Creative Recycling in Embroidery

By Val Holmes
Published by Batsford
ISBN 0 7134 8986 3
Price £18-99 (hbk)
Reviewed by Jenny Lewis

Never throw anything away – it may come in useful. Collect and recycle is the motto - sweet wrappings, bus tickets, tree bark, worn fabrics, vermicelli, fish scales, cat hairs, beach combings and plastic carrier bags.

Recycling is one of the hottest trends in embroidery and Val has enough ideas to set your creative ideas aflame. Eight chapters describe how to recycle waste and transform it into a new piece, be it a wall hanging, bag, bowl, cushion, sculpture, random object, or scraps of embroidered inspiration. Some projects are included.

The stitches, glues and soluble products used are familiar to textile artists. Val’s book is not for the fearful, or the traditionalist, but for the adventurous. If you would enjoy making a bikini from used French postage stamps, or an object using a squashed can rescued from the gutter, this is the book for you.

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