Customer Reviews

Elegant Stitches: An Illustrated Stitch Guide & Source Book of Inspiration

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The most complete how to book on using silk ribbon for embroidery. Written by world reknown author, teacher and lecturer Judith Baker Montano. Read it in French Japanese or English. This book shows each stitch with a how to line drawing as well as a blow up of it within a piece of finished art work. Judith's palette is one of a kind, her jewel toned floral designs are easy to duplicate with this timeless referance book. Everything you need to get started working with wonderful silk ribbons that are now available at most sewing and craft stores. Embellish a tuxedo jacket lapel, a pair of velvet flats, a matching pendent and more when you learn the how easy it is to do this wonderful handwork that began in the 1700's. Full color photos. Even a section for left handers. Judith even shows how to create your own unique designs in a wonderful chapter at the end. What a find

My mom bought me this book for my birthday, she said I needed to learn the family tradition of silk ribbon embroidery. Being a typical 15 year old, I was kindof sheepish about it, but as I started reading, I became captivated by it. I couldn't believe it! It was easy to read, very comprehensive (the other stitch books my mom had were hard to read and kind of boring) and fun! Each stitch is given a clear diagram so I could easily see the pattern. It was unreal! I actually liked something my Mom bought me! I have shared this book with all my friends(especially the girls, because they love guys who can stitch!) I love you Mom, kudos for Judith Baker Montano, I hope she has a follow up to this!

I asked the library for a book on stitches for a left-handed person, and this is one of what they found. Wonderful ! Clear directions and easy to understand. What a wonderful way to spend some of lifes time relaxing.

This is a book of wonderful and inspiring illustrations. The diagrams are clear and concise. The diagrams show how easy it is to add to the stitches with other stitches to make your work grow.Judith has a wonderful ability to make one stitch turn into at least 10 different stitches with her use of colour and beading. This expands the depth of the stitches to make them more interestiing and gives them more width and versatility and interest.A wonderful book and very practical being spiral bound so that it lies flat and stays open while you are trying to reconstruct these stitches.

Physically, Judith's book is beautiful, containing many beautiful color pictures of her stiches. The book is also spiral bound so it lies flat while you are stitching. The book contains many beautiful stiches from beginner to advanced as well as samples of her work. She clearly illustrates each stitch technique. I purchased this book when I first became interested in silk embroidery and feel that it is the only book you will ever need. I highly recommend this book to all levels of silk embroiders.

This book is not very good. It's all line drawings, some photos, boringly presented and basically an adhoc production. Boring and uninspiring. It's written because Montano in her Crazy Quilt Book (superb!) tells how embroidery is the make or break deal in a crazy quilt but this book does not live up to those expectations.

Instead try Lucinda Ganderton's a Stitch Sampler, where colour threads are used and everything is easily viewed or if a Montano is what you are seeking go for the gold and get her Crazy Quilting book, where the main stitches are detailed and her methods outlined. Just pass this one by.

If I could rate this book with 6 Stars, I would. Beautifully written & illustrated, it provides step-by-step illustrations for every stitch you can imagine and includes special stitches used for silk ribbon embroidery. (And, for any "lefties" out there, it includes a section just for you.) Although many stitch/embroidery guides include many of these basics, there are literally hundreds of examples of motifs you can create by combining stitches. TRULY an INSPIRATIONAL GUIDE! I'm tempted to throw away the other embroidery books I own because this is literally the only one that anybody needs!

It had been many years since I learned to embroider as a child. I had difficulty finding a basic stitch guide to assist me in reviving this art in my life. This book provides not only basic stitches but clear instructions and illustrations of more complex stitches. The inspiration is in the color photographs of completed works and the valuable section on composite stitches and suggested combinations. The book also reviews the types of needles for use with various yarns and threads on a variety of fabrics. It's everything I hoped for!

I bought this book after buying several other books that claimed to explain emboidery stitches. This one is the best by far. Although I may never do any of the elegant projects she has in the book I did learn how to do the stitches I wanted to do. And one of the best features is that it will open up flat so you can put it on the table in front of you while you are following the instructions and it will stay open on the page you are working with.

I borrowed this book from a friend and now have to buy one for myself. It has easy to understand directions to do every stitch imaginable on crazy quilts or other types of embroidery projects. It is simply a wonderful book with great photos of the stitches.