BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MACHINE EMBROIDERED
LANDSCAPES
By Alison Holt
Search Press - December 2001
ISBN 0855329173 PB
How-To / Papercrafts
Reviewed by: Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
Buy at Amazon
If you have admired those beautiful "thread paintings" and wanted
to have a go yourself ,then this is the book for you. All you need is
an ordinary swing needle sewing machine (not a fancy computerized one),
some cloth, paints and threads, and off you go. If you lack inspiration,
then there is plenty in this lushly photographed primer. Learn how to
achieve the different tonal effects with threads that look like a skilled
artist has been at work, how to change your sewing machine into a free
embroidery machine (very simple), mix the right shades using a chart I
particularly liked, and using the stitches to accomplish different effects
such as grass, rocks or certain flowers.
To its detriment, all the pictures are worked on silk - I found that using
unbleached calico worked better (try it) and the backgrounds were painted
in using silk paints whereas previously I had used just about anything
that makes a mark just for pictures and cards and all kinds of fabric
paints for garments and anything that is to be washed. No wooden frame
required! Also, I would have liked to see more on how to take a picture
or photograph and turn it into one of the masterpieces and found that
this was a bit glossed over. Nevertheless, if you have some artistic ability
and enjoy silk painting, then this is the book for you as the results
are truly stunning and not as hard to achieve as you might think, making
it a hobby worth taking up. It is also a grand way of recycling small
pieces of fabric and drying-up paints.
Reviews of other
titles by this author
Machine
Embroidered Woodlands
Machine
Embroidered Flowers, Woodlands and Landscapes
UK Reviewer:
Rachel Hyde's work can be found in Sewing World, Sew Hip, Popular
Crafts and other magazines. Her craft blog is Green
Thoughts
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