Floral Interpretations for Silk Ribbon (Milner Craft S.) (Milner Craft Series)

July 08

Ribbon embroidery is not as hard as it sounds, and great fun to do. Because the ribbon is thicker than thread it grows surprisingly quickly, which is great for a beginner. Here are twelve different garden flowers used as inspiration for some beautiful pictures and other projects, based around photographs and paintings.

Australian books always seem to be beautiful, lavishly illustrated with glorious images and this one is no exception. The author's photographs were turned into paintings by her daughter, and these in turn are shown as line drawings and then the final stitched pieces. Some of the line drawings are for developing yourself, but most are a whole project and these are made up into pictures. Used to Search Press' custom of staged photographs for learning new techniques the line drawings are not quite as easy to understand, and there are not quite enough of them, particularly with the large number of written instructions and explanations. I got quite muddled at times, and wished for some photographs to put me right. A total beginner might easily get lost in here, so if you have never attempted this type of embroidery before one of the Search Press titles for beginners would be a better buy. But if you have gone beyond that, and want to adorn your walls (or some plain boxes) with beautiful floral studies then this is the book for you.

Winter 08

This book delivered what the title promised. It comprehensively covered all techniques necessary for beginner but is also ideal to extend and refine techniques already learnt. There are twelve different flower projects and the watercolour studies are delightful. I worked through one of the projects and found the instructions clear and easy to follow. As a newcomer to silk ribbon embroidery this was a lovely book and I found it truly inspirational.

Margaret Cox, St Stephens-in-Brannel

Helen Dafter is a well-known Australian embroiderer and author of embroidery books. She travels extensively doing workshops and has a flourishing embroidery business selling her own designs and kits.