Embroiderers

Examines the work of medieval embroiderers, including vestments, altar cloths, clothes, and wall-hangings, and discusses their techniques, how they acquired their skills, and embroiderers' guilds

From USA Today Bestselling author Kathryn Gauci-A richly woven saga set against the mosques and minarets of Asia Minor and the ruins of ancient Athens, 1822: As The Greek War of Independence rages, a child is born to a woman of legendary beauty on the Greek island of Chios. The subsequent decades of bitter struggle between Greeks and Turks simmer to a head when the Greek army invades Turkey in 1919. During this time, Dimitra Lamartine arrives in Smyrna and gains fame and fortune as an embroiderer to the elite of Ottoman society. However, it is her granddaughter, Sophia, who takes the business to great heights as a couturier in Constantinople only to see their world come crashing down with the outbreak of war.1922: Sophia begins a new life in Athens, but the memory of a dire prophecy once told to her grandmother about a girl with flaming red hair begins to haunt her with devastating consequences with the occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers in 19411972: Eleni Stephenson is called to the bedside of her dying aunt in Athens. In a story that rips her world apart, Eleni discovers the chilling truth behind her family's dark past plunging her into the shadowy world of political intrigue, secret societies and espionage where families and friends are torn apart and where a belief in superstition simmers just below the surface.Extravagant, inventive, emotionally sweeping, The Embroiderer is a tale that travellers and those who seek culture and oriental history will love

"The Right-Handed Embroiderer's Companion will help you to learn and master over 170 embroidery stitches including their variations." --

An all-in-one volume covering crewelwork, canvaswork, and six other types of hand embroidery, from the renowned school established in nineteenth-century England. This beautiful book is a rich source of embroidery techniques, stitches, and projects, covering eight key subjects in detail: crewelwork, bead embroidery, stumpwork, canvaswork, goldwork, whitework, blackwork, and silk shading. Collecting all the books in the trusted, bestselling Royal School of Needlework Essential Stitch Guide series, plus a new section on mounting your finished work, this fantastic book—heavily illustrated with photos—is a must-have for all embroiderers.

From the author of How Paris Became Paris, a sweeping history of high finance, the origins of high fashion, and a pair of star-crossed lovers in 18th-century France. Paris, 1719. The stock market is surging and the world's first millionaires are buying everything in sight. Against this backdrop, two families, the Magoulets and the Chevrots, rose to prominence only to plummet in the first stock market crash. One family built its name on the burgeoning financial industry, the other as master embroiderers for Queen Marie-Thérèse and her husband, King Louis XIV. Both patriarchs were ruthless money-mongers, determined to strike it rich by arranging marriages for their children. But in a Shakespearean twist, two of their children fell in love. To remain together, Louise Magoulet and Louis Chevrot fought their fathers' rage and abuse. A real-life heroine, Louise took on Magoulet, Chevrot, the police, an army regiment, and the French Indies Company to stay with the man she loved. Following these families from 1600 until the Revolution of 1789, Joan DeJean recreates the larger-than-life personalities of Versailles, where displaying wealth was a power game; the sordid cells of the Bastille; the Louisiana territory, where Frenchwomen were forcibly sent to marry colonists; and the legendary "Wall Street of Paris," Rue Quincampoix, a world of high finance uncannily similar to what we know now. The Queen's Embroiderer is both a story of star-crossed love in the most beautiful city in the world and a cautionary tale of greed and the dangerous lure of windfall profits. And every bit of it is true.

"The story of a group of embroiderers in Ninhue, Chile, from their 1971 inception. Wool embroidery--a nontraditional craft--was introduced by the author at a time of political upheaval to soothe local tensions and provide a means of income. Describes and analyzes the work of individual artisans; includes illustrations"--Provided by publisher.