Embroidering with ribbons—especially silk ribbons—is like no other form of embroidery, and is particularly effective when working images of flowers. There are thirty-two garden favourites in here, from Aquilegias to Zantedeschias, and they are all stunning.

They all come with instructions too, as well as a thorough introduction to working with ribbon. This deals with topics from hand-coloring it with silk and fabric paints, through to the stitches themselves and how to best work them. If you or the person you are buying it for is a total beginner at working with ribbon then this book more than covers the basics, but also goes straight from this to some fairly demanding projects. Ann Cox has written three other books about this subject, and you can read reviews of them in the archives right here. One of them is for beginners and is the best place to start with some easy pieces as well as all the other basics. For those more used to this style of work there are some truly gorgeous projects in here, helpfully graded with one to three flower heads for level of skill. There are lots of photo shots of the basic techniques, and when you have mastered these the projects themselves have a large photo in lush color—this is one of Search Press’ rare hard covers and a good size. There are smaller shots too of details, the ribbons themselves you need to obtain and the pattern, which invariably needs to be enlarged by 200%. All aspects of working the piece are covered, and as well as being a useful primer this will look great on any coffee table. My only moan was the lack of Christmas flowers, which are represented solely by the poinsettia but maybe after working a few of the projects you might feel advanced enough to design your own. A truly lovely and useful addition to any crafter’s bookshelf (or coffee table).