400 Floral Motifs for Designers, Needleworkers and Craftspeople

by Carol Belanger Grafton

Grace your next needlework, craft, or graphic art project with just the right floral motif from this versatile collection of 400 beautifully rendered copyright-free designs. Reproduced directly from a rare Victorian-era album of transfer patterns by William Briggs and Company Ltd., these designs are among the finest of the period are are ideally suited for embroidery, textile design, woodworking, leathercraft, metalwork, and a host of other design and craft uses. Included are floral borders, corners and centers, wreaths, delicate sprays, allover patterns, lovely compositions with birds and butterflies, and more. Among the floral favorites in this volume are the Apple Blossom, Azalea, Begonia, Cornflower, Forget-me-not, Fuchsia, Iris, Lily of the Valley, Narcissus, Primrose, Snowdrop, Strawberry, Tiger Lily, Tulip, Verbena, Violet, and many others.
The designs are conveniently arranged according to type and an index of uses suggests specific kinds of projects for which each type of design is especially suited. Also included are complete, easy-to-follow instructions on how to transfer the designs to cloth or other media and concise descriptions of embroidery stitches.
Whatever your craft or design need and whatever your level of expertise — from beginner to expert — you are sure to find this inexpensive volume an invaluable source you will turn to again and again.

Genres: Crafts

130 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1986

Reviews

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motifs are divided into borders, sprays, corners, all-over patterns, pillow squares, and two other categories (sorry - I don't have it in front of me). I've used this book repeatedly - embroidered a spray on some ballet slippers, beaded a Jacobean flower on a reticule, etc. The designs are clear, easy to resize, and those that are botanically correct are labeled with their common names. There are not many that are stylized - I recognized a few Jacobean designs, but most are timeless and botanically correct. Enough detail is included to make them interesting and attractive, but not so much that they're difficult to resize or embroider.

Unless you need a very period-looking floral design, I highly recommend this collection.