Customer Reviews

The Complete Encyclopedia Of Needlework

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If needlework is a serious hobby or your occupation, you need this most authoritative guide to the art of needlecraft. It covers every single stitch and technique in detail. However, the Encyclopedia does not allow for much fun and easy reading. The text is dense and the black and white illustrations are at first glance not always that much clarifying - they need studying. The language used is a bit oldfashioned and may occasionally be hard to understand if English is not your native language. The instructions are very strict and creative variations are not promoted. Furthermore, the index does not always point to the right page. Still, De Dillmont offers us a trusted companion for sorting out the right stitches and thorough introductions to a wide variety of techniques. The Encyclopedia has also proved to be of use to historians and translators in the field of art and crafts.

After 112 years the information in this book is still as important as it was when it was first published. However, the quality of the reproduction in the images is appalling. I also have an edition from 1910 in which you can clearly see sections of many of the embroidery images that are almost totally blacked out in the anniversary edition.

The anniversary edition does contain a few more items that are missing from my older edition, so I suggest purchasing both. Buy the new edition for everyday use and buy an antique copy from Ebay for the images and diagrams.

This book is wonderful for those particullary interested in historical needlework. The reproduction quality might have been able to be improved upon, but it is a great price for a good book. Some of the things do not have the copious instruction of modern books, assuming some knowledge on the reader's part. It is one book that will stay in my collection forever.

Although I did not download this publication from amazon page, I did get it directly through Project Gutenburg's free site. There you have the option of having it with or without illustrations......obviously a larger file with these attached, but the quality of the ones I have come across in my reading have been very clear and easily viewed. I have not gone through the entire book, it is huge!!!, but so far, I am very pleased. This is a classic publication, considered by many to be a "bible" on the subject. I am thrilled to have it at my fingertips whenever I feel like reading about needlework generally, or when I want a specific technique.....most recently, Irish crochet, as the table of contents makes it easy to choice what you are interested in at the time. I have many reprints of old books, and love the way they are written and explained......but please note that it is not like modern books in it's structure and content specifics...... Some things you really would never use, but I love reading about those types of subjects too! Hope this helps.

Save your money. None of the nearly 900 illustrations from the original book are in the Kindle edition. I tried the sample and assumed they must be at the back of the book--not.

OK, so it's free, so what did I expect? The Kindle version has no pictures or illustrations of the techniques and stitches of ANY kind. Don't waste your time. The book itself is not fabulously great quality, but the Kindle version is worthless!

This book is not at all as advertised. It says it is high quality and affordable, but the only high quality part is the cover. The interior is all text, not one illustration and in a needlecraft book that makes it very difficult, (if not impossible), to use. If you are new to any type of needlecraft the book will not help you. I've been doing most needlecrafts for over 40 years and find the book difficult to use.

The problem is in the way the book is formatted, they used generic computer text, which is large and takes up all the room, if they'd spent any time at all on choosing a correct and easier to read font they could have included the illustrations. It might have meant a slightly higher price, but it would have made it a useful book.

This is the first book I've ever returned to Amazon.com, (in the 15 years I've been shopping here), but I will be returning it. I give it a D-.

On Kindle version...If you are downloading from Kindle there are several editions. The reviews are the same for all editions. I recommend downloading samples before purchase. Some are definitely better than others.

I float between many crafts and I often am looking for a technique to do what I envision rather than envision the piece from the technique. This is great for that because there have been so many changes in the needlework and today's techniques tend to be more casual and eclectic at the same time. This book shows how to do many types of needlework that are no longer common today. I find having this book invaluable in my reference library.

This is a wonderful reference guide to all things needlework (including sewing, crochet, and knitting). It's also a great teaching guide, however, it doesn't include photographs for instruction, as many newer books do. I recommend this to those who have more than one needlework hobby. If you only focus on one type of needlework, this will make you want to take up some new ones!

There are so many techniques here I don't know which one to try first.