| Have
you ever wanted to try your hand at the more challenging embroidery
style known as stumpwork but not known where to start? Inside
these covers is everything you need to know to become proficient
in this fascinating and beautiful craft.
The caption on the front says Techniques, Projects and
Pure Inspiration, which neatly describes the contents
of this book in a nutshell. You can read about the history
of stumpwork, learn how to do all the stitches and find out
what you need to obtain, then make some projects and have
a look at some lovely finished work. This is a large format
paperback with a good heft to it, meaning that it flops open
on the table and stays flat. It is packed with pretty much
everything you need to know on the subject, and I love the
way it gets you started right away with some lovely practice
pieces. This initially starts you learning the embroidery
stitches and how they are used in stumpwork via some small
but attractive projects with the trademark Search Press step-by-step
captioned photographs. The next section shows you the more
complex needlelace via more projects, this time slightly larger
and more challenging ones. Then you discover how to put them
together to make a scene and learn about figures. This is
a modern book that interprets stumpwork in a contemporary
style, so you won’t get Biblical scenes with people
in 17th century dress. Instead there is a footballer, a fisherman,
a fairy and other more familiar subjects. Finally there is
a more challenging project, a roundel of the four seasons,
all the templates for the projects and a list of stitches.
See what I meant about being exhaustive? Embroiderers will
be glad to note that they have most of what they need already,
and gathering the rest is part of the fun. This is one of
the most impressive craft titles I have seen this year and
it belongs firmly on my keeper shelf. I look forward to teaching
myself stumpwork, and so will you.
If you cannot find a good range of embroidery materials
locally try www.searchpress.com
for a list of suppliers.
Reviews
of other titles by these authors
Stumpwork
Figures
Stumpwork
Seasons
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