Victorian Pansies

by Jenny Haskins

Book Overview

This volume explores how to employ today's technology to recreate the richness and beauty of the Victorian era for a range of projects. The concept of the book can be used in conjunction with... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 188968211X
• ISBN13: 9781889682112
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Quilters Resource
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful book

Beautiful book - with wonderful ideas. I had hoped for a few more projects that were a little less expensive to make - but I do enjoy looking thru it often.

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover...

Anyone that loves and appreciates the quality of the best needlework of the Victorian era will be beautifully inspired by this gorgeous book that provides what its cover promises, the photography alone is good reason for its purchase. To turn each page is a pleasure, as gorgeous lace samples are used to frame the pages that are filled with delicate items to tickle the fancy of any romantic. To then have the addition of a printed sample included so that you can immediately try the techniques shown, is an added bonus. We see many lovely books filled with dreamy images of Victorian treasures that are far beyond our reach financially, but this book puts those items within our grasp by using the hand skills we have developed over the years. It is a commercial venture, of course, and promoting a particular brand of an embroidery machine since this is what the author uses and is familiar with. I was so inspired by the images that I immediately started searching for a location where I could see this machine. When I saw the price range of them, I immediately realized that the machines are currently out of my price range, fortunately, these techniques do not necessarily require an expensive machine at all if you are an accomplished hand-stitcher that admires quality and uses quality materials.Jenny Haskins is a very creative designer who is generous about sharing her talents with complete patterns and detailed instructions. I just purchased her next book, "Victorian Roses" which is just as beautifully presented. I highly recommend "Victorian Pansies" if to just inspire and offer the opportunity of allowing the book to lay open to view at almost any page which greatly contribute to the romatic look we desire in our homes and immerse us anew in the homely beauty of the old-fashioned pansy.

Victorian Pansies by Jenny Haskins

For those of you who appreciate the Victorian style and own a home embroidery machine this is the book for you. The author gives several examples of what you can create with machine embroidery. In case you don't have an embroidery machine, you are not out of luck. Almost all of the projects can be constructed with a regular sewing machine, and some require no sewing at all. The machine embroidery merely enhances the item. She uses motifs from embroidery designs that she created (you can purchase the embroidery design disks), and gives you new and creative ideas on how to use them. The book comes with patterns that correspond to the written instructions. She also gives instructions in both in the front and the back of the book that has photographs and drawings. However, in some of her written instructions she doesn't include a description of the stitch being sewn (i.e. satin stitch with 2.5 width), she merely gives the number of the stitch on HER computerized sewing machine (i.e. stitch No. 60, width and length 6.0). By the way, she uses a Pfaff embroidery/sewing machine. Therefore, the book is not entirely universal when it comes to different brand sewing machines. However, you can look at the picture and match the stitch with your machine. The materials she uses ARE available in the U.S. (author is from Australia) or from her website. There is a listing of suppliers in the back of the book as well.

Victorian Pansies

A beautifully photographed book, more of a picture book than a 'how to'. I found that it was overly long in the project explanations pages, and sometimes they seemed too complicated to read right through. There are about 20 projects, nicely illustrated and all using the embroidery features found on the latest computerized machines, and the author's Pansy disc. Some supplies are hard to find in this country and no substitutes given for US readers. The book is written by an Australian artist. Overall I would say this is a pretty book for one's collection and an asset if one is charmed by the lovely flower, the Pansy.