Monograms and Words

Introduction
Monograms, Letters and Words
Creating and Transferring Designs
Which Fabric to Use
Before You Start
Stitches and Techniques
Stitch Gallery
The Alphabet: Ornate Letters
More Ideas
Templates

About Di Van Niekerk

An artistically inclined mother and a keen interest in all things beautiful got Di van Niekerk off to an early start as an embroiderer. Her love for this discipline soon became her livelihood and starting an embroidery business was just another natural progression for this talented crafter. She opened her first shop in the Natal Midlands and when the family decided to uproot and move to Johannesburg, along went the business. After four years of running one of Johannesburg's most successful embroidery shops, the family's urge to settle in Cape Town became too strong to ignore. Di now lives in the Mother City of South Africa where she runs two successful embroidery shops. The end product of her latest interest, hand painting her own range of silk and organza ribbons for embroidery, is marketed to retail outlets worldwide. Visit her website www.dicraft.co.za/blog.

Postcard Reviews

Each monogram in this book is so beautifully worked using ribbon and thread embroidery.

An easy to understand step by step tuition, to create a stunning monogram or word is given and these can be used to embellish quilts, bags, handkerchiefs and other precious items we want to gift or keep for ourselves.

Each letter is given a double page spread and this includes all the know how you will need, Stitch ideas, which ribbon to use and suitable needle choice is listed. Also included is a colour chart.

A template section is also useful, but I so wish they had made these as iron on transfers for the beginner. Saying that, this book is perfect for every level of Ribbon Embroiderer and there is wide range of knowledge and I would say a complete lesson in this book.

It is a stunning book, the pictures show the 3D effect of each design and while there are no particular projects, there are several ideas with which to create something special.

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myshelf.com

Say it with ribbon in this beautiful addition to Di van Niekerks ribbon embroidery series. There are twenty-six projects (one for every letter of the alphabet) and ideas for words as well as what to put it all on. Personalizing was never so pretty!

I confess to being a big fan of this lovely series and getting quite excited when a new addition comes out. There are other books on ribbon embroidery but I love the way these combine it with a wealth of other stitches, fancy yarns and painted backgrounds. This is probably not a book for a total beginner, but anybody with some embroidery experience can practise the ribbon stitches and make a good job of one of these fancy monograms. Before the projects there is a wealth of information that will stand you in good stead whatever you plan to make. As well as diagrams of various stitches you can find out how to apply the colored images printed at the back of the book to fabric. Freezer paper, print on fabric, paper for printers etc are all covered as well as tips on ironing, using graphics software and what fabric is best. There are also many pages of stitching guides for all the various effects from the letters to the flowers, stems etc. The alphabet itself has a couple of pages for each letter and gives staged instructions on how to work it. This includes a list of what you need with a colored diagram showing which step number relates to each part. You wont find photographic stages but there is a good sized photograph of the finished item plus often a closeup detail of the most intricate part. The final chapter is headed More Ideas and covers several additional projects which are mostly for greetings cards. Turn to the back for the colored pictures that you can scan or copy using the helpful instructions earlier in the book. These are all heirloom quality projects that are sure to be treasured by their recipients and enjoyed by their creators. Highly recommended for your keeper shelf.

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West Country Embroiderers

Winter 09

This book is well laid out and gives clear instructions for the method of work which is useful for both beginners and the more experienced embroiderer. For me some letters worked better than others. In the illustrations some embellishments seemed so ornate that the letter got lost, though that may not happen when actually worked. However, once worked they could be used to apply to larger projects like bags and there are a number of other suggestions in the book. There were various ways to work the letters and with the ribbon embellishment it was heavier and chunkier so would work really well on larger projects though perhaps it would be too much for the average sized card.