Needlepoint: A Modern Stitch Directory

You may have tried cross stitch and you have probably seen some Bargello popping up in craft magazines, but did you know that these are just a couple of the huge range of needlepoint stitches out there? So harness your inner Bridgerton babe and get ready to feel totally Austen, as I introduce you to the glorious world of needlepoint.For me, this journey started at the age of seven - not that I realized it at the time. My lovely mum, an avid stitcher, bought me my first kits in a bid to keep a very bouncy girl calm and focused. I remember sitting in our living room, carefully concentrating on a design with three little kittens on it, a cute kit stitched in long satin stitches, perfect for a beginner like me to practise getting her stitch tension just right! From that point on I was hooked. No day trip was complete without searching out the local haberdashery store to try to find more cute and quirky designs to sew.As the years went by, I found it harder and harder to find designs I liked. A chance meeting with an illustrator friend of mine gave me an idea, and after some inspiring chats with kit designer Emily Peacock, I wondered if maybe I could start some design collaborations to bring the kind of designs I'd enjoy onto the market. After a few years of pondering this, and several crippling bouts of imposter syndrome, I finally launched my own kit company, The Makers Marks, in 2019.My kits are a mix of collaborations that I seek out as well as ideas worked up from scratch, often with a touch of 1980s nostalgia, and candy colours and pastels predominate. I'm a big fan of bringing bright, joyful colours into everything I do, including #stitchmondays, my weekly showcase of needlepoint stitches, which was really the starting point for this book. There are so many exciting stitches to explore and I'm here to be their champion.Always worked on an open weave, grid-like canvas, even needlepoint's most decorative stitches are surprisingly easy to master. In this step-by-step

Emma Homent is the creative brain behind modern craft brand The Makers Marks. Emma's designs fuse the cute retro regalia she's nostalgic for with a contemporary aesthetic. She has a lifelong love affair with needlepoint, having been taught at the age of 6. Emma is a regular contributor to UK craft magazines, is a member of the Our Common Thread, a worldwide needlepoint designers' collective and is the co-host of Stitch Club London.