If you haven't seen needle weaving and fancied a go at it but wondered how it was done, this book is for you. This book is easy to work from because it has a spiral spine and stays obligingly flat while you get to grips with the projects. I say projects but the forty patterns in here are the needle weaving equivalent of embroidery stitches and you will need an application for them. If you are a total beginner to the rich and involving world of embroidery this would not be a good place to start, but if you are more experienced and want to fill spaces with interesting textures there are plenty in here.
All are variations of the same simple weaving technique which uses a needle instead of a shuttle, and are not hard to master.
The book opens with a page of tips and basic information, how to get started and read the patterns. Have a go first at single weaving with one thread, progress to double and then a combination of the two before trying out some more involved patterns. These are checks and stripes in the main to start, but then you can progress to some more complex and larger patterns. One of these includes musical notes, while others have a texture to them and there are also some flat braids to make for edgings. I remember making one of these for a hair band when I was a child so they can be quite versatile. Each pattern is shown in color with warp and weft threads differing for easy reading; written instructions are kept to a minimum and can easily be worked out. They use a simple code (eg 02, U1 = go over the first two stitches, go under the next one) and have a table showing how many threads you need of each color and how amny rows until you repeat the pattern. Each pattern also shows a couple of small inset photographs of how the pattern can be used. A useful book that got the point quickly and soon had me weaving away like a pro!
-- Rachel A Hyde * myshelf.com *
About the Search Press edition: The wire binding allows the book to lie flat on open on your work table, so that you can easily reference the book while you're stitching.
This type of binding allows for printing on the spine, so that it's easy to see the title of the book while it's on the shelf, but it offers all the convenience of a wire-bound book, when it comes to using the book. The books are hard board covers with a glossy finish. They're very sturdy, and they're small enough to slip into a project back or basket for easy reference.
On the new editions, you'll find that only one side of each two-page spread is printed, so that there's a blank page to the left each time you turn the page. While it's tempting to write this off as wasted space in the printed books, in fact, if you're using instructional books as a work book, there's nothing better than blank pages. This is where you can take notes on things that work (or don't work) for you while practicing the techniques, and where you can work out your own stitch patterns and save them for future reference.
I've always been a fan of having at least one blank page in instructional books, for note-taking. Since most books don't have blank pages in them, I resort to an inordinate amount of post-it notes, which are never really permanent, and can be hard to keep track of. With blank pages throughout these two books, you can truly treat them like work books, with the instruction on one side and room to note your own experiences and experiments on the other.
-- From Needle n Thread by Mary Corbet, full review:
https: //www.needlenthread.com/2017/10/needle-weaving-needle-lace-techniques-bookish-stuff.html and
https: //www.needlenthread.com/2016/01/needle-weaving-techniques-for-hand-embroidery.html
-- Mary Corbet * Mary Corbet Needle n Thread *
