Layer, paint and stitch: create textile art using free-hand machine embroidery and hand stitching.

Tunbridge Wells, Search Press, 2015 ISBN: 978 1 78221` 074 0

The author of this book is a textile artist and the title of this book describes its contents well. It is just packed with information, inspirational ideas and encouragement. First up, the author introduces herself and explains her vision for the book. She goes on to suggest materials to use, with her preference for natural fabrics highlighted and explained. Paints, dyes and then general equipment needs are outlined, followed by the all important sewing needs. Then comes the vital bit – places from where inspiration may be found. A brief discourse on colour, both theoretical and practical follows.

The book then moves into the nitty gritty of creating textile art the way Wendy does. Freehand machine stitching, demonstrating the various techniques the author uses, are explained and illustrated with lovely photos. She makes it sound so easy but I have a feeling that it will be a case of practise making perfect! Hand embroidery suggestions follow, with Wendy constantly pushing boundaries. The various techniques which she uses to colour fabric are explored. How to create texture by patch working background fabrics together from various natural fabrics, essential for this type of work, is explained. Wendy tells of the importance of deciding in which order the embroidery should be worked, for each of the detailed pro-jects included. The projects fall into four categories; flowers, architecture, landscapes and what Wendy describes as ‘three-dimensional inspiration’. The latter includes her daughter’s wedding dress for which she designed and made the lace – and it is so pretty. At the end of the other project sections, Wendy has included a gallery of photos of some of her textile art.

Wendy has been so generous with her knowledge. Although parts of the book are quite prescriptive, following these instructions should give you the techniques, skills and confidence to design and work your own textile art pieces. The book is well illustrated with lovely photography. It finishes with an index, essential for this sized book (144 pages). The book is $38.40 from Book Depository – or you can do what I did and borrow a copy from Auckland Public Libraries.

Erica Marsden