Embroidery: Threads and Stories from Alabama Chanin and The School of Making

This book sits at the intersection of stitching and storytelling. Written by Natalie Chanin, it weaves together embroidery techniques with a broader reflection on what it means to make by hand—how repetition, pattern, and time shape both the work and the person doing it. Rather than focusing only on projects, the book moves through themes like craft, relationship, color, and process. Instruction is layered alongside personal narrative, tracing the evolution of Alabama Chanin and the role hand sewing has played in shaping its approach. Embroidery here is not treated as decoration. It’s a way of building texture, recording time, and creating connection—between maker and material, and between people. Rooted in the American South, this perspective links handwork to ideas of sustainability, community, and care. It’s a reflective entry point into embroidery as a practice, and one interpretation within a much wider global tradition of stitched work.