The Kew Book of Embroidered Flowers is a beautiful book exploring botanical textile art through needle painting (a form of surface embroidery).
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have a special place in my heart (after I got engaged there) so I had high expectations of this book to do justice to such a beautiful setting with a vast collection of botanicals and botanical illustrations. The botanical illustrations within Kew’s Library, Art and Archives collection have offered inspiration for many makers, crafters and artists since it was established in the mid 19th century.
Trish Burr offers a new and inspiring insight into Kew’s botanical illustrations through her 11 embroidery projects.
The book starts off with a beautifully detailed section explaining terminologies, materials, tools and preparation activities.
Trish then begins to explain the different stitches. I found these pages not only visually stunning, but really clear and really accessible. Each stitch is explained with clear tips, methods, diagrams and photos both of the how-to for the stitch and also for the finished flower using that stitch.
Once all of these areas have been covered, Trish then starts to guide you through the projects!
These projects are grouped according to their difficulty and range from “simple projects” through to “advanced projects”.
Each project is so sumptuously presented with beautiful stitching, a clear information list (about materials, project size), information about the illustration that inspired Trish’s textile interpretation and a step-by-step guide for stitching the botanical for yourself.
I love how each project also has an accompanying, reusable transfer sheet (with information about how to use the transfer sheet) so that you don’t have to worry about getting the botanical shape correct…you can just start stitching!
This really is a breathtaking book and whilst it is definitely an expensive book (with an RRP. of £25) it is absolutely worth it because the photography, the information, the projects and the overall feel of the book is absolutely flawless! A true 5* book which is going to be a beautiful book for anyone interested in art, making, botanicals, Kew, sewing and creating!