Embroiderers' Guild

It has history, and it has patterns and instructions for "modern" samplers. Most of the patterns are fairly attractive if not as much so as the antique models, although the Birds' Eye View of a Garden, including the house floor plan with front-on view of unattractive furniture, is rather cringey. I guess that's the risk you take when you try to update traditional needlework to the tastes of 1993.

This is one of those books where designers discuss the source of their inspiration and then show what they did. At this point in my development, I don't find this kind of book useful. I don't know how to take the designer's insights into the original piece and make use of it, without copying what the designed did. Various sections do have useful stitching techniques.

The 27 contributors, who are among the UK's leading embroiderers and teachers, provide insights which aim to enable aspiring embroiderers to widen their skills and increase their creativity. Each contributor has developed a new piece of work specially for the book, using as inspiration an historical embroidery from the Embroiderers' Guild Collection. The new embroideries and the historical pieces are described in detail and shown in colour photographs which emphasize the rich variety of show more design and the range of avenues for today's embroiderer to explore. Each embroiderer also explains her working methods, the development of ideas and motifs from the original, and the choice of techniques and stitches. Practical information, with working and step-by-step diagrams, covers fabrics and threads, using design motifs, choosing and working techniques and stitches - as well as using a computer as a design tool. show less

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