View source for Stitch It Simple: 25 Hand Sewn Projects to Make and Share by Beth Sheard

{{infobox1
|title=Stitch It Simple: 25 Hand Sewn Projects to Make and Share
|author=Beth Sheard
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=Crafts
|summary=Twenty five projects of varying difficulty, using lots of applique and stuffed forms.  Some will give inspiration to the more experienced stitcher - but there are many which could be completed by children with minimal help.
|rating=3.5
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=128
|publisher=Taunton Press
|date=October 2014
|isbn=978-1627107594
|cover=1627107592
|aznuk=1627107592
|aznus=1627107592
}}

Beth Sheard has created twenty five projects of varying degrees of difficulty ranging from simple makes which could be completed by a child with minimal help and supervision through to a quilt which would engaged the more experienced sewer.  Throughout the book there's plenty to inspire every stitcher and it's all supported by examples made in glorious fabrics.

As with most craft books we start with the basics - preparation, stitching, basic appliqué and finishing techniques.  These were a little longer than I would have liked - it felt like just too long before I was looking at something I might like to make.  I quite see the point of having the information there, but I do wonder if it could have been differently arranged, as I have a suspicion that it could be overwhelming to the inexperienced sewer.

There's a wide range of projects, starting with a tree lamp shade, for which you can use an existing shade or buy new and scraps of fabric could make the trees.  I loved the fabric letters which follow.  These are made from bright fabric which is hand stitched and then stuffed and there are lots of possibilities for using the finished product.  They're all upper case, but I suspect that using the templates for lower case letters might have proved too difficult. The stuffed letters are followed by alphabet pennants - a string of letters which can spell out anything of your choice.

Sheard leaves us tips throughout the text - the sort of things which experienced stitchers ''know'' without having to find out the hard way.  It's particularly relevant on the envelope cushion cover where there's harder wear on certain areas of stitching and these can be protected by backstitching.

Mobiles are very effective - I imagined the butterflies in front of an open window or the elephants in a child's room.  (Child's room?  Who am I kidding?  I think I might have some of these in the office!)  My favourite project though is the letters and numbers mini quilt, with the letters A through to F and numbers 1 to 6 appliquéd onto bright backing fabric and stitched together to form a quilt of thirty by thirty-nine inches.  It would be a lovely gift for a child or perfect as that quilt you keep for when you just need something extra when you sit out in the garden.

As well as the projects I've mentioned there are others for bags, aprons, table runners, cards, placemats, a door stop, a wall tidy, a needlecase and a pair of slippers.  It's a fun book and if you've just started on the stitching road then you could well have found a treasure.

If you're just starting on working with wool fabric then we think that you might enjoy [[Hand-Stitched Home: Projects to Sew with Pendleton and Other Wools by Susan Beal]].

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