A Stitch Out of Time

By Anaïs Beaulieu

French artist Anaïs Beaulieu learned the craft of embroidery from her grandmother, a practice passed on through the generations of women in her family. A Stitch Out of Time features images of her botanical embroidery on throwaway plastic bags, typically used for disposing waste. The book plays with two powerful themes: environmental degradation symbolized by the ubiquitous take-over of our surroundings by plastic, and the slow time of creation, whether of a plant, or a piece of embroidery.

Published by our favorite independent, artist-run publisher, Tara Books in Chennai, India, A Stitch Out of Time is a result of collaborative artisanal processes: embroidery, tailoring, screen-printing, and book-binding. The cloth-bound cover features an inlaid panel of embroidered plastic, the endsheets are hand-silkscreened, and each book is carefully packaged in a commemorative black cotton tote bag — one side of which is specially embroidered, with the other side ready for you to embroider yourself (see below for an instructional video!) This is a beautiful and poignant book that would make a wonderful gift for a conscientious crafter.

Read a fascinating blog post about the making of A Stitch Out of Time.

Tara Books, hardcover (embroidered cover) in a commemorative tote bag, 13 x 9.25 in, 32 pages.

Learn how to embroider your tote bag: