Customer Reviews

Machine Embroidered Woodlands

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I've been doing freehand machine embroidery for 30 years, and no, I'm not in Alison Holt's class! It is incredibly sad that the artistry practiced for 100 years on conventional sewing machines has been eclipsed by passive/computer generated embroidery by specialized machines. The difference between true freehand and passive machine embroidery is the difference between painting on canvas freehand and painting by numbers. They are two completely different beasts.

I already own, and highly recommend, Ms. Holt's DVD on freehand embroidery. It's miles ahead of what I've seen put out by others.

Ms. Holt is, first and foremost, a gifted artist. She simply chose machine embroidery as her medium when in college in the 70's. Her basic technique involves taking a photograph and adapting it to work on fabric. There are many, many different avenues to achieving the desired product. Ms. Holt combines her freehand embroidery with background painting on silk, then a cover with thread. Other artists may use various fabrics only combined with thread. Still others only use thread. What can be gained with this book is a close look at her thread technique. Unlike passive/computer embroidery, freehand can and does involve possibly dozens of different colors, grouped by colors. For example, a simple field of grass could take a dozen different colors--greens, browns, yellows, and even whites or reds. My thread library is over 1000 different colors. Unlike some other embroiderers, who are very dogmatic about using a specific thread, Ms. Holt (like me) is open to using all types of thread to achieve different effects. For example, using only cotton embroidery thread can lead to a rather flat appearance; different threads and give variety.

Though the illustrations are beautiful and worth having on their own, this book will be primarily of interest to those, like me, who have an interest in freehand embroidery. Or, those who are trapped in the constraints of the computer-generated machines who want to expand their artistry. The book itself is a high-quality paperback with lush coloring and thick, glossy pages. It will become a treasured part of my embroidery reference library.

Alison shows us how to re-create her wonderful woodland scenes using just straight stitch and zigzag. Every step is clearly illustrated, and every thread colour change is charted, teaching us how to make a whole variety of textures, different leaves, bark, drifts of flowers, paths and rocks. In addition to techniques, she also shows how to combine elements from different photos, or crop, to make an interesting subject have the maximum impact. Excellent in every way.

Absolutely beautiful book. Well written, clear, concise instructions that are easy to follow. Allison Holt is a master at machine embroidery. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in doing this kind of work. Once you master her techniques you will look at pre-programed machine embroidery in a different light.

This is my second book by Alison Holt. After reading her "Machine embroidered Landscapes" I totally fell in love with her technique. After doing landscape quilts for many years, I still learned so much from this book that it generated a rush of creativity for me. This is a wonderful reference to a freehand machine embroidery enthusiast. The results you get with free hand are more beautiful than anything you can get with an embroidery machine because of the irregularities that doing free hand embroidery brings, thus making scenary look more realistic.

The book teaches you techniques in sewing as well as how to create images not only by drawing freehand but from tracing photographs. You don't need to be an artist to be able to look like one!

This book is great by giving you ideas on which you can build and create your own thing, with your own tools. What is fantastic is the techniques itself, the whole approach in how to build the scene, what intensity of colors to use, what stiches work best, and so forth.

The book is organized in the following way:

1. Materials and equipment. Goes over what tools you will need or this project. I did some substitutions, for example I use hand-yed fabrics rather than use resist and paint technique.

2. Inspiration. Describes various sources for inspiration, such as photographs and how to work with them.

3. Composition. Composition is a key to the final success, I found this chapter very useful.

4. Colour. Where to put dark and light colors creates prospective.

5. Starting to stitch. Before reading Alison's book I never used such a variety of stitches in my embroidery. The use of different stitches adds depth.

6. Creative a woodland in stitch. Describes her technique for a beautiful woody scenes.

7. Creating background. The texture and the color of the background is important to bring attention to your main subject.

8. Next four chapters cover: springtime, sunlit path, fallen leaves, and winter snow projects. The images are beautiful, the explanations are clear. I could not wait to get started when I read them.

Great book!

Everything is covered from straight stitches to embroidery stitches on the sewing machine. Other techniques include using upper and lower tension changes as well as the free motion with feed dogs down and decorative stitches with feed dogs up and changing stitch width and length combinations. It gives us permission to use thread color combinations, think outside of the box and have great fun.

I have been doing free motion embroidery or thread painting, as is is sometimes called, for many years. Allison Holt takes free motion machine embroidery to a new level. Each free motion embroiderer has their own combination of materials and techniques that they use. From thread to type of fabric to whether or not they use stabilizer and/or a hoop. This is Allison Holt's way. For example she uses strictly silk, and explains why, where others might use cotton or canvas. There are no strict rules about this, but whatever works for you and gets you the result that you want.

In this book you will learn how to choose/take a good photo. Transfer the scene to silk and then paint the background. The sections on inspiration, composition, perspective and color are thorough but easy to understand. There is a great section with good pictures of the stitches, how to make them and where to use them. You will learn to make tree trunks and foliage and even moss on the bark. The section on making different types of flowers is also well illustrated with clear pictures and explanations on how to make them. She also explains an interesting technique for making free standing trees which are added to the work later.

Finally there is a section for each season with step by step instructions on how to do each one. All in all a very informative book whether you are a beginner or experienced, and a great follow up to her Beginner's Guide to Machine Embroidered Landscapes.

Awesome book. Typical of the English style thread work. Very detailed and great photos to go with the instructions.