Customer Reviews

Helen M. Stevens' Embroidered Birds (Masterclass Embroidery Series)

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This book has several beautiful study of birds. The photographs of her own work are truly amazing. The bald eagle, in particular, looks totally alive with a malevolent glint in it's eye. I really loved the egret with wispy white feathers that seemed to be blowing in the wind. The book includes a generous example of Helen's own embroidery that are not part of the classes. These, I think, are the best examples of what is possible. The main part of the book consists of 5 master classes that walks one through the step by step construction of the projects. However, her master classes looked way too complex for me. Instead I incorporate her method into my own design of a small bird and a flower. She explains her method, opus plunarium -- or layers of feathers used to create the illusion of depth, body, and movement, in the technique section at the back of the book. This method was especially convincing and life-like when used on the small bird, and very surprisingly, not too difficult to realize, even for me! I think Helen used mostly thick, flat, Japanese style silk threads (not silk floss, not twisted silk). Her work has a super-glossy look. These types of threads are not easy to find in the U.S. I purchases YLI silk twisted floss from Needlework.com. These produced matter, semi-glossy results, which I was quite happy with. The YLI silk floss came in 6 twisted stands, where each strand seemed to be about 1/2 the thickness of a stranded, twisted, cotton DMC floss. I would highly recommend Ms. Stevens' Embroidered Birds for your library. The pictures are lovely, and the technique will add wings to your embroidery.

I am in the process of in-house "training" and this book, among others, by this exceptional artist is helping me formulate new procedures and ideas before I start a project.