Mandalas to Embroider: Kaleidoscope stitching in a hoop

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In addition, there are notes on what you need in your basic embroidery kit from fabrics through to needles and thread which means those new to embroidery can start their journey to mindfulness right away. Embroidery is huge in our community right now because the Bohemian style has come back into fashion. Mandala is a Sanskrit word meaning circle, and these beautiful round motifs are a part of Buddhist and Hindu religion.

Carina's work has been published in these magazines: Cross Stitcher, Mollie Makes (three issues), Australian Homespun (twice), Hoop-La! Only 10 stitches have been used to create all the mandalas, and each one is explained and accompanied by clear, step-by-step diagrams at the beginning of the book. I needn’t have worried – the patterns in this book all use fairly simple stitches, which are clearly explained at the start of the book.

You could easily follow the instructions to the letter and end up with a beautiful piece but Carina encourages readers to experiment to come up with their unique piece using different colours and stitches. The book is split into two halves: the first half includes clearly-illustrated stitch tutorials, instructions for preparing and finishing your work, and all the patterns, with colour palettes and stitching suggestions. The author encourages the reader to make the book's design their own by changing thread color or stitches used. If I'm honest, I'm not sure I'd ever stitch the small designs (I don't wear a lot of jewellery, and I much prefer the intricacy of the larger designs), but the large ones are so nice and the iron-on transfer sheets so easy to use that I think this book would be a great value purchase even if you only wanted to stitch a few of them. With Carina's gentle guidance beginners can also learn how to display their creations in embroidery hoops, including the much-loved Dandelyne hoops which the 12 mini mandalas can fit inside perfectly.

With Carina's gentle guidance, learn to embroider 12 large and 12 small mandalas, using just 10 stitches. They also help us to enforce our Terms of Use, prevent fraud and maintain the security of our services.I wanted to make my embroidery a little smaller than the original, so I copied and reduced the pattern page, then traced the design onto my fabric with a pencil. I was unable to find anyone to credit this stunning photo to – if you’re the photographer, let me know!