Thank you Mary, for such a lovely review!

Both The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion would make excellent Christmas presents to yourself, that friend who enjoys embroidery, or that young person who [...]]]> Yesterday the review we’ve all been waiting for went up on Needle’nThread: Mary Corbet’s review of “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”!

Thank you Mary, for such a lovely review!

Both The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion would make excellent Christmas presents to yourself, that friend who enjoys embroidery, or that young person who you’d like to encourage in embroidery.

But don’t take my word for it, take Mary’s!

The most glowing one is from Janet Wright:

Wow!!!! I have finally found the perfect embroidery book. I am [...]]]> Periodically I go to various book-selling websites and check out what people are saying about my books. I had a lovely surprise yesterday when I found three new reviews for The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion on Amazon.com.

The most glowing one is from Janet Wright:

Wow!!!! I have finally found the perfect embroidery book. I am ready to throw away or pass along all of my other books. The illustrations are perfect. This is for right handers. Can you believe??? There is another book specifically for left handers, Great purchase.

Then there is also one from Wendy Parry of Australia:

Having read and admired the “Left Handed..” book I was pleased to get the right handed copy. The diagrams are clear and easy to follow and there are stitches that are not in my other stitch-source books.

And finally from Felicia A Siford:

Best book ever for learning stitches. Illustrations simple and directions clear. I have many other books of this type and this one is indeed the best.

Thank you to Janet, Wendy and Felicia for sharing your thoughts on my books with the world!

This is music to my ears. [...]]]> I heard from the wonderful Barb Suess yesterday that she’d recently been teaching at an EGA seminar and my stitch dictionaries The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion were disappearing very quickly from Ruth Kern Books. (I don’t think she meant that they were being shoplifted, either…)

This is music to my ears.

If you like my books, the nicest thing you can do to encourage me is let other people know how much you like them and why. Putting a review on Amazon, the Nordic Needle website, or submitting one to your favourite needlework shop’s website is something that would make me forever grateful. Putting one on your blog would make me smile all day. If you’re a member of a guild, submitting a review for your newsletter would make me very happy too.

See how easy it is to make me happy? Thanks in anticipation!

I’ve been doing needlework of all types for more than 40 years and this is the best all around handbook I’ve ever seen. Details are wonderful and it [...]]]> Time for a round up of new reviews of my books today. From Amazon US, we have…
Review by Claire Nardone on The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

I’ve been doing needlework of all types for more than 40 years and this is the best all around handbook I’ve ever seen. Details are wonderful and it even has a diagram for a lefty.

Review by M. LeMay, on The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

Great book to have in a how to library–I’ve had to adapt right handed embroidery instructions over the years to left handed, or embroider right handed–finally a book that shows me. awesome!

From Amazon UK…
Review by Dekka, on The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

A gift for my left-handed wife – a 60ish grandmother. She loves it – has been taught (sometimes unsuccessfully) by right-handed people to embroider and knit…..strongly recommended for all ages.

Extract from a review by Brigitte Picart, on Ukrainian Drawn Thread Embroidery:

I was fascinated by drawn thread embroidery and the geometry in Ukrainian style. This book provides a step by step tutorial with both a clear drawing AND a clear photo of every step in the process so you can’t fail.

From Nordic Needle…
Extract from a review by Joy Lodge on Elegant Hardanger Embroidery:

An excellent book for everyone wanting to learn Hardanger. Also has tips to help the more expert …the projects are lovely, filling half of the 62 page book. I’m preparing to start two of them which is an indication of value of owning the book. There are some helpful sections when you have made mistakes with cutting and information about caring for your finished work, often not included with the instructions for the stitching.

Couldn’t find any new reviews of Mountmellick Embroidery: Inspired by Nature, so if you want to write one somewhere public, I’ll be happy to feature it here! In fact I’d be happy to feature reviews of any of my books here! Why not tell us why you love them?

And while that will feel like an achievement of sorts, then I have to embark [...]]]> Yesterday I spent the day trying to finish stitching the drawn thread work base for my Portuguese whitework tablecloth for the book. I really hoped I’d get that part done, but time got away. Maybe I’ll get it done today.

