79 of 79 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXACTLY what I needed!!, June 17, 2006
This review is from: Bead Embroidery The Complete Guide: Bring New Dimension to Classic Needlework (Spiral-bound)
I'm a great lover of beads, but I had never picked up an embroidery needle in my life. I really needed a book to tell me what was what, and this was it! This is a great book for beginners as all stitches and projects detailed are either easy or intermediate level.
This is a spiral bound book tucked inside of a hard cover so it will lay flat for reference purposes but still sit nicely on your shelf. It is a pleasant compact size, great for tucking into a small bag or container to take on the go. All pictures and diagrams are in full color.
The first 35 pages provide an "At a Glance" guide to 215 different needlepoint stitches, counted thread and crazy quilt stitches, freeform embroidery, smocking and ribbonwork stitches as well as various types of fringes. Each picture has a side by side showing the regular stitch and the stitch with beads!
There is a short chapter that deals with tools and materials, followed by a lengthy section on how to perform each one of the above mentioned 215 stitches. There are detailed diagrams and instructions for each one. This is definitely the BEST part of the book and completely invaluable!
The final (and weakest, in my opinion) section has a variety of projects to make with instructions and material lists for each. There is a short gallery of artists' beadwork which I personally did not find very inspiring, but gives you some new ideas all the same. At the end is a list of suppliers and other books to reference.
I love this book on the whole! It's a fabulously put together reference guide and pleasantly presented. It will be indispensible for years to come!
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21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Traditional embroidery with a few beads thrown in for fun, April 15, 2008
This review is from: Bead Embroidery The Complete Guide: Bring New Dimension to Classic Needlework (Spiral-bound)
I first learned to embroider when I was seven and have continued a love of traditional thread embroidery. This book's value is as an illustrated dictionary of sewing stitches. The instructions are clear and the examples are very helpful in understanding how to sew each stitch. In addition to the frequently used thread embroidery stitches, it also has many less common or obscure stitches. Without question, this is an excellent reference book for hand sewing stitches.
As such, if your goal is to add beads to decorative stitches on a cloth ground, this will be an superb book for you. However, as I was interested in a book about bead embroidery, i. e., works that are predominantly made of beads, this was not a useful book for me. While nicely done, the beading aspect is demonstrating how to add a few beads to the thread stitches.
All in all, a very nice book but make sure that it matches your sewing or beading needs.
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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
New Hobby for Me, July 8, 2006
This review is from: Bead Embroidery The Complete Guide: Bring New Dimension to Classic Needlework (Spiral-bound)
Gave me some ideas on how I could use my supply of beads for something other than necklaces, pins, and jewelry. Instructions were complete and very easy to follow by someone who had not done this type of work before.
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