Goldwork and Silk Shading Inspired by Nature

Mary Corbet’s Needle ‘n’ Thread – Feb 2022

It’s a combination technique-and-project book that covers a wide range of goldwork, shading, and some other embroidery techniques, and condenses them into an equally wide range of projects, from simple to complex. I think it’s a good book for beginners and beyond, and you’ll certainly find some excellent gems of instruction and inspiration within!

Many of the projects within the book are quite sumptuous! And there are many projects within the book. As I started through it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there was much more within the pages of this book than I originally expected. The book provides a good exploration of goldwork (with its materials and techniques), plus a study in silk shading, plus exploration in combining the two. We are presented with projects that can stand alone as goldwork, or as silk shading, or as a composite of both.

Pros: It’s a very accessible instructional and project book, with a wide variety of projects for practicing and perfecting techniques. You can go from very simple to much more complex projects, and learn much from this book! For beginners or seasoned stitchers, you’ll find loads of inspiration. You might even find some great ideas for techniques you never thought to use in certain ways. There many little pleasant surprises and discoveries throughout the book. It’s a great book for reference, but it’s also wonderful for projects and further explorations.

Cons: Not many! Any con that I found mostly lies in personal preference for techniques, materials, and the like – which just goes to show you that there is no One-Way-Only in embroidery!