Embroidery book online

 Embroidery Stitches by M.E. Wilkinson is available online free at the Internet Archive.

I selected to download it as PDF file but you can view this book via a number of options. 

It is 216 pages of embroidery stitches illustrated by drawings. Published in 1912 as with any book of this era some stitches are explained and illustrated better than others. Stitches are listed alphabetically. However many of the names of the stitches are not conventional and the author has taken the quirky route of repeating a stitch if it is known by two names. So it is quite possible to find the same stitch twice in the book under different names.    

That said there is more than enough interesting patterns and arrangements of stitches to spark imagination. 

M.E. Wilkinson approaches the study of embroidery stitches by breaking them down into design units which is an approach I use. In her introduction she writes “A point somewhat overlooked in Art Embroidery is the fact that each separate stitch is a design in itself. If this principle be fully recognised, the necessity for careful and systematic study of the forms and functions of Embroidery Stitches will immediately become obvious to the student and worker.”

I think readers will enjoy this book and it is definitely worth downloading. Crazy quilters will find many interesting arrangements and patterns that can be used to embellish seams on crazy quilts. They can either be adapted or will spark ideas. 

Comments

[Racaire]

Cool :)
Thanks for sharing :)

[Frontrangestitcher]

Thank you Sharon for bringing this to our attention. I enjoy perusing all sorts of embroidery books and this one will be one of them.

[Maureen Bond]

Thanks for sharing all the links. The needlework book is great.