My reviews are listed below, but you can also click on these links to buy & find reviews of general books on Design Theory
(Titles are listed A-Z by author. Check side bar for links to book reviews covering different stitch techniques. Please feel free to add comments – especially if you disagree with me!)
THE ART OF EMBROIDERED FLOWERS by GILDA BARON
THE LIBERATED CANVAS by PENNY CORNELL
CREATING CONTEMPORARY BARGELLO: A DESIGNER’S GUIDE by IONA DETTELBACH
FREEFORM KNITTING AND CROCHET by JENNY DOWDE
EMBROIDERY SKILLS: CANVAS EMBROIDERY by PEGGY FIELD & JUNE LINSLEY
BARGELLO MAGIC: HOW TO DESIGN YOUR OWN by PAULINE FISCHER & ANABEL LASKER
BARGELLO ANTICS by DOROTHY KAESTNER
EMBROIDERY IDEAS FROM BLACKWORK by PAT LANGFORD
COLORSENSE: CREATIVE COLOR COMBINATIONS FOR CRAFTERS by SUSAN LEVIN
This is a great book for anyone interested in design for crafts who would like a clearer idea of colour theory without wading through a dense academic study, or an art technique colour mixing guide aimed at painting rather than general crafts. The spiral binding makes the book easy to use, and the introduction gives you all the basic information you need to understand the relevant terminology, and begin combining colours to best effect, whatever your craft discipline. There are visual guides to colour values within chromatic scales of colour, complementary and analogous colour groups, and more – which alone could easily kick-start new ideas!
A unique feature of this book, however, is a palette of 108 tear-off colours across the spectrum, along with blocking windows & a colour wheel to see how your own choices of colour work together. It is by no means as comprehensive in terms of colour combinations shown as Jim Krause’s ‘Colour Index’ and ‘Colour Index 2′ (which also give the RGB and CMYK values of each colour shown) but it does make a very good companion. The Colour Indexes are great for any kind of computer-aided design, but if you are working with different disciplines, ‘Colorsense’ is possibly the more practical.
EXPLORING CROSS STITCH: A NOTEBOOK by AUDREY ORMROD
CURVE STITCHING by JON MILLINGTON
BLACKWORK EMBROIDERY: Design and Technique by MARGARET PASCOE
CRAFTING CREATIVITY: 52 Brilliant Ideas for Awakening the Artistic Genius Within by COLIN SALTER
THE BARGELLO BOOK by FRANCES SALTER
FREE-FORM BARGELLO by GIGS STEVENS
Links to some more book that I haven’t read yet, but look quite cool:
DESIGN: A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists and Craftspeople by STEVEN AIMONE
DRAWING AND DESIGN FOR EMBROIDERY by RICHARD BOX
COLOUR: How to Use Colour in Art and Design by EDITH ANDERSON FEISNER
DESIGN YOUR OWN NEEDLEPOINT by GITTINS & PETERSEN
CREATING SKETCHBOOKS FOR EMBROIDERERS AND TEXTILE ARTISTS by KAY GREENLEES
COLOUR: A Workshop for Artists and Designers by DAVID HORNUNG
COLOR WORKS: The Crafter’s Guide to Color by DEB MENZ
THE ELEMENTS OF DESIGN: Rediscovering Colours, Textures, Forms and Shapes by OEI & KEGEL
CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH IN EMBROIDERY: Design, Embroidery & Quilting by DOROTHY WOODS
