Modern Hand Stitching

This is an interesting book in the sense that it is recent (2014) and it presents the main hand embroidery stitches and their possible variations in a modern colorful way, with nice large photographs.I do find, however, that it tends to come from the quilting and patchwork angle, for embellishment and decoration, rather than hand embroidery by itself. I happen to not be into quilting, so I see this as a little drawback, but others might think the book is exactly what they have been looking for.As far as the number of stitches and their variations, it is good but not at as complete as the indispensable “The Constance Howard Book of Stitches” published in 1979, with unfortunately only black and white pictures.To summarize: this is a nice updated stitch presentation. It has a good introduction about supplies and a last page, mentioning suppliers as well as textile artist’s websites to admire.I have many embroidery books and I will keep this one, mostly for its lovely modern, colorful pictures.

Photos a bit cluttered but the message gets through. Enjoyed the projects and layout otherwise it

I have been a hand stitcher all my life (I am now in my eighties), and of course I have lots of stitch books, but I have never met a book like this!I hesitated to buy yet another stitch book, but this one sounded interesting, so I went ahead and ordered it, and I am so glad I did. Ruth Chandler has grouped the stitches in her book by how they are made, straight, cross etc. One stitch to each left-facing page, with clear photographed instructions on how to make each stitch. The real magic comes on each right-facing page, where she shows all sorts of different ways to use the stitch. These pages are in full color, absolutely gorgeous, and really inspiring. I can't wait to find places to use these beautiful designs.Thank you Ruth.

I thought this would be a little more advanced. The description was not sufficient enough to decide wish I hadn't bought

One of the things I love about this book is that it shows how to make lots of embroidery stitches with easy and clear instructions and photos. But besides the basics, Ruth give you lots of tips and ideas for making free-form variations on these stitches to make your own personal expression. Making a sampler book of stitches is so useful and not only that, it is quite beautiful when finished. There are also lots of inspirational photos of stitched works in full size and detail shots. I have a library of embroidery books on my shelf but this one is moving to the top spot!

Wonderful hand stitching ideas and instructions for the novice and others.

The book met my expectations in terms of speedy delivery and content.

I cannot handle this item. Had to wash my hands repeatedly from the crap that got on my hands! I have no idea what the book is like. I’m not willing to touch this. It is unclean.

I love this book. It's so simply laid out and so clear. After showing you how to make a stitch sampler book, the book continues with 38 simple stitches and more variations of these than you would have expected. While a well- illustrated left hand page shows how to do a stitch, the wonderfully illustrated right hand page (No Boundaries) details many variations of these same stitches with a photo for each variation, so that you can see them used in different ways, with different threads, textures and colours. At the bottom of the same page is a box of practical "Tips" that I wouldn't want to be without. For example: "It is easier to space the daisy petals evenly by stitching 3 petals with space between them, and then going back and filling in with more petals". Of course! How obvious once you know and yet I have never thought to do this. Places to get recommended supplies are given at the back of the book but, as this is an American book, I doubt these particular ones are available in the UK. It is not really a problem as these are just the author's favourites and equivalents can be found here. Well worth the money, a book I can truly use rather than paging through and putting on the shelf.

There are actually not that many stitches in the book and it repeats a lot of similar stitches. Some of the diagrams are also misleading. I have decided to keep it but I have had to write and mark in the book corrections and/or further details to make the instructions clear. I was expecting a bit more from the book.

I was disappointed. The cover looked inspiring but inside it was just the same old stitches with little that was new. May be ok for beginners but not for anyone with a little experience.

Brilliant and inspiring

Brilliant book shows you how to do the stitch and gives other idea's how to use the stitches very pleased with the book.