Do-It-Yourself Stitch People (2nd Edition)

I'm an experienced cross stitcher and I still find the book extremely helpful. I've already made a few family portraits as gifts and the book is easy to navigate, the patterns are easy to customize, and the spiral binding makes it easy to hold in your lap. The fine details like plaid shirts or scarves turned out beautifully. The pets are perfection and easy to alter to look like the real thing. I'm really pleased with the book. Worth the price and the author is quick to support and provide free extras when you register the book too.

I've been stitching on and off for 15 years and nothing has gotten me more enthusiastic about cross stitching than this book. Not only does it have a lot of unique ideas for portraits, it's an excellent source for stitching in general. I learned some new things that have vastly improved my ability. Beginners and experienced stitchers alike will love this book. My favorite part is the fact that it is spiral bound. Much easier to read and reference while you're stitching if needed. I was most impressed by the inclusion of crutches and wheelchairs. The website is also an excellent resource for free patterns (though some on the website are in the 2nd edition) but they also have a wide range of more niche patterns available for purchase. The possibilities are endless!

Exactly as described, good quality

This is a great source for creating a wonderful and personalized cross stitch pattern.

This book is a really great tool if you're interested in doing family pictures for multiple people. I think this book is really geared toward people who intend to sell these because the price is pretty prohibitive and the reason for 4 stars instead of 5. This was a birthday gift because I just could not justify spending that kind of money.That said, this book is a fairly extensive for the price. In addition to the book, there are some freebies on the website and a Facebook group. There are tons of choices in the book, it shows ways to adjust height, body type, a ton of hairstyles, sizes for children and babies and even some pets.I feel this book is for intermediate and advanced cross stitchers. It might seem simple when you look at the finished piece but there's a lot of pattern creating you have to do on your own. If you're an ambitious beginner, go for it, but with the high price and the pattern creating, you may want to wait until you've got more experience and you're sure cross stitch is something you intend to do frequently.Another nice thing is that the website offers additional patterns for things like holidays and religious wear (for an additional price). There's a soon to be released backgrounds book that should really make for some great stitch people designs. I have yet to create my first design using the book because I'm waiting for the release of the backgrounds book but I have used the character sheets to create the people I plan to stitch.All told, there's definitely tons of bang for your buck and I would certainly recommend it if you feel like you'll be creating lots of stitch people and absolutely recommend if you're looking to offer to create and sell these (something the author is OK with and actually encourages).