At Mr X Stitch we love to review textile art and embroidery books for you. There are so many great books to discover, packed with needlework inspiration and textile techniques, so we dive into each book to find out what’s good, what’s bad and let you know why you should pick it up.
Introduction
Part of a new series of books, this one is written by an expert teacher who works with The Royal School of Needlework. The blurb tells us:
‘Raised Embroidery by Kelley Aldridge features an introduction to the RSN and its prestigious heritage. It reveals the history and context of raised embroidery and showcases galleries of inspiring raised embroidery work. This is primarily a practical, instructional guide that offers a complete grounding in the techniques you need for raised embroidery: it contains a comprehensive stitch guide and leads the reader through each technique using clear step-by-step photography and easy-to-follow expert guidance. The book contains three beautiful projects that put these techniques into practice and showcase additional advanced techniques.
Who is it Aimed at?
Raised Embroidery is primarily for the established embroiderer, someone who has already begun their education within the Textile Arts. It is more of a formal instruction manual for those who already have a decent grasp of the terminology and techniques.
About the Artist
Kelley Aldridge is an established teacher. She herself graduated from the Royal School of Needlework in 2005, and since graduating, began teaching their course programmes.
Content
Raised Embroidery contains three projects to apply the technique. There are large photographs throughout as examples and a clearly laid-out contents page. What is special about this publication is that it also gives us insight into who the RSN are and where they have stemmed from. Reading about the school, the history and their teaching programmes is incredibly inspiring.
Photography and what makes this book special…
For those with lesser knowledge of The Royal School of Needlework, reading a book published by one of their teachers may seem daunting or too traditional. Think again, look at this sweet example!
Within the publication, a lot of thought and care has gone into exploring the planning before a final piece is made. As seen below, a mood board or inspiration board can be put together in order to plan what you may want to create.
The photography throughout is detailed and is done in a way that we can clearly see all of the 3D elements, this is helpful to inspire our Raised Embroidery journey!
What is wrong with the book?
If you are brand new to embroidery, then this is not completely accessible to you. Why not begin with something a little more ‘beginner friendly?’ This is certainly one to look at though and if you don’t have the technical ability just yet, aim to learn!
Conclusion
Raised Embroidery by Kelley Aldrige is for the experienced embroiderer, maybe those formally trained in the craft looking to build upon their personal toolkit. Aldrige’s experience both as a student and teacher at the Royal School of Needlework, means that the instructions are detailed and easy to follow, with tips on how to collect inspiration together to create unique pieces of Textile Art.
Published under the Royal School of Needlework, with Search Press
