Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Blackwork
Essential Stitch Guides
Royal School of Needlework Series
Becky Hogg

Search Press
October 2010/ ISBN 9781844485512
How-To Books/Embroidery


Reviewed by Rachel A Hyde

AMAZON UK

Blackwork is associated with the 16th century and examples of it can be seen in many stately homes and museums, often as part of clothing. This useful little book introduces this lovely and often neglected embroidery style and forms part of a series of spiral-bound books created by the famous Royal School of Needlework.

I love the way this book (and all the others in the series) opens out flat and stays flat, so helpful when working from its many diagrams. There are other books on this subject of course, but I was impressed by the way this one shows not only great examples of the past, but also how blackwork can be used by contemporary needleworkers to create modern works. It also gives you all the tools you need to begin, from what you need to buy and how to use the tools and materials, to working the various stitches. With blackwork you do not need to learn many stitches and none are difficult to master (if you are reading this review you are sure to know most of them already); it is the patterns and how to use them that has often stumped me when looking at other books. Here there are many patterns given, each showing a squared grid marking the stitches and a worked example. There is information, too, on how to achieve the shading effect, and lots of examples of modern work including a wonderful tiger’s head, portraits, abstracts and even work not done exclusively in black, or not even in black at all. This might sound surprising but “blackwork” was not always worked in black in historical times, and there are some fine examples of what it can look like in full or partial color. I’ve got more than one book on this subject on my shelves, but this is definitely the best one so far. If you want to learn blackwork and get under the skin of how to design your own patterns and pictures, then this is an excellent place to do so.

Reviews of other titles in the Royal School of Needlework Series

Blackwork
Silk Shading
Crewelwork
Stumpwork
Bead Embroidery
Appliqué
Raised Embroidery
The RSN Book of Embroidery

UK Reviewer: Rachel Hyde's work can be found in The Bead Magazine, Making Jewellery and www.craftsuprint.com/rachel-a-hyde/

Reviewed 2011
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