And while that will feel like an achievement of sorts, then I have to embark on the process of working the surface embroidery of mostly bullion stitch. I feel like I have a looong way to go on this tablecloth yet!

Yesterday I also received a lovely message from Paula, a Brazilian teacher of embroidery, which she gave permission for me to share with you:

Now that I use the The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion I am also loved by the lefties even being a right handed teacher! To avoid problems I keep both books in the classroom – really great books!

The books that Paula is talking about are my left and right-handed stitch dictionaries, The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of teachers having a copy of each of these books in their classrooms when teaching. As a teacher myself, I find that they are invaluable for those moments when I can’t be everywhere at once (no, I still haven’t mastered that…!) as it means that students can get started or sort our their difficulties because the instructions are so clear. I often make my way round a classroom and find that I’m not really needed there, because students are so happily working from the instructions in my books!

Of course, I do understand that some need additional help, perhaps manipulating a needle or getting started, and some just need to be shown. And that’s why I teach classes – because sometimes a real in-the-flesh teacher is what people need.

But for those times when a real in-the-flesh teacher is not available (perhaps even during a class) then The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, and The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion are great to have on hand. If you’re a teacher, just like Paula, your students will love you for it.

My second realisation about the book was that it an exhibition [...]]]> When we were away on our little break over Easter, I bought a book called “Roberto Capucci: Art into Fashion”. First impression: WOW! This is a book filled with images of incredible fashion creations. The colour and form of the dresses was simply amazing.

My second realisation about the book was that it an exhibition catalogue for an exhibition of the same name at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. If only I was anywhere near there, I would certainly visit!

I poured over the book, drinking in the images of his fantastic creations. He makes such amazing use of colour, predominantly using silk taffeta in a rainbow of colours. The shapes that he created with fabric, using such techniques as pleating, fabric sculpture, beading and embroidery, left me quite gobsmacked.

Being a person who believes that just because something is beautiful doesn’t mean I have to own it, I put the book back on the shelf, prepared to just enjoy the memory of it. But as the next few minutes passed while my family was continuing to look at other books, I realised that if I did not purchase the book, I would really regret it later. Sometimes, when you see a book that is really unusual and love it, you have to get it on the spot, because it can be too hard to find again later if you don’t get it at the time. (Can you tell I have learnt that from experience?!)

If you do an image search on Google for Roberto Capucci, you’ll see a wonderful array of some of his creations. I highly recommend taking some time to browse through them.

About The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, Judy Rogers and Jill Wilensky commented:

As a left-hander, learning how to do some of the more complex stitches is not as simple as just “flipping” the diagrams and substituting [...]]]> Recently I found some lovely reviews of my stitch dictionaries at Amy’s Golden Strand, the website of Amy Bunger.

About The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, Judy Rogers and Jill Wilensky commented:

As a left-hander, learning how to do some of the more complex stitches is not as simple as just “flipping” the diagrams and substituting right for left. Well, this book provides clearly defined steps for a great number of stitches with very detailed diagramming.

Read the rest of their review.

Amy herself reviewed The Right Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

I have spent a few morning coffee breaks with this book in my lap and am enthralled. There is something about a new book that thrills me to my toes. As I flip through these beautifully diagrammed pages my ideas run rampant.

You can read the rest of her review on Amy’s website. Amy’s Golden Strand is in Memphis TN, and you can purchase the books from Amy using the links I have provided to the reviews.

I also had a call this week from a lady who had borrowed The Right Handed Embroiderer’s Companion from her local library. She loved it so much that she was calling to purchase her own copy. Trying before you buy, through your local or guild library is a great way to learn how very useful a book can be!

I wrote it 10 years ago now, which seems pretty mindboggling, actually. (I’ve been writing books for [...]]]> In the past week I have had not one, but three very nice reviews of my book Elegant Hardanger Embroidery sent to me. It has been lovely reading people’s comments about why they love the book so much.

I wrote it 10 years ago now, which seems pretty mindboggling, actually. (I’ve been writing books for 10 years now! Me, who didn’t even like the subject of English at school!) But to continue to have people saying very nice things about it 10 years on is quite lovely and very encouraging.

Amongst the things people have said this week about Elegant Hardanger Embroidery:

Your writing style and illustrations finally made everything come into focus and showed me that I don’t have to feel like I am all thumbs when I am doing hardanger. This book will be my constant companion for at least the next two project and treasured reference thereafter.

I also am very appreciative of the way you pointed out the path to common mistakes without talking down to the reader. I tend to be one of those stitchers who makes the mistakes without the skills to get out of the mistakes because almost all my instruction comes from the written word and diagrams. Thank-you again for giving me tools to increase my confidence.

I am really impressed with it.  I knew there must be more to Hardanger than the simple Kloster blocks you see demonstrated on the web.  I feel quite confident now to try a project, and I’m hoping I won’t need to refer back to your section on fixing mistakes!

Thank you to each of you who has sent me these encouraging words. Each time it happened, it made my day!

If you don’t have your own copy of Elegant Hardanger Embroidery, perhaps you should! To try before you buy, you can see an online turn the page preview at Scribd. You can purchase it from your local needlework store (and if they don’t have it, ask them to get it for you!) or otherwise online from me at Vetty Creations.

From yesterday, thank you to all who have made suggestions of items for embroidery. I’ve loved reading them all, and it has been quite thought provoking. Please keep the suggestions coming!

My husband handed me the book and said “You might like this one,” and I was expecting another interesting book (the cover [...]]]> When we were down in Canberra last week I bought a wonderful book from the bookshop at the Portrait Gallery. It is called “1000 Artisan Textiles” by Sandra Salamony and Gina M Brown.

My husband handed me the book and said “You might like this one,” and I was expecting another interesting book (the cover is a bit ho-hum), but not to the extent that I found! I was immediately drawn in, sucked in by the lovely colourful images, and the gorgeous felting pieces that were in the first chapter, and soon I was hooked.

There are five chapters in the book:

• Wearable art and couture
• Fashion accessories
• Soft furnishings & vessels
• Tapestries & display art
• Art quilts

Each page features between one (full page) and six images of textile works by artisans from around the world. In the back of the book there are notes on each image, giving the name of the piece, its size, and a summary of techniques used. There is a good representation from Australian artisans, including two quilts by Brenda Gael Smith, who has been known to drop in here!

My favourite chapter would have to be the wearable art and couture chapter, as it features many gloriously colourful felted pieces. In another life I’d love to learn nuno felting, and this book is just so inspiring in this regard!

So how is it inspiring? I regularly contribute to Embellish magazine, which is a magazine focusing on clothing featuring embellishment. For my contribution that means embroidered clothing. This book, with its many wearable art pieces will be invaluable in moving me into a wearable art/embellished clothing headspace. The colours are inspiring. The motifs are inspiring. But by that I don’t mean that I would rip off custom motifs from other designers.

To give you an example, I’ve come away with an idea from the book. Circles. Yep, that’s it! I potentially could have gotten that from anywhere (as I have always loved circles) but I didn’t – I got it from this book. So maybe you can expect to see some circles in an upcoming project in Embellish, and maybe you won’t because maybe that will be just a starting point that I move on from. Either way, you have to start somewhere!

I highly recommend the book “1000 Artisan Textiles”. For me it will continue to inspire.

These books are exceptionally clear in their directions and stitches are shown worked in all sorts of different ways and in sample to really give inspiration for their use. I am finding this book invaluable in my City and Guilds stitch samples. I [...]]]> From Jennyflowerblue, an excerpt from her review about The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion:

These books are exceptionally clear in their directions and stitches are shown worked in all sorts of different ways and in sample to really give inspiration for their use. I am finding this book invaluable in my City and Guilds stitch samples. I have already got a few stitch dictionaries in my library, including the classics, but this is my first choice now as it is so bright and light and well indexed.

And a review of The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion, by Nicole from Follow the White Bunny:

The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion truly is my companion and for obvious reasons: all other books have diagrams for right handed stitchers so this book is my first choice to learn stitches from. It has very, very clear diagrams of the stitches too.

And from another left-handed review by Tamara Kowald on Lefty’s Left-Handed Products:

Clear instructions and pictures make it simple to get through the steps of even the hardest of stitches. ]]> http://vettycreations.com.au/white-threads/2010/10/31/left-and-right-handed-reviews/feed/ 0