As the sun sets sooner and temperatures are dropping, fall is the perfect time to get your feet wet learning a new craft or getting back into the swing of an old hobby. These new-ish titles cover a range of handicrafts—knitting, crochet, cross-stitch, embroidery—and include two personal accounts of crafting as a coping mechanism to overcome difficult times.

Hooked: How Crafting Saved My Life by Sutton Foster

The Broadway and television actress discusses how cross-stitching, crocheting, painting and other craft projects kept her sane while dealing with an agoraphobic mother, a painful public divorce, and struggles with fertility.

 

 

 

 

Chic & Simple Chunky Knits: For Arm Knitting, Needles & Crochet: Make Elegant Scarves, Bags, Caps, Blankets and More! by Eriko Teranishi; translated from the Japanese by Leeyong Soo

Bring the hygge home with these chic and cozy chunky knits. This book shows you how to use jumbo knitting needles and crochet hooks, or just your hands and arms, to create fun, trendy accessories for yourself and your home.

 

 

Punch Needle Embroidery for Beginners by Lucy Davidson

Sharing her stunning imaginative designs, a punch needle expert teaches beginners this easy-to-learn technique to make a vast array of projects, from wall hangings and cushions to children’s toys, bags and purses.

 

 

 

The Little Book of Cottagecore: Traditional Skills for a Simpler Life by Emily Kent

The Little Book of Cottagecore helps you make simple living a reality with delightful cottagecore activities you can enjoy no matter where you live. Whether you’re interested in baking pies from scratch, basic sewing and cross stitch, gardening, beekeeping, or making candles and soaps, this book is full of fun, hands-on activities that make it easy and enjoyable to unplug from modern life.

 

 

Creepy Cross-Stitch: 25 Spooky Projects to Haunt Your Halls by Lindsay Swearingen

Collects cross-stitch patterns with moody tones, muted hues, and subjects that range from quirky to eerie, including a ghost, graveyard, and skeleton.

 

 

 

Easy Crafts for the Insane: A Mostly Funny Memoir of Mental Illness and Making Things by Kelly Williams Brown

In Easy Crafts for the Insane, crafting tutorials serve as the backdrop of a life dissolved, then glued back together. Surprising, humane, and utterly unforgettable, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the unexpected, messy coping mechanisms we use to find ourselves again.

 

 

 

Modern Quilting: A Contemporary Guide to Quilting by Hand by Julius Arthur of House of Quinn

Long seen as a traditional craft-form, contemporary textiles designer Julius Arthur guides you through the basic construction, patchwork and applique techniques of quilt-making, before showcasing 20 stylish hand-stitched projects perfectly suited for modern living. Modern Quilting will make you fall in love with this age-old craft and give you a new-found appreciation for textiles.

 

 

The Act of Sewing: How to Make and Modify Clothes to Wear Every Day by Sonya Philip

Maybe you learned to sew in school and have a sewing machine, but it hasn't seen the outside of the closet since your last move. Or maybe you are completely new to the craft, with a lot of enthusiasm, but no idea how to thread your machine. No matter where you're coming from in terms of experience, this sewing workbook offers four basic patterns--two tops, a skirt, and a pair of pants—that empower you to express your personal style and make clothes that are comfortable for your body type.

 

Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery by Amy L. Frazer

Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery makes it easy to sketch, stitch, and create your favorite female icons, from empowering women of today to icons of the past.

 

 

 

 

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Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.