Painting With Stitches: Creating Freestyle Embroidery by Hand

by Sue Dove

For novices and seasoned needleworkers alike, this book guides crafters through the process of creating stunning works of art using a needle as a paintbrush and a vibrant collection of threads as a palette. Needleworkers are shown how to achieve the visual effects that combine the rich texture of tapestry with the dynamic color and composition of paintings. Step-by-step instructions for performing a simple satin stitch are provided, followed by advice for using hand drawings and a collage technique to develop ideas into finished embroidered pieces that retain the spontaneity of the original concepts. A gallery includes examples of portraits, creatures, landscapes, flowers, and abstract designs, all accompanied by line drawing patterns so needleworkers can try their hands at re-creating them as projects or samplers.

Genres: Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artist talks about her influences, her style of working and preferred supplies. Lots of photos of her beautiful stitched pieces. The second half of the book contains patterns of a sort - an outline of a design alongside a photo of her finished piece. Projects aren't instructional though so are not recommended for a beginner looking for a step by step. The book is more of an artist bio with some info and recommendations for working in freestyle embroidery.

[Christina Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the book talked more about technique, but it is lovely and inspiring! Beautiful colors. I used this book to inspire me to start creating my own piece using Van Gogh's Sunflowers as inspiration......