book review // stitched style blog tour

I'm so honored to be participating in the blog tour for Stitched Style! This recently released book contains 20 projects and 65 embroidery motifs, and if you like anything remotely floral, you're gonna want to stitch it all. And here's something cool...the designs were inspired by vintage bandanas! Love that!



Sometimes I'm embarrassed to admit that I have been missing out on seeing fantastic blogs, companies, and the people behind them. Such is the case with the author of Stitched Style. Amy Barickman of Indygo Junction has a wonderful style and her products and projects are so full of color and life! Take a look at her impressive summary of work:

Amy Barickman is the founder and owner of Indygo Junction and Amy Barickman LLC. She is a leader in the sewing and needle arts industry, having released nearly 1000 sewing pattern titles, sold more than two­million patterns and published 80 books. Named one of Country Living Magazine's prestigious Creative Women Entrepreneurs, her recent book releases include Amy Barickman's Vintage Notions: An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion and Fun, and Indygo Junction's Fabric Flowers. In 2013 Amy released her 15th fabric collection with Red Rooster Fabrics as well as her debut fashion denim line with James Thompson Inc., Crossroads Denim. Through her blogs, websites and e­newsletters, Amy inspires crafters to explore their own creative spirit and experiment with the newest sewing, fabric and crafting techniques. To keep up to date with Amy, visit IndygoJunction.com and AmyBarickman.com.




Stitched Style is set up a little differently than many craft books. The cover (front and back) is covered with full color photos of the projects, and the internal pages contain simple illustrations and instructions. In fact, most of the pages are devoted to the motifs, which come with traceable designs on one side, and iron-transfer patterns on the other.

Normally, I wouldn't like the idea of cutting apart a book (my mom was shocked at the thought!), but I wanted to give the transfer a try. Plus, I was using some of the Crossroads Denim (thanks, Indygo Junction!), and tracing with fabric like this is harder. And guess what? Having the iron-transfer made my project super fast and easy!



What do you think? Cute headband, right?

The instructions were very easy to follow (even with only the one photo of the finished project to look at), and it went together pretty quickly. In fact, I see myself making more of these with other fabrics and motifs. The only thing I struggled with was satin stitching on the denim. But then, that may be my perfection not liking my own stitching...

Bottom line, as I said, if you like stitching florals and making fashion and accessory items, you'll love this title! It's not the type of thing that I usually stitch (you know how I like my faces on things!), but these designs are so pretty and perfect for embellishment that I'll wear and use all the time.

Now, for some important pieces of information!

First, if you order Stitched Style directly from Indygo Junction, you can save 20% by using the code SSBT14 at checkout.

Next, I'm happy to say that you can enter to win a prize pack including a copy of Stitched Style, some Crossroads denim, embroidery floss, a hoop and needles! This giveaway is only open to US residents, and you need to be 18 years old to win. Enter using the Rafflecopter box below (you'll need to be at the actual blog to do this, so if you're viewing in email or a reader, come on over!). Contest ends January 24th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Also, remember that this is a blog tour, which means there are a lot more places to visit and check out their thoughts and even enter to win the book on their blogs!

1/13 Flamingo Toes
1/14 Today’s Creative Blog
1/15 Designs in Machine Embroidery
1/16 Tip Junkie
1/17 Wild Olive (You're here!)
1/18 Amy Barickman
1/20 Cool2Craft
1/21 We All Sew
1/22 Kollabora
1/23 Sew Mama Sew
1/24 Indygo Junction

And finally, see that last stop on the tour? You won't want to miss that, because that's when Indygo Junction will be hosting a mega giveaway on January 24th. Good luck!