Product Description

The distinguished reputation and specialist knowledge of the Royal School of needlework are combined in this colorful and inspirational introduction to the most popular hand embroidery techniques. Embroiderers will be delighted by the step-by-step illustrations and instructions, the colorful photographs of stunning, finished embroideries and the prctical, easy-to-follow style. A detailed introductory section provides all the practical information needed for setting up and finishing pieces of embroidery, selecting your design, fabric and threads, and preparing and framing up for working. The next four chapters examine the popular techniques of silk shading, goldwork, crewel work, and blackwork, all introduced with a historical overview and a comprehensive stitch glossary. Each stitch technique features four exquisitely worked embroidery projects, with step-by-step instructions and photogrpahs explaining their development and stitching. The 16 projects include a Jacobean Leaf Sampler in crewel work, an Iris in blackwork, a Tree Bark design in silk shading and a Sampler in goldwork. Royal School of needlework: Embroidery Techniques is an essential guide to stitching for embroiderers--it is a valuable source of reference and a beautiful book for the needlecrafter's library.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #528168 in Books
• Published on: 2000-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

About the Author
Sally Saunders is an embroiderer with a longstanding association with the Royal School of needlework. An experienced tutor, she teaches the RSN apprentices and also runs classes for Embroiderers' Guild groups.

Customer Reviews

Exquisite, museum quality detail
Having recently taken a workshop in Or Nué from the Principal of the RSN (who has penned the foreward to this book), I eagerly anticipated the release of this book. Established in 1872, RSN is the needlework school that has made the coronation robes for British Royalty, repaired and conserved historical textiles, and whose mission is to teach others to carry on the beautiful skills of needlework.

Exquisite close-up details of historical needlework and the teaching examples could only be improved by holding them in your hand. Chapters cover silk shading, crewel work, blackwork, and goldwork, and include examples of stumpwork and felt padding instructions. Stitch-by-stitch techniques are fully illustrated in photographs with detail like looking through your magnifying lamp. Needle artists of all skill levels who would like to design their own are shown how sketches in black pencil or colored pencil can be interpreted in stitches, especially effective in the blackwork shading sections.

Renaissance era historical re-enactors should make this a must-buy. From Elizabethan and Jacobean to Art Nouveau and contemporary, follow their patterns and charts or create your own. This book is worth owning if only as a "coffee table art book". If you have been jaded by poor quality craft kits, bored by cross stitch, and snooze through embroidery guild meetings, Royal School of Needlework's Embroider Techniques will tantalize your eyes and have your fingers itching for those needles.

Inspiring Embrodiery
I have coveted this book for some time and have now got a copy of it!

I must admit that I am absolutely awe-inspired by it - and it has re-awakened an impulse to go beyond my skills. It also inspires envy in me for those lucky enough to be apprenticed at the School.

The book is beautifully laid out and the project/exercises are easy to follow.

With the projects, the tips and the detail included, this book is a must for all embroiderers.

Royal School of Needlework : Embroidery Techniques
This book should be in every needleworker's library! It uses a unique method to teach all types of embroidery. By taking a picture of an Iris flower and showing, in gorgeous color, the same flower using each technique, it allows the reader to compare and evaluate the different types of embroidery. Even advanced stitchers will get itchy fingers and will want to try all the techniques shown. I have an extensive needlework library and this is truly a great book!