swoon: japanese embroidery patterns

A little gem for your Monday morning:  one of my favorite types of manuals are Japanese-published embroidery patterns.  They have a beautiful aesthetic all their own.  The details and delicacy of line employed in one small image are absolutely captivating.

Above is such a beautiful example.

I also love the whimsy that is apparent browsing though many of the books.  They are more costly than other craft pattern books, being imported, but I find that they are worth the price, as most of the books will have several dozen patterns per page.  It’s simply a question of finding a book you like, and if you are on a budget, the only problem is which book to choose!

Being in the Bay Area, I have the luxury of being able to go to Kinokuniya or Lacis to browse the content before purchase.  However, there are excellent sources to be able to at least buy these books – Yes Asia has just about everything you can dream of, and the selection over at Amazon.co.jp isn’t too shabby either.  You just need to be comfortable navigating the Japanese site with minimal English translation.

What I love most about these books though, is their layout which allows me to start fantasizing.  They are almost all packed with craft ideas – not just the embroidery is included, but a how-to-craft the object that is to be decorated is often included.  I can open one of these books up and just sink into it for hours, dreaming of a slightly different life.  One that includes time to stitch and decorate tea towels, sew and knit all of my clothes, and put tea out for my friends and family every afternoon.

Dreamtime.  It’s a beautiful thing.

Photo Credit to iamsusie of Susie Can Stitch.