, so settled on this piece of Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements. I also couldn’t find the Kreinik Blending Filament that I *know* I have, so used a single strand of DMC 415. You’ll see that the stitches aren’t as clean as the filament would have been, but it works.

If you haven’t used Stick ‘n Stitch before, you just run it under water to dissolve. It gets kinda gross mushy as it does, but it ultimately makes this type of project super easy.

I’ve said before that my favorite travel souvenirs are craft supplies. I had these clear beads on hand from a visit to Asheville a few years back. They’re a bit bigger than the project called for, but I think they still worked. I didn’t use as many as in the book because they’re bigger. The beads mostly follow Megan’s placement but I also stitched some to try to hide some of my wonkier stitches.

I didn’t have the exact thread Megan called for but had plenty of variegated greens–I settled on this Classic Colorworks in Pea Pod. Now, remember when I said experienced stitchers will learn new tricks? I’ve wrapped so many things over the years, including these exact floral wires. Have I ever run them across a glue stick to make life easier? It never crossed my mind.

So, full disclosure, my Blackberry Bramble is obviously not finished. The leaves were something I couldn’t make with what was in my stash, so I ordered what I needed but it didn’t get here in time. I also tried making the berries with beads I had, but they just weren’t right at all, so I ordered what Megan calls for. So, the fun news is that you’re not finished seeing this project. I think it’s such a fun start, though, and I *could* call it finished (but I’m not going to!).

Ok. You’ve listened to me fangirl about Megan and Stumpwork Studio. What you really want to know is how to win your own copy! It’s super easy. Head over to this Instagram post. Like it, leave a comment, and that’s it! This giveaway is for an e-book and isn’t sponsored or connected to Instagram in any way. I will (and only me!) contact the winner through DM on Instagram, so make sure you can see messages. The giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on Wednesday, April 22 and the winner will be contacted on Thursday, April 23. Leave a comment with any questions or just share your excitement with me!