Reviewed by annieb123 on
Organza Hoop Art is a tutorial guide for surface embroidery on sheer ground fabric by Sarah Godfrey. Released 20th April 2021 by Fox Chapel on their Landauer imprint, it's 96 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is a well written and exuberantly illustrated book with a good primer on basic surface embroidery techniques and 12 step by step project tutorials. The projects are all framed in hoops, but could easily be adapted to other uses such as embellishments for tulle overlays on clothing, lampshades, stumpwork, or other applications. The author includes an introductory chapter which gives a good overview of tools, beginning techniques, and materials. Following the introduction is a really well done tutorial chapter with the different stitches used for the patterns in the book. The step-by-step photos are annotated and accompanied by explanatory text. They're clear and easy to follow.
The final half of the book contains the patterns for the elements listed in the catalogue at the beginning. They are mostly natural elements (ladybugs, goldfish, sun, florals) which can be individualized in terms of color and arranged as desired. There are no links or retailers included in the book, however all the materials will be easily accessible at nearly any large retailer or craft shop. The author has included color conversion charts for Anchor and DMC flosses.
I enjoyed the book very much. It's a worthwhile and fun introduction and guide to learning embroidery. Many of the designs in the book could also serve as a good jumping off point for dimensional embroider/stumpwork.
Four and a half stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 16 May, 2021: Finished reading
- 16 May, 2021: Reviewed