Customer Reviews

The Embroiderer's Story: Needlework from the Renaissance to the Present Day

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4 star:		(2)
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Thomasina's book is full of beautiful illustrations, examples, and photos, but it is rather hard to read. There seem to be no clear cut examples or divisions between the different embroidery ages, except the chapters themselves. I have found myself going back and saying, "Now what made the Stuart embroiderers distinctive?" I only wish that there were some sort of summary at the end of each chapter to clarify each 'age,' because there is so much information mentioned in each chapter. There were also items and names mentioned throughout the book that needed further clarification, such as the history of a sweetbag. Where did that come from? As I said before though, it is full of beautiful illustrations and could serve as a helpful guide in designing reproduction patterns. It would also make a good coffee table book.

If you are looking for a gift for a needleworker, either yourself or someone you like, consider buying this book for them. It is a beautiful walk through the history of needlecrafting from the Renaissance (mainly in England), and it has beautiful pictures and an engaging text. The reader will have a better understanding of how the needlearts effected all aspects of material culture in the periods considered. Here needlework is treated as a long continuum of women's interests and knowledge, along with the variations that made eachperiod unique. Great for history buffs, too!

I only wished for more graphics of her source material. Think this book would interest any needleworker who also loved to read English history (in spite of the title, it's mostly about England). Whenever one looks at history from a unique POV, in this case needlework, one's understanding is deepened. It could also be subtitled: "How rich women wasted time".

Other reviewers have commented on the many virtues of this book.

I'm going to keep this short. I was impressed by how many of the color photographs actually capture the texture of the work. Additionally, many of the black and white line drawings (and some of the prints) are clear and detailed enough that they manage to convey this information as well.