The Embroiderer's Flowers

by Thomasina Beck

Flowers and embroidery have been inseparable on dress and furnishings from the age of Queen Elizabeth I up to the 20th century. This book, by the author of "The Embroiderer's Garden", is an expression of a passion for flowers - their beauty, their history and their use in embroidery - and a pattern source book. The illustrations show the remarkable variety of style and technique used - canvaswork, blackwork, surface stitchery, patchwork, applique, crewelwork, stumpwork and machine embroidery. Some flowers are rendered with botanical accuracy, while others are captured through colour and texture. The book includes practical suggestions for developing flower designs from original ideas.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

Reviews

[Dilly Dalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third Thomasina Beck book I've read. I'm a bit of a fan. Her books are well written, full of scholarship about art, embroidery and history and are beautifully illustrated with photos and drawings. She covers a 400 year period from the 1500s through to late 1980s. Across this sweep of time, she adds in interesting details about the historical period, the people, and the major cultural influences of this art form. You come away with a strong sense of this particular branch of cultural history she is writing about. Her art form is embroidery and gardening and she is an accomplished practitioner in both forms.

In this book she is examining the flowers that caught the imagination of the British embroiderers and then how they represented them in their artwork. Across the years certain flowers and certain techniques waxed and waned in popularity.

Finally, she assumes you are reading this because you'd like to make your own contributions to this 500 year old practice. So at the end of each chapter, there are some suggestions and guides and inspirational ideas. They aren't quite templates, and they aren't quite instructions but if you are interested in picking up your needle there are some ideas for you to pursue.

I have one more volume of her life's work to read my way through.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and informative.