The Stitches of Creative Embroidery Details The Stitches of Creative Embroidery is the most comprehensive and exciting book written to date about this increasingly popular craft. 241 stitches are clearly described and illustrated in 595 easy to follow diagrams. Numerous detailed photographs illustrate traditional and modern examples of embroidery. In addition there are eight pages of outstanding examples handsomely reproduced in full color. Jacqueline Enthoven has based the book on the sound premise that the beginner needs very little technique before he can be free to adapt traditional stitches to his own creative ends. She has achieved amazing results with her students - both adults and children - and many of their works are included among the illustrations. She writes in a lively, informal style and her instructions, thoroughly tested in her own classes, are foolproof. The first part of the book tells how to plan a sampler, choose materials, threads, and colors, transfer designs, and place stitches on the sampler. It also suggests using a "doodling cloth" for practice and keeping a notebook of design ideas and sources. Instructions with step-by-step diagrams for individual stitches constitute the major part of the book. The stitches are logically arranged according to basic types - flat, looped, chained, knotted, couching and laid stitches. The final section tells how to create borders; geometric designs; flower, leaf, bird and animal forms; and freehand designs - both thematic and abstract. Ideas for the home include designs for table mats, bed spreads, wall hangings. Mrs. Enthoven does extensive research in the embroideries of many countries, bringing to light new stitches and unusual variations of traditional stitches. For the second edition of her book, she researched and recorded many ethnic stitches, from Afghanistan to the nomads of the Sahel, stitches never described before. Soft cover, 238 pages. Price: $60.00 ($54.55) Contents Introduction Starting to Stitch Begin Now - Choosing the Material Size of the Sampler - Doodling Cloth Threads Choosing Colors Needles - Other Things You Need Transfering Designs Your Embroidery Notebook: Sources of Ideas Starting the Sampler Notebooks of Stitch Samplers The Stitches Flat Stitches Looped Stitches Chained Stitches Knotted Stitches Couching and Laid Work Creating with Stitches Finishing and Using the Sampler Creating Borders with Straight and Curved Lines Building Borders Spontaneously Working with Geometric Designs From Geometric Designs to Various Shapes Working on Printed and Plain Materials How to Create Spontaneously with Stitches Wall Hangings and Space Dividers More Ideas for Your Home Clothes Embroidering Flower Shapes Detached and Semidetached Petals Joinings Edgings Conclusion Index of Stitches The Author Since her childhood in France, Jacqueline Enthoven has been collecting embroidery stitches and hoping to write a book about them. She grew up in Paris where her father, G.H. Camerlynck, was a professor at the University of Paris. She spent vacations at her grandmother's home in Brittany and learned many stitches which have been seldom, if ever, previously described in print. After graduating from the Sorbonne, Mrs. Enthoven attended the University of Oxford where the Principal of her College, Eleanor Jourdain, author of books on embroidery, encouraged her historical research. There she met her English husband. His work brought him to Seattle, Washington, where the Enthovens lived many years. They now reside in Santa Barbara. In Seattle, Mrs. Enthoven continued her art studies in design and the interaction of color at the University of Washington. She conducted there a Summer School course in Stitchery. She has lectured, conducted seminars in Universities, Colleges, School Systems and Stitchery groups throughout the United States.