Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Celtic, Viking & Anglo-Saxon Embroidery

by Jan Messent

          I should think that all embroiderers and yarncrafters have heard of Jan Messent; her work has been praised and loved for many years.  Now here is a book showing her fascination with early embroidery, all presented in a series of altered books and other artifacts. 
 
This is a lush, large-format hardcover that will look great residing on any coffee table.  You and your guests won’t be able to resist taking a good long look at it and being impressed with the standard of the work, the sheer imagination, the research and, of course, Search Press’ beautiful photography and presentation.  It is not a book of projects but the culmination in words and pictures of the author’s longtime love affair with the subject.  However, it is the sort of book that is likely to spark an interest in altered books and in making them about one’s own crafting passion. 

The author covers a lot of ground in here, from showcasing what early embroidery looked like, through to the clothes and accessories people adorned with it, ecclesiastical and royal uses, how it differed between the various peoples covered, and much more.  There are excerpts from old documents, thumbnail portraits of historical people, descriptions of the author’s own processes, and even some templates to help those who want to have a go themselves.  It all rather defies description, but it is impossible not to be impressed and become even more so on reading the text and discovering not only about the subject but how much research has gone into doing it.  I can imagine that this book will be of great use also to all those on textile courses having to put together display boards or books of samples; having done this myself I can see now how to do it properly!  Who knows, maybe in time it might get filed in the bookcase and your coffee table groaning instead under the weight of your own work…highly recommended.

The Book

Search Press
April 2010
Hardback
1844484092 / 9781844484096
Non-Fiction/ How To/ Embroidery
More at Amazon.com US || UK
Excerpt
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The Reviewer

Rachel A Hyde
Reviewed 2010
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