Craft / “Improv-Embroidery”, Carol Cooke. Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE.

THIS book brings embroidery to everyone, including those who have never sewn before. It starts with the most basic items used including needles and thread, scissors, and fabric.

The author, Canberra artist Carol Cooke, tells us that the idea behind this is to make the stitch journey fun.

She suggests readers begin by drawing. She also recommends that, if you don’t think you can draw, try tracing or copying shapes and images, to help your hand-to-eye coordination.

The author reminds us that the embroidery will tell a story – even if it is not intentional. Fortune cookies and Haiku poetry are written words that might help as inspiration.

Cooke describes “stitch meditation samplers”, small pieces of fabric that become samplers for experimenting with stitches. They are a useful way of experimenting, learning how to use a needle and thread, and relaxing into the process, rather than the outcome.

Perhaps surprisingly, rather than at the beginning, more than half-way into the book, Cooke describes a range of basic stitches. These are clearly illustrated and easy to follow. Other instructions she gives are similarly clear.

Cooke does not give a list of projects that gradually become more difficult, as other books do. She encourages experimenting with something that appeals. The book contains many handy hints – gathered from students and teachers – and those she discovered herself.

There are suggestions for how the embroiderer can create different projects. The important thing is to remember that you should be having fun. As she says, see the possibilities, jump any invisible barriers and get excited about the experiences.

Embroidery “can be a place of escape, a place to be still, in silence”. This book encourages you to invent, or create your own work, rather than following patterns and instructions. After all, “improv” means break free.

At  Instagram #cookeart where visitors can also see the types of embroidery the author has completed and examples of other works.