For years Teach Yourself have produced small, handy books which will teach you about (almost) anything. In 1999 they decided that they would also produce slightly larger, prettier books on arts and crafts which benefitted from colour pictures. I was delighted to be asked to write one on needlecraft and eventually wrote three in the series.
Basic Gardening Skills
With Chris Kelly
This is one of Teach Yourself’s traditional little books; it will easily fit in most pockets and can accompany you wherever you go in the garden. It assumes no prior knowledge of gardening and explains clearly in straightforward steps what you need to know and do to create and maintain the garden that suits you. It is also designed to be used as a reference book for more experienced gardeners who want information on a particular subject.
Chris and I both feel that gardening should be enjoyed, rather than seen as a chore, and our aim was not only to get everyone gardening sustainably, but also to enjoy their garden. Sitting and admiring is every bit as important as digging.
Teach Yourself 2010
Gardening
With Louise Carpenter
The idea for this book came about when I had my editor to lunch. We sat in my garden and, midway through pudding, she said ‘Why don’t you write a book about gardening?’ I was delighted. I’d had no formal horticultural training but I had always gardened; whilst I was growing up, my parents had a large garden and regarded their children as cheap labour. I loved it, in fact, one of my best birthday presents, aged five, was a miniature, working lawn mower. The book aims to demystify gardening and dispel the idea that you can only have a fabulous garden if you are part of some elite horticultural society. The colour pictures make it clear just how easy this is.
Teach Yourself 2003, new edition 2008
Mosaics
With Louise Carpenter
Like Teach Yourself Needlecraft, this was part of the publisher’s illustrated series. It includes the fascinating history of mosaics and instructions for seventeen projects including a fire screen, a vase, a mirror and bookends. Mosaic-making may seem like a messy, difficult and space-requiring hobby but nothing could be further from the truth. As long as you are not working on a massive project, all you need is part of a kitchen table. You can buy smalti, the traditional glass tesserae, or use found objects, anything from smooth sea glass to broken crockery, shells to jewellery beads. And you can cover almost anything with a mosaic pattern – it is as happy outside as in. Nothing need be plain any longer.
Teach Yourself 2001, new edition 2003
Needlecraft
With Louise Carpenter
This was the first book I wrote and, like so many things in life, came about by chance. I had written a proposal for a completely different needlecraft book (which never came to anything) but received an offer to write a general book covering embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint and bargello. I leapt at the chance. I had been to a school which encouraged hobbies of all types and I had spent much of my childhood sewing. I had a fabulous time making the twelve projects and, although I couldn’t even type at the time, my friend Louise joined me on the production, typing and editing my haphazard sewing instructions. The book has colour pictures throughout, with illustrations of all the stitches and techniques, which make it clear and easy to follow.
Teach Yourself 2000, new edition 2003