Leanne Prain 
Hoopla 
The Art of Unexpected Embroidery

Hoopla, by the co-author of 2009’s bestselling Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, showcases those who take the craft of embroidery where it’s never gone before, in an astonishing, full-color display of embroidered art. Hoopla rebels against the quaint and familiar embroidery motifs of flowers and swashes, and focuses instead on innovative stitch artists who specialize in unusual, guerrilla-style patterns such as a mythical jackalope and needlepoint nipple doilies; it demonstrates that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles with which they work.

Hoopla includes twenty-eight innovative embroidery patterns and profiles of contemporary embroidery artists, including Jenny Hart, author of Sublime Stitching; Rosa Martyn of the UK-based Craftivism Collective; Ray Materson, an ex-con who learned to stitch in prison; Sherry Lynn Wood of the Tattooed Baby Doll Project, which collaborated with female tattoo artists across the United States; Penny Nickels and Johnny Murder, the self-proclaimed Bonnie and Clyde of embroidery; and Alexandra Walters, a military wife who replicates military portraits and weapons in her stitching.

Full-color throughout and bursting with history, technique, and sass, Hoopla will teach readers how to stitch a ransom note pillow, mean and dainty knuckle-tattoo church gloves; and create their own innovative embroidery projects. If you like anarchistic DIY craft and the idea of deviating from the rules, Hoopla will inspire you to wield a needle with flair!

With a foreword by Betsy Greer.

Table of Content

Table of Contents

Foreword by Betsy Greer

Acknowledgements

Chapter One: A Craft of Misconception
Taking Stitching Seriously
The Slow Stitch
Tattooed Baby Dolls: An Interview with Sherri Lynn Wood
A Brief and Incomplete History of Embroidery
Embroidery Today
Manbroidery: An Interview with Johnny Murder
Poetic Threads: An Interview with Tumim & Prendergast
It Takes All Kinds: Types of Embroidery
Embroidery as Art: An Interview with Jenny Hart

Chapter Two: Unknown Territories
Participatory Embroidery: An Interview with Liz Kueneze
Diarizing Eating Habits: An Interview with Abby Krause
Embroidered Place-making: An Interview with Annie Coggan Crawford
Embroidered Contradictions: An Interview with Laura Splan
Were I So Besotted: An Interview with Iviva Olenick
Sins and Needles: An Interview with Ray Materson

Chapter Three: Tools and Materials
Stitch Like You Mean It
Kitted Out
Needle Me
A Fine Thread
Project: Rain and Snow Cowl
Hoop Dreams
Cut to the Chase: Scissors
Choosing Your Fabric
Stabilizers
The Humble Thimble
How to Transfer Your Designs

Chapter Four: Stitch-witchery
One Stitch Wonders
Basic Embroidery Stitches
Counted Cross Stitch and Needlepoint
Project: Wolftastic Scarf
Project: Eye to the Sky Pocket Protector
Painting with Thread: An Interview with Kirsten Chursinoff
Project: A Creature of Curiosity

Chapter Five: Freeform Work
Colorful Abstractions: An Interview with Jacque Lynn Davis
Project: Wide Ruled Scrawl
Elevating Ordinary Objects: An Interview with Andrew J. Phares
Project: Photo Feelism
Clever Canadiana: An Interview with Sarah Haxby
Bliss in a Teacup: An Interview with Rebekah Nathan
Project: Against the Grain

Chapter Six: Graphically Inclined
Animated Embroidery: An Interview with Aubrey Longley-Cook
Cross-stitching Pixels: An Interview with Eliot M. Henning
Project: Along for the Ride
Project: The ‘Always Prepared Pouch’
Intentional Abstractions: An Interview with Takashi Iwasaki
Unnerving Needlework: An Interview with Brette Gabel
Oddness and Illustration: An Interview with Esther Oh
Project: Paulo and Stella Totebag
Double-Take: An Interview with Cate Anevski
Project: From One Mutant to Another Wall Hanging

Chapter Seven: Unexpected Stitching
Project: All Good in the Hood Quilt
Project: Eat the Kitsh Apron
Project; Evolution or Revolution Wall Hanging
Project: Knuckle Tattoo Church Gloves
Project: Microbe Hankies
Project: Obsessive Beautification
Project: Hip Hop: Ode’s to the One’s & Two’s
Project: Home Invasion
Project: Love Gun
Project: Oxytocin Notion
Project: Make Your Own Luck Wallet
Project: Ransom Note Pillow
Project: Bosom Buddies
Project: Chug Like a Champ Pillow
Project: Modern Cucuclock

Chapter Eight: Finishing Techniques
Your Plan of Attack
Keep It Clean
Drying
Trimming Loose Ends
Pressing Issues
Display and Storage
Project: All A-Flutter Necklace

Chapter Nine: Stitching Resources
Embroidery Blogs and Websites
21st Century Embroidery: An Interview with Jamie Chalmers aka Mr. X Stitch
Make it Social
Around the World in 80 Stitches
Flossy Flicks
By the Book
Project: Guerilla Embroidery

Chapter Ten: Without Reservation
Meet Me in the Dayroom; An Interview with Alexandra Walters
Unusual Embellishment: An Interview with Claire Platt
Public Embroidery: An Interview with Ulrika Erdes
Rebel Toile: An Interview with Richard Saja
Subverting the Traditional: An Interview with Rosa Martyn
Project: Bite the Hand That Feeds You
Making Art All Day Long: An Interview with Penny Nickels

Index

About the author

Leanne Prain: Leanne Prain co-founded a stitch-and-bitch called Knitting and Beer in order to expand her skills while knitting at the pub. A professional graphic designer, Leanne holds degrees in creative writing, art history, and publishing. She lives and crafts in Vancouver, BC.Jeff Christenson: Jeff Christenson is a Vancouver photographer.