Beautifully charted, brilliantly beginner-friendly, and perfectly timed for cross stitch's love affair with all things nature. This book couldn't have landed at a better time for the cottagecore, nature-loving stitching crowd. A joy from cover to cover.

Lord Libidan

Time spent looking at nature is time well spent, and in this book Fiona gives you the perfect reason to reflect on the wonder of the insect world. Not only are the designs simple to stitch and contemporary in style, they are a fascinating insight into the hidden marvels that live among us. I've never really cared for flies, but I'm going to use this book as a reflective, creative opportunity to appreciate them from a new perspective.

Jamie Chalmers  - Mr X Stitch

Booklist Online : Leading Book Discovery

Issue: October 1, 2026 Cross-Stitching Beautiful Bees, Bugs, and Butterflies: 25+ Designs.
By Fiona Sinclair
Feb. 2027. 120p. illus. Landauer

In her latest craft book, Sinclair (Criss-Crossing Paris, 2018) looks to the natural world. With an array of cross-stitch patterns inspired by pollinator insects, she asks readers to find the beauty in bugs. The book can be divided into roughly four parts. Materials and cross-stitch basics, which explains the craft with easy instructions; pollinators from wasps to beetles; a spotlight on butterflies; and the "Alphabuget," where Sinclair blends illustrative letters with bug details. She gives fun facts for each specimen that she highlights, as well as advice on how to choose a background cloth for each pattern—a detail a beginning crafter might overlook, but one that can drastically change the look and feel of a project. Readers can gauge how their skills have progressed by moving on to tackle the intermediate patterns Sinclair provides. This is the type of book that's perfect for gift-making or crafting clubs: accessible and clear, with enough variety to make readers want to work through the entire book.

Zeja Z. Copes