Blackwork Made Easy
Techniques, Patterns and Samplers
Lesley Wilkins

Search Press
4 January 2012 (1 May 2012 US)/ISBN: 9781844487530
Non-Fiction/Embroidery
Amazon US - UK

Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde
rachela.hyde@virgin.net

Blackwork came to this country with Catherine of Aragon in the early 16th century, and is enjoying a revival today. Originally used to decorate clothing and samplers, it can now adorn anything you can think of and is surprisingly easy to do.

If you can do running stitch, back stitch, and cross stitch (and even if you cannot you can learn how in here) you can do blackwork. This useful book also features a surprisingly large number of customizable patterns and all sorts of other handy tips. These include a useful potted history as well as advice on mounting, choosing materials, reading charts, and looking for design ideas. The charts themselves can be quite small and detailed and would benefit vastly from being scanned in and blown up before working. They depict all kinds of traditional subjects in more colors than just black and many have interesting captions regarding their history and significance. Several alphabets are also featured, and for its size it is hard to imagine a more concise and useful book for both beginners and old hands on the subject.