Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Embroidery: A Maker's Guide contains 15 beautiful step-by-step projects for crafters at all levels. Each one takes its cue from a different historical tradition - from English goldwork to Indian beetle-wing embellishment, from Japanese kogin to Irish whitework. Projects include a bargello purse; blackwork moth and dragonfly motifs on napkins; a William Morris artichoke motif on a small cushion; Chinese-inspired motifs for adorning a denim jacket; Mountmellick whitework on a decorative necklace-collar; Indian shisha mirrorwork on a clutch bag; and machine-embroidered lilies on lingerie. Designed by teachers and practitioners at the leading edge of today's craft revival, the projects are both functional and fashionable, and include tips on how to take next steps towards developing your own designs.

This modern maker's guide will inspire all readers with the confidence to express their creativity through the age-old craft of decorative stitching.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Global traditions of embroidery are explored in this guide, produced in conjunction with London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Techniques are divided into categories, including counted-thread and canvas work, freestyle embroidery, and whitework, with additional chapters for embellishment techniques and contemporary embroidery. Each individual technique includes a brief history with photos of artifacts from the V&A, plus a project using readily accessible fabrics and threads. Coverage includes both the usual (blackwork, goldwork, crewel embroidery) as well as techniques that are less commonly seen in Western embroidery, such as phulkari, a technique native to the Punjab region, and Japanese Ainu appliqué. VERDICT While the coverage isn't comprehensive, this collection provides an overview of a wide variety of techniques, and stitchers interested in global traditions of embroidery will find plenty to explore. © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

This encyclopedia of embroidery selected from the collection housed in London's Victoria and Albert Museum is gorgeous and informative in and of itself, and the addition of modernized projects extends it into DIY territory. James Merry, an English hand embroiderer, introduces the book by noting that the craft of embroidery, with its "rich and long history," has been reinvented many times over many generations. The book showcases the varieties of embroidery throughout history and across cultures, starting with counted-thread and canvas work (such as kogin, a Japanese form of darning stitch, and bargello, a Florentine stitch), continuing through the white-work tradition of broderie anglaise and Mountmellick, and ending with contemporary embroidery. A chapter on embellishments explores ornamented styles such as "shisha work," which incorporates small mirrors into designs. The 15 projects themselves, accompanied by clear instructions and graphics, extend the examples of each style, with helpful tips and substitutes. For example, instead of using wings from actual insects for a project inspired by the beetle-wing style, try using acrylic fingernails instead. This multifaceted book will appeal to crafters as well as design students or anyone with an interest in the history of textiles. Color photos. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Hand embroidery is a relatively broad term covering a wide array of very specific techniques, some of which have been practiced for centuries. This book uses embroidered pieces from the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum as inspiration for new objects readers can craft themselves. Color photos of the exquisite original items are accompanied by a short history of the embroidery method and of each particular inspiration piece. Step-by-step instructions for each project are accompanied by close-up progress photos and, when necessary, charts and diagrams. The selection of techniques includes several variations each of counted-thread and canvas work, freestyle embroidery, whitework, and embellishments, with a final section showcasing contemporary (here, post-1930) embroidery. Readers are encouraged to master blackwork, Mountmellick, bargello, Shisha, and broderie anglaise, among others. The original items are mostly clothing and a few household items, but the projects are primarily purpose-based objects, ranging from a book cover to napkins to a tote bag. Despite the intimidating intricacy of the museum pieces, the projects are doable yet reasonably impressive.--Heidemann, Anne Copyright 2018 Booklist