The Art of Embroidery: Inspirational Stitches, Textures, and Surfaces

by Françoise Tellier-Loumagne, Sheila Paine (Translator)

A unique, visually inspiring, all-color survey of designs and patterns for embroiderers.

Drawing on her extensive experience as a teacher and practitioner, Françoise Tellier-Loumagne has assembled a creative and inventive overview of stitches and fabrics, presenting hundreds of ways of embroidering with thread and other materials.

The author encourages readers—from the beginner to the more experienced practitioner—to be innovative and to experiment with the various techniques, drawing inspiration from the natural world and one's personal surroundings. Almost any material can be embellished with embroidery, and, with the aid of more than 500 photographs plus detailed diagrams and explanations, the book opens up endless possibilities for sophisticated designs. 500+ color illustrations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crafts, Art

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2007

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. A VERY expensive book that I thought would be hugely inspirational (I wasn't expecting an instructional book, I was expecting an art book). It is, sort of, an art book. Beautiful photos of natural scenes - very inspirational, but on the whole no better than photos I have in my own archive. The embroideries in the book in response to these pictures are generally fairly pedestrian, to my mind (for an art book). And I could not work out what the audience for the book was meant to be. Again, it is presented as a book of inspiration, not an instructional book, but every example comes with a suggestion for its practical use - many of which are banal or plain silly (one of the few examples I really liked, a very heavy metal/industrial style embroidery, was suggested as a possibility for a cushion cover for a 'cosy interior'). Of the worked examples, approximately one third uses hand stitching, one third machine stitching - and one third uses a Cornely machine which is essentially an industrial machine not available for the majority of people who would buy the book - or are they the actual market?

[Gingub Gravette · Rating 5 out of 5]

a self taught embroiderer - this is one of my favorite inspirational books. it elevates your grandma's stitches to an art form.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting approach to transforming embroidery into art, looking at textures and techniques on how to achieve them. Lots of inspiring visuals.

[Kendra]

This is a gorgeous book full of inspiring techniques— it is focused mostly on textures inspired by nature and is more of a lookbook for Inspo than a step-by-step. The images are beautiful.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't inspired by this book, although I've read some blogs that highly recommended it. It is an okay art book.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little esoteric for me. Not something I could or would implement, but certainly interesting. More for Haute Couture or fabric artists.

[Kajin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So inspiring - love the depictions of nature!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really beautiful photos and approach. Craft as art, amazing! Not a how-to or project book, but like the title says, it's the art of embroidery.

[Callista · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my style.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

a beautiful visual book art vs still life -wow! inspiring