A Walthamstow author has published a book designed to bring readers some calm in a crazy world.

Karen Ball’s The Little Book of Sewing is a pocket-sized guide to creating your own zen with nothing more than a needle and thread. From body confidence to mental health, she explores the way sewing can help make you feel great about yourself.

Karen decided to write the book after running her successful sewing blog, Did You Make That?, for the past nine years.

She said: “When the uncertainty of Brexit hit two months after I’d left a full-time job to set up my own consultancy, I felt a wave of emotions hit me – anger, frustration, fear. I turned to sewing to calm me down and noticed how important the emotions of sewing are. From mental health to body image, kindness to sexuality, it’s all there.

“I decided to write a book around the emotions of sewing, along with lots of handy tips and tricks thrown in. I wanted it to inspire anyone, from a total beginner to an expert sewist. A friend called the book ‘A hug in a book!’ and that’s exactly what it is – friendly, informal and the perfect size to keep on your bedside table. Lots of people have told me that the book has inspired them to start sewing or return to sewing.”

Karen was also inspired by the community in Walthamstow, where she has lived for 20 years.

She said: “The fabric stalls on Walthamstow market have fuelled my addiction to sewing. Indeed, The Little Book Of Sewing is dedicated to Hassan or – as I like to call him – TMOS (The Man Outside Sainsburys)!”

The Little Book of Sewing by Karen Ball, published by Head of Zeus, is available now.