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The Handstitched Home

Images from Caroline Zoob’s second book, full of ideas for making things for the home with textiles and hand embroidery.

The Handstitched Home is a book by Caroline Zoob with photography by Caroline Arber, which was published by Jacqui Small in 2013.

When I started embroidering, it was often with a view to making something that could be used in the home. At that time (2012) I was still using appliqué as a major component of my designs. These days I either paint the fabric or use filling stitches. I loved the painterly quality of the faded antique fabrics, and now create these areas with variegated threads or shading, as well as paint.

It feels such a long time ago and, leafing through the book recently, I thought how differently I would approach certain projects now. That thought sparked the idea of a range of embroidery kits for things to make for the home. After all, there is a limit to the number of framed embroideries one can have hanging on the wall – or is there?

Something they don’t tell you about putting a book together: from signing the contract to the email with the date for the first shoot is a very short space of time. So some of the projects you see here were put together in an enormous rush with more than a few ‘through the night’ stitching sessions. Some of the locations were familiar to me and I created projects for them, such as the curtain for the glazed kitchen door at the gorgeous ‘cozy’ home of Chris Myers of Cozy Club fame.  and some shoots in locations which we did not get to visit before the shoot. I loved creating the embroidered panels for her dresser and glazed kitchen door. Another favourite was the fabulous beach house belonging to Atlanta Bartlett at Camber Sands in Sussex, as well as the photographer Caroline Arber’s beautiful home in London.

PLEASE NOTE

Update for ALL customers

27 October 2025

I am delighted to announce that we are now able to ship to the US, duty paid and, for the time being, I will absorb the duty.
 

Issue 26 of The Stitcher’s Journal has now been despatched to all overseas subscribers and you should shortly be receiving emails from Royal Mail confirming this, with a tracking number. 

The website has had to be reconfigured so that shipping is no longer included in the prices, but is rather a flat rate, set for whichever country we are sending  to — including the UK — and will be shown at the checkout.  I have of course reduced the kit prices, which used to include shipping, but I have also taken this opportunity to review my prices which have not increased to reflect the considerable increase in costs since February 2022. All in all, I think the results are fair, especially as in carrying out this exercise I realise I have been heavily subsidising the actual postage costs for the past three years.
 
Unfortunately, we are not currently able to take advantage of the Large Letter Rate for shipping to the US, but on a positive note (!)  all orders are now tracked and the flat rate has a greater weight allowance.
 
I will be adding some new kits, bundles and vintage finds and fabrics to the site today, Monday 27th October and through the week, and I really hope things will run smoothly now. 
 
Thank you so much for your support and patience, it means more than I can say.
 
With very best wishes,

Caroline