Lesage embroidery books
June 27, 2022

Source of Inspiration

Where to get ideas from

The easy statement is you can get inspired from anything, the most common being nature you can also get ideas from movies, a song or a culture movement, anything that moves you to create.

For me books are always where I turn to when looking for images that trigger that something inside me and says “that’s it!”.

I would classified books in three different categories, art or fashion, embroidery techniques or embroidery all together -because not all embroidery books are about techniques, some try to be but I think not always succeed in the attempt and I’m really okey with having these books, I don’t really expect every book to teach me something, I just like books for the object they are, like you like flowers perhaps or a sculpture -, and literature, mostly illustrated stories.

Art books

One of my favorite textile artist is Mister Finch and his book Living in a Fairy Tale World is just marvelous. Besides looking into one specific artist there are tons of books that could inspire you, from textile designers to architecture, the range is vast and you should browse to find what moves you the most. I have had the luck to buy some fashion embroidery books but these are not easy to find, that been said if you ever find one and can afford it just buy it, don’t over think it, because editorials don’t print many copies of them and they can become quiete expensive and rare over time. Also your favorite magazines can be a great source of inspiration, mine are Vogue and Wallpaper*.

If you ask me to recommend a book about techniques I would without a doubt tell you that any book by RSN would meet your expectations, I have learned my fair share of techniques with them; they are very well explained and with very detailed photos of the process, you won’t regret this buy for sure.

RSN Books

There are a lot of embroidery books, most of them have projects to follow, I have a lot of these books yet I have never made a project out of them and probably never will, not because I don’t like them, not all at least, but because what I enjoy the most is to create and design the embroidery. The latest book that Michele Carragher -I’m a fan btw- has released is an absolute gem. If you can get your hands in any Lesage embroidery book, those are for sure ones to have as well.

At this point you can probably tell I just love books, and you are not wrong, I have worked in an editorial house and used to spent a big chunk of my salary in books -no regrets-, so obviously when I had my first kid I started buying books for him and re discover the pleasure of buying books with fantastic stories, I even started collecting different editions of the same titles, one of my favorites is Alice in Wonderland, but there are so many! I can spend hours in a book store mostly looking at kids books. Unfortunately embroidery books are not usually found in book stores so online buying is your must choice for that.

Alice in Wonderland

Let me know in the comments if you have a favorite book I should look into or if you want me to recommend something specific. Enjoy your day or night wherever you are! XOXO