Painting with Stitches: Creating Freestyle Embroidery by Hand [Paperback]

Sue Dove (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004

For novices and seasoned needleworkers alike, this book guides crafters through the process of creating stunning works of art using a needle as a paintbrush and a vibrant collection of threads as a palette. Needleworkers are shown how to achieve the visual effects that combine the rich texture of tapestry with the dynamic color and composition of paintings. Step-by-step instructions for performing a simple satin stitch are provided, followed by advice for using hand drawings and a collage technique to develop ideas into finished embroidered pieces that retain the spontaneity of the original concepts. A gallery includes examples of portraits, creatures, landscapes, flowers, and abstract designs, all accompanied by line drawing patterns so needleworkers can try their hands at re-creating them as projects or samplers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Love abstract art? Needles arts? Brilliant color and easy designs? "Painting with Stitches" is for you!" -- Belle Armoire

About the Author

Sue Dove runs the Fine Art Textile course at Cornwall College in Camborne, England.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Interweave Press (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193149956X
• ISBN-13: 978-1931499569
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,240,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars gorgeous work, August 3, 2004

By 

Tonya Ricucci "unruly quilter" (South Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Painting with Stitches: Creating Freestyle Embroidery by Hand (Paperback)

I love the author's loose free style and the photography of the embroidery is excellent, with many, many full-sized photos. The cover photo of the multi-colored dog is representational of the work on the inside. Nice section on inspiration. My main quibble is that there is very, very little instruction for the actual stitching: five pages (mostly pictures) are it. Too much space is wasted on line drawings of the author's own work. Rather thin for the price, but beautifully executed.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Painting with Thread, September 9, 2005

By 

Lotta Chatter (Washington State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Painting with Stitches: Creating Freestyle Embroidery by Hand (Paperback)

Lovely photos of a very knowledgeable artist's embroidery techniques. Inspiration galore. Glad to add this book to my library.

3.0 out of 5 stars Novice to intermediate level, June 24, 2010

By 

Karen "byK" (Atl. GA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Painting with Stitches: Creating Freestyle Embroidery by Hand (Paperback)

Though the designs are very innovative, the skill level was below what I expected. It may be that this technique just makes it appear that way, but I was expecting much more of a refined look, perhaps similar to Japanese embroidery. Being a very advanced stitcher, this technique would not be one of my choosing. Color combinations were excellent and tutorials quite good. I guess it's a matter of personal choice. If the information given about prior to ordering the book had close-ups of the finished product, I would not have purchased it. None the less, I still enjoy looking at various techniques in stitchery even though I will probably never tackle a piece in this style.