New Designs in Raised Embroidery

Rating:
Summary: New twist to a traditional technique
Review: I agree not awful but different. This is the 2nd book about how to use traditional needlelace in a new and contemporary way- Mozart,farmers with their sheep,gardners and even Henry VIII and wives. Jane N's books focus on long and short stich for small and intricate work. This book is larger scale and creates 3D pictures/landscapes as seen on the boxes in the VA Museum but with a 21C twist and humour. It is a challenging book as you need to bring your own skills to the work as it does not provide patterns or lists of materials but does show clearly the techiques required.

Rating:
Summary: Not Awful, Just Different
Review: I disagree with the reviewer that said this book is awful. I have a substantial library of embroidery books covering all types of embroidery, including stumpwork. This book features scenes, some of them pastoral, that are anything but "cutesy". This book takes a different approach to stumpwork. In the tradional working of this kind of embroidery, embroiderers disregarded perspective and scale. Their scenes (often pastoral) depicted insects, animals, people, fruit, flowers, etc. all with no regard to scale and perspective. The insects were as large as people's heads and often larger that animals such as rabbits, squirrels, etc. This book pays attention to scale and perspective to help the embroiderer to create "paintings" with her thread. Techniques are clearly explained and illustrated. Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: I ordered this book on an Amazon recommendation and went straight to the post office to return it the same day. I have both Jane Nicholas' books and the designs in this book are nothing like the colourful ones in hers or other stumpwork books. This book features people in scenes which are created in more of an appliqued way than embroidered. Personal taste I guess, but I found it awful.