Customer Reviews

Complete Needlepoint Guide

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There is no doubt - you can find a ton of stitches here. The written instructions are good, but I found two things that could use improvement.

1. The stitches are listed alphabetically. This seems to make sense, but when you start a project and e.g. you're looking for an open stitch for a large area, you have to go through the book page by page to find a selection. I would have liked the stitches to be grouped by type or use. There is a chart in the front, but I am one of those impatient types who don't like flipping through books to find what I want.

2. The black and white photos aren't always very clear. I know printing in color ups the price of books incredibly, I think having some color here - even duotones - would have helped. Some stitches looked completely different when I stitched them. I'm a relatively experienced needlepointer, so I know I wasn't misreading the instructions.

So, better photos and better organization would make this book ideal (even better I think than the Ippolito book). Regardless of these flaws, this is still a good reference and one that I use regularly.

With more than 400 stitches, this book is one of the largest stitch guides around. It is well-organized and provides clear photographs of the stitches. The author also comments on typical or recommended uses for the various stitches, as well as their durability.

Whether you already have several stitch books or are in the market for your first, this book is a great choice!

In The Complete Needlepoint Guide, experienced needlecraft artist Susan Sturgeon-Roberts provides complete "user friendly" instructions for more than four hundred needlepoint stitches and informative discusses the finer points of canvases, yearns, and other various materials used in creating beautiful works of homespun art. Profusely illustrated with more than five hundred detailed illustrations and six hundred photographs (both black-and-white & color), readers will learn the techniques and processes for designing needlepoint projects, creating perfect stitches, blocking and finishing projects, cleaning and caring for needlework. The Complete Needlepoint Guide is "must" reading for the novice needlecrafter and has a wealth of useful ideas and projects for even the more experienced needlepoint artist.

I have done crafts over the years and some embroidery, cross stitch, crochet, etc. But Ive always wanted to learn Needlepoint. For those of you who have never done it, I cannot recommend this book enough. It has so much information in it that is mind boggling. Big pictures, detailed instructions and how to use them and where. I am pleased with the book and the condition it is in (I ordered a used book). And it arrived in the mail promptly.