Customer Reviews

The New Crewel: Exquisite Designs in Contemporary Embroidery

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Crewelwork embroidery dates back to the 17th century, but in this updated text it enters the new millennium with style. Author Katherine Shaughnessy shares not only her expertise with the craft - which she has been practicing since age 5 - but also her fresh and innovative designs and approaches to traditional embroidery.
You'll find chapters on the history of embroidery, an in-depth discussion of tools and materials, a gallery of 16 stitches, and 30 original designs that came directly from the artist's sketchbook. I love her modern motifs: falling snow, ruby shoots, snowshoes, moon rock, hip squares, puzzle piece, little crown, and more.
New stitches lead to new projects: greeting cards, journal covers, framed art, fabric ornaments, pillow covers, embroidered jeans, and much more.

Wow!!! The word "Exquisite" just barely describe just how beautiful this book is and inspiring! It walked crewel out of the past and into the 21st Century - Thank you!
The stitches are well described and shown. The patterns are innovative and jump started even my beginner's mind to creat a brand new pattern.
If there is anything wrong with this book it simply isn't big enough and leaves you hungry for more. I ended up buying 5 more books on the topic!
Have Fun!

I was so excited to see this book from Wool & Hoop's Katherine Shaughnessy. Crewel work has always seemed a little intimidating to me, it looks difficult at first glance. But the illustrations and super-close-up photos in this text demystify the process and make me feel like I could take it on with confidence. This is a gorgeous book full of imaginative designs from an authoritative source!

this book is just beautiful, and that's not the best part. her illustrations on how to make the stitches and directions are so incredibly clear. i have too many craft books at home that while have great ideas (and pretty pictures), they have terrible instructions. the new crewel is certainly not one of them. i went out and purchased crewel wool just a day after getting the book for christmas! i can't wait to get started!

In my youth, I used enjoy doing embroidery projects, but grew bored with the typical imagery associated with the techniques involved (pillowcases and linen dishtowels - ugh). So I put it away until recently when I saw the renewed interest probably due to artists like Ms. Shaughnessy. This book encouraged me to create my own images using various types of thread (discussed in the materials and tools section). The stitches used and developed by the author, who focused on crewel when she was younger, is artistically stimulating. The author's amazing work is creative and so often draws your eye across the work as one would do with a classic painting in a museum. In addition, her discussion on the history of crewel (too brief IMHO) evokes the thread artistry tradition from the past to the "new" work of today. This book provides an excellent way to bring the passion back to thread art (crewel, embroidery).

This is a gorgeous book, filled with a wide variety of forward-thinking crewel design patterns. Also includes excellent instruction.

I loved this book with its quirky designs. I was a bit afraid of crewel work until I read this book; it's easy & fun. All projects are very "do-able" and a lot of them can be done quickly with a minimum of fuss; ideal for a weekend & great for gifts. You don't need to have an extensive stash of threads to do these projects (although what embroiderer doesn't!!)which makes them affordable. Katherine has terrific suggestions for some of the designs & the book has funny anecdotes & tips & hints spread out through its beautifully illustrated pages. I can see this book becoming a firm favorite of mine.

This is absolutely my favorite crewel book! Katherine Shaugnessy has taken crewel to a new level that works with the modern as well as the traditional home decor. Her instructions and diagrams are designed for the novice as well as the experienced embroiderer. She has so many new and different ideas and ways to use embroidery you won't know where to begin. Her fantastic use of color is the key to this super book and I can't wait to get started! This is definately a must have for anyone who loves embroidery as I do.

This book is great! As others have said, I have a lot of problems finding modern patterns, but I still love needlepoint and embroidery. I've never tried crewelwork for the simple reason that I had NEVER found a book (thinking none existed) that offered ideas for modern, funky ideas. This one solves all my reservations! I'm so excited! Between simply making the samplers, the greeting cards, and the lampshade idea, I don't know if I'll be able to put this book down!!!

This is wonderful book! It is clearly written and very well formatted with crisp bright photos. It is important to remember the designs are clearly modern, some akin to mid-century modern and some to danish or Scandinavian in style, so if this is not your design aesthetic, you may not be as inspired as I was; however, it is inspirational regardless your design style.

The book is uniquely formatted into four sections with a brief interesting history as follows: I must interject that the title "New" throughout the "table of contents" appears to be not new techniques per se but part of the book's title being utilized throughout the book.

Section 1...
"The New Crewel Basics"
Materials and tools pages 14-18
New crewel techniques pages 19-21
New crewel stitches pages 22-31

There are 16 stitches clearly illustrated in large rendered sketches using a,b,c,d (etc.) steps. Each stitch has accompanying written instructions with an accompanying color photo of a "finished" stitch. The author also includes some written text on variations of some stitches. The stitches are rather basic... chain stitch, french knots, blanket stitch, satin, etc. This is a good beginners primer.

Section 2...
"The New Crewel Gallery" pages 32-62
There are 30 designs (motifs) each with a name like "falling snow", "fishing net" and so on. In this section a full page is dedicated to each design with a very large clear photo example in the center of the page. On each page is a side bar with text that explains fabric that was used, type and color of thread, stitches used and finishing followed by either a tip or fact or reminder.

Section 3...
"The New Crewel Projects" pages 63-99
There are 15 projects utilizing the "design motifs" outlined in the prior section:

framed stitch sampler
greeting card
journal or scrapbook cover
cool crewel art
scented sachet or tree ornament
mason jar soft tops
elegant pillow cover
lavender eye pillow
sparkling blue jeans
eyelet hole lampshade
whimsical eyeglass case
haute-couture apron
skirt embellishment
cozy scarf
adorned mesh bag

Each project has a full page color photograph of the project, followed by clearly formatted section of what materials you need and then followed by bullet-type instructions sprinkled with illustrated graphics. The written instructions are very clear.

Section 4...
"The New Crewel Pattern Diagrams" pages 101-112
This section has mostly smaller colored diagrams, most four to a page that can be used to copy in a printer and enlarge if necessary. Once again, there are sidebars with thumbnail photos of the designs and handy page number beneath to reference the larger photos in section 2 of the book. The diagrams/patterns are in color matching the thread colors as well as stitches used.

I very much liked most of the designs and many of the projects. It all left me very inspired! I thought this book was very well designed with clear instructions and very appealing format. I imagine experienced sewers already know all the stitches and techniques but I think they will find the designs inspiring.