Sharpen up your needlework and tighten your stitching techniques with this detailed and highly effective instruction book. Those looking for how to improve their embroidery skills should dive straight in.<br><br><i>Art in Needlework: A Book About Embroidery</i> is an instructional originally published in 1900 and written by Lewis F. Day and Mary Buckle. As the name suggests, this book is all about the techniques and materials one must master in order to become an expert in the art of embroidery.<br><br><i>Art in Needlework</i> begins with a series of chapters on specific stitches used in embroidery. From canvas and crewel stiches to herringbone and buttonhole stitches, all of the basics and a great deal of the advanced stitches are detailed here. Large black and white images accompany the text, greatly assisting those who are oriented more towards visual learning.<br><br>The book progresses from a detailed description of