I’ve been a fan of Sophie Simpson, aka WhatDelilahDid, for ages, and even have a piece of her work in my personal collection. So the news that she was producing a cross stitch pattern book was music to my ears, and it’s no surprise that the book is a lovely piece of work. 

There’s always been a strong sense of design in the WhatDelilahDid pattern range, with classic designs and strong silhouettes, and the book does a fantastic job of bringing several terrific pieces together in one book.

Naturally this book contains simple instruction on how to cross stitch as well as some nice pieces of wisdom but the main focus is the patterns and they do not disappoint.

Sophie’s skill as a storyteller and as a cross stitch pattern maker are a perfect combination for this type of book. The aesthetic of her work is charming and the choice of subject matter is natural.

The same can be said for her Christmas themed book, Stitch The Halls, and we’ve got a review of that book for you!

The connecting theme of the book is Fairytale Stories, and there’s a clever narrative throughout the chapters, incorporating designs of Knights, Queens, Wolves, Foxes, Unicorns and Frog Princes; the Jackalope pattern is worth the price of the book in itself!

All in all, it’s a lovely collection of patterns with a charming storyline and gracious style.

It is an ideal starter book for someone who is looking to get into cross stitch, and a great gift for the more experience stitcher who is looking for something stylish to stitch.

Storyland Cross Stitch is published by Collins & Brown and is available from Amazon and all good retailers.