BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MACHINE EMBROIDERED LANDSCAPES
By Alison Holt
Search Press - December 2001
ISBN 0855329173 PB
How-To / Papercrafts

Reviewed by: Rachel A Hyde, MyShelf.com
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If you have admired those beautiful "thread paintings" and wanted to have a go yourself ,then this is the book for you. All you need is an ordinary swing needle sewing machine (not a fancy computerized one), some cloth, paints and threads, and off you go. If you lack inspiration, then there is plenty in this lushly photographed primer. Learn how to achieve the different tonal effects with threads that look like a skilled artist has been at work, how to change your sewing machine into a free embroidery machine (very simple), mix the right shades using a chart I particularly liked, and using the stitches to accomplish different effects such as grass, rocks or certain flowers.

To its detriment, all the pictures are worked on silk - I found that using unbleached calico worked better (try it) and the backgrounds were painted in using silk paints whereas previously I had used just about anything that makes a mark just for pictures and cards and all kinds of fabric paints for garments and anything that is to be washed. No wooden frame required! Also, I would have liked to see more on how to take a picture or photograph and turn it into one of the masterpieces and found that this was a bit glossed over. Nevertheless, if you have some artistic ability and enjoy silk painting, then this is the book for you as the results are truly stunning and not as hard to achieve as you might think, making it a hobby worth taking up. It is also a grand way of recycling small pieces of fabric and drying-up paints.

Reviews of other titles by this author

Machine Embroidered Woodlands
Machine Embroidered Flowers, Woodlands and Landscapes

UK Reviewer: Rachel Hyde's work can be found in Sewing World, Sew Hip, Popular Crafts and other magazines. Her craft blog is Green Thoughts