American Crewelwork

American Crewelwork by Mary Taylor Landon & Susan Burrows Swan

Mary Taylor Landon's and Susan Burrows Swan's beautifully illustrated volume is both a study of the historical and the design aspects of American embroidery and a clear guide to the techniques of crewelwork. The authors begin with a discussion of the significance of needlework in colonial days - a time when a woman's needlework capability was an important economic factor to her family and when bright embroideries often served to enliven the plainest surroundings. They describe the various categories of crewelwork including canvas work, Berlin work and Turkey work. The influence of English needlework traditions on American crewelwork is traced and the manifold sources of design are detailed. Part II provides instructions, with diagrams, for working twenty-one crewel embroidery stitches and four canvas-work stitches. Each stitch description is accompanied by a design that illustrates how the stitch is used. This section, which describes the stitches most often used in early American crewelwork, offers instructions for the designing and working of embroidery and suggestions for using the stitches. The photographs and drawings in Part III illustrate the wide range of articles that can be created or decorated and Part IV gives the elements for composing your own designs.

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