Free Needlework book online

Art in Needlework by Lewis F Day and Mary Buckle is a 326 page book published in 1907. This complete book is online and free to download from the Internet Archive site. You can download it in PDF format or if you just want to browse the book first and have a fast connection you can use the Djvu option.

I trawl old books like this for stitch varieties and stitches that are no longer in common use. Often too stitches are referred to by different names. Usage or a particular name for a stitch is always an interesting topic to attempt to trace. For instance, for those who are interested in the buttonhole/blanket stitch debate this book refers to buttonhole. Personally I think it is simply a case of which side of the Atlantic you were taught to stitch on.

This book is of particular interest because often the back of the stitch is illustrated and covers topics such as Japanese Laid work, Gold work, Applique, Cut work, and a gem of a section titled “Embroidery in Relief”.

There are also some simply classic quotes. Even then the argument that needlework was an art raged. This made me smile.

Check out page 230

What one misses in the work of the present day is that reticent and unpretending stitchery, which, thinking to be no more than a labour of loving patience, is really a work of art, better deserving the title than a flaunting floral quilt which goes by the name of “art needlework” – designed apparently to worry the eye by day and to give bad dreams by night to whoever may have the misfortune to sleep under it.

Check it out you mind find you want to invest in some ink and print it out.