Crewel Embroidery in England by Joan Edwards

This book is a unique and intriguing history of crewel work, a form of embroidery that has been popular since the seventeenth century. Until now, most books on the subject have concentrated on basic designs, specific historic periods or American patterns and have only briefly mentioned the fact that English crewel is the original form of this fascinating type of embroidery. Here is the complete story of crewel, from the Bayeux Tapestry to the present. Joan Edwards believes that the embroiderers of old are as interesting as their embroidery and has therefore written about the embroiderer as a person, describing her household, her samplers, the sources of her patterns and the changing methods of teaching. The wonderful variety of the crewel wool designs worked by English embroiderers is fully reflected in the magnificent illustrations in this book. And for today's embroiderer, constantly looking for new ideas, details from these designs are reproduced as line drawings.

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