Needlework as Art

About this book

Long before a museum labels an embroidered cloth, its makers have already told a story in stitches. Birds, flowers, geometric borders and coloured threads carry techniques and ideas across generations and continents.

Lady Alford places embroidery alongside costume, architecture and painting in her history of the decorative arts. Illustrated examples show how a design changes with its materials and purpose, from carefully worked borders to more elaborate pictorial textiles. The book pays close attention to the skill and time held in everyday objects.