Weekend Review: All Panic, No Disco

 

All Panic, No Disco / Emily Wall 
Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel, c2026.
272 p.

Ok, I picked up this book from my library, because how could I not? Look at that cover! I thought this would be a fun one to read, and I was right. The projects are both cute and amusing, and the instructional content is also strong. This one is a winner, especially for younger stitchers who are looking for something contemporary. 

It has lots of opossums, raccoons, hedgehogs, disco balls, and lots of sayings to stitch. There is an intro to basics - techniques and supplies -- and a stitch guide for the stitches she uses in the book (a limited range, which can do everything here). And then there are the projects. 

Twenty detailed projects are included, with contemporary flair. One of my faves is the cover image but there are so many different ones - I also liked "Panic at the Desk-o" which is very work related LOL. Each project has the full image, an explanation, then a stitch guide with colour suggestions and stitch directions on the image. It is a very thorough way of sharing the project and makes it really accessible to newer stitchers. 

She also uses some interesting threads and stitches that add a lot to the pieces. The disco ball technique is used a couple of times and I learned from it. The order of stitching and stitch choices, plus metallic threads, give a great result. She also includes tips about how to best work with different kinds of metallic threads to help out the reader. 

In her stitch discussions, she gives the best explanation on how to do long and short stitch that I've ever seen. Not just the technical how-to, but extra hints about how to stagger the stitches for best results - you can tell she is speaking from experience and wants everyone to benefit from what she knows. I think she'd be a great teacher in person. 

I'm always interested in lettering in my embroidery projects, and in this book she usually recommends 2 strands and backstitch for most of her wording but has a few exceptions for when you want to emphasize something or fit more words in or something like that. I often use stem stitch for my lettering but that stitch doesn't appear in this book; backstitch works quite nicely and I will probably try that sometime as well. 

I found this book entertaining -- the projects are quite funny -- but it's also very solid with instructional content. The projects are so extensively laid out! Any ambitious beginner could use it, and because of the fresh and contemporary feel of it, I think it would be great for beginners who might be interested in modern embroidery. Definitely recommend this fun book. 

Literary Sewing Circle reminder!

One more week to finish up your projects and share them -- whether on your blog, Instagram, PatternReview, or any other place that you usually share. And please do tag me or drop a link in the comments of our wrap-up post so I am sure to see it! You are welcome to share your project whenever your finish it, but to be in the draw for our two pattern prizes, entries have to be in by next Friday, Nov 13. 

Here's a sneak peek of the project I'm working on (not quite finished yet!) 

November Sewing Plans!

 

It's already November! How does the time go by so fast?? But making plans is still useful even if time escapes us. 

My November plans include finishing up the Burda tracing that I mentioned in my previous post & I hope to get at least one of those projects sewn up this month, too. 

I have the 80s Vogue corduroy dress from my 2026 MakeNine plans -- I really want to complete it this month -- it's kind of a perfect November outfit. 

And I have to work on a project for Fabricville, from the prettiest cotton print! That will be a surprise for you.

Alongside the urge to clean & organize my sewing nook I think that will keep me quite busy over the next few weeks. Don't need to add on any new projects quite yet. I think I am already starting to wind down my ambitions for the rest of this year!

Weekend Review: Richly Stitched Landscape Embroidery

 

Richly Stitched Landscape Embroidery / Cassandra Dias
Lafayette, CA: C&T, c2026.
160 p.

This is a recent book I picked up via my library. It's a gorgeous look at thread painting, creating full coverage landscapes that look realistic (the size of these are 3" hoops, to make them manageable, it looks like a lot of work!) 

This book is a great workshop, essentially. It starts with an introduction to tools and materials, and basic embroidery techniques like transferring, basics of thread painting, hooping a piece etc. There is also a section on design -- working from a reference photo and creating your own designs. This is all handy info for anyone who is not a pattern follower. But for those who are, or who want to start with a pattern, there are also lots of those! 

The book then provides a stitch guide to 9 stitches, and 10 tutorials for the various landscape elements -- grasses, rocks, trees etc - so that you can get used to the techniques for each of them. After that, 7 complete patterns are shared (traceable in book, or downloadable). Each of these patterns has a stitch guide and instructions on order of stitching and so on, each one quite lengthy and complete. I feel like the instructions would be easier to follow if you had a bit of stitching experience, though eager beginners may be okay. 

While this is not my usual style of stitching for myself, I really enjoyed looking through this and learning some new techniques. It's a beautiful book and if you like gentle, realistic landscapes in stitch, you're going to love it. I thought it was very well done, and just right for a stitcher who wants to up their skill level a bit. 

Literary Sewing Circle: The Excitements Wrap Up!

 

Today is already our final day of the Literary Sewing Circle focusing on CJ Wray's The Excitements!

I hope you've had the chance to read the book, and both the first and second inspiration posts, and are getting lots of ideas for a project of your own.

This is our final and roundup post. Share links to your projects here: as soon as you are done your project, just pop a link to your post into the comments and we will all be able to visit your blog/instagram etc. and explore your creation -- remember, it can be sewn, or knitted, crocheted, embroidered... any textile art that you practice. Or you can just tag me, @sewmelwyk on IG and use #LiterarySewingCircle as a hashtag.

We've discovered more about the author and this book in the author feature post. If that sparks any comments, please share those, too! 

My thoughts on this book are that it was a fun romp -- an enjoyable adventure. There's a lot happening with the timeline switches, and at times more details could have been given to flesh out the characters a little more. But I still really enjoyed the three main characters a lot -- Penny, Josephine, and their relationship with Archie was the core of the story for me. 

I also found the lighthearted silliness of parts a good balance to the more serious issues of wartime events. The jewel heist subplot and the side characters involved there could be its own book; there were a lot of characters and threads here to follow. That's where Wray's next book, Bad Influence, comes in I guess! 

Here are a few questions for you to ponder as you share your own final thoughts: 

How did you feel the sibling relationship was portrayed? Did you think any of the side characters were particularly important to your experience of this novel? How did the setting and the description of the various locations affect your opinions of the book? Was there any moment that felt especially engaging for you? 

Please share your thoughts on the book, its themes, characters, or anything you noted about it -- either in the comments here or on our first Book Talk post, or on your own blog with a link to your longer thoughts in the comments so we can find it. I love to talk about the experience of reading so feel free to comment no matter when you're reading this post; if you've read this I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Also please share a link to your project in the comments -- if that doesn't work for you, please email me or tag me on IG so that I can see and share your project. Thanks so much for reading and sewing along! 

You have two more weeks, until Nov 13, to share your project, if you want to be included in the round up post & have a chance to win one of our prizes from our sponsors, Victory Patterns & How to Do Fashion.

 

Tracing a new Queue

This week I organized some of my Burda magazines into a queue for tracing. There are a LOT of patterns that I'd like to make, since I have at least ten years of issues, not counting the vintage 90s ones! 

These are the patterns that I've gotten ready to trace, after matching most of them up with stash fabric so I can only trace the ones that I'll likely make soon. I can only spend so much time tracing before I've had enough, so have to prioritize ;) 

The one I am most wanting to make soon is one of this year's "celebrity patterns". Each issue this year has a design based on someone famous. The one inspired by Princess Kate (124-06-2026) is the one that caught my eye first. This top especially -- it will be perfect in a bengaline I just picked up. If I have enough fabric I may make a matching skirt, but otherwise a plain black skirt might be nice.

There is also a skirt suit inspired by Princess Di in another issue (124-04-2026), and that spectacular 80s outfit is next on my list. I'm not sure which fabric I'll use for these pieces but I love the silhouette.

There is a knit top from an old issue that I have wanted to make for years (since I first got this issue) so I will trace it out, and am thinking of upcycling an old knit dress for this one. (109-06-2021)

And there is a blouse (105-10-2021) I've also been wanting to make since this issue came out, that I think will work really well with this gorgeous cotton I thrifted a while back. 

Then there are a handful of pieces that I think would be nice additions to a fall/winter wardrobe, but haven't selected any fabrics for yet, so they are further down in the queue. 

First, this cute skirt with a drawstring hem from this year (105-08-2026) They used taffeta, I'd choose something else but it will need some body.

Then there is this interesting sweater (111-06-2021) that wraps around the neck and/or body - I have a lightweight knit print somewhere in my stash that might work, if I have enough of it. 

And finally, another "celebrity" outfit from this year's series, a dress and jacket inspired by Tippi Hedren in The Birds (123-10-2026). I'm mostly interested in the dress here, there are some nice details that intrigue me, including the back walking slit -- it incorporates a pleat and seems like an interesting construction. If I get this far in my list I will be amazed ;) But it's fun to prep and to dream. 

Note: I have signed up to be part of the Burda Ambassador program. This means that I may earn a tiny commission if you purchase one of the patterns through a link that I may share in my regular posts. 

Weekend Review: Stitched

 

Stitched / Eli McCann
Salt Lake City, UT: Torrey House Press, c2026.
280 p.

I picked up this book at my library after hearing quite a bit of chatter about it. So I was looking forward to it -- it's the story of a small quilting group that needs new members so end up inviting two gay men without any quilting experience to join them. And the connections between the ladies and these two men start to develop. 

It sounds good -- the author's mother was in a quilt group, and he says that's what he based a lot of the story on. I did like the mix of characters and could see that this story had a lot of potential. There's a small quilt group, I won't call it a guild because it's a handful of women who meet weekly to maybe sew a bit. There's a big biannual quilt competition coming up and they want to run up a viable entry to show off their skills. But with a couple of longtime members no longer able to participate they aren't sure they will be able to manage it. Enter Byron and Rob -- who I would have thought would add something to the groups since they don't have any quilting skills. But even Rob's design skills are not used in the creation of their competition quilt. 

There is also a strong rivalry with a nearby quilt group, who usually win competitions. There is some lead up to potential drama there, but it fizzles out without much to-do. 

I really wanted to like this! But. In execution there were many flaws, for me. The female characters often feel stereotypical, except for a couple of them. The premise to the story also had many holes that were easily seen. While I was reading I didn't mind too much but once I finished and was thinking about it, there was a lot that didn't really make sense to me. 

The women are often bickering and not committed to quilting -- this is not like any quilters I know. And their group meets weekly. Weekly! Who does that? Also, their competition quilt is described as they develop plans, and it is godawful. I don't need to see it to know that it would be a dog's breakfast. How a quilt shop owner could approve this as part of her group's entry, I will never know. 

Anyhow, lots of people on Goodreads love it, and if you read it without expecting too much maybe you will too. I think there are many novels out there by actual quilters who have a better grasp on what quilting is all about.

The cover is gorgeous and I'm happy they used an image of an actual quilt, and attributed it properly. There were some funny moments in the sttory, but overall I found this underwhelming, with bland writing, and the promise of the story of two gay men lighting up a bunch of quilters was never quite reached. Not my thing, sadly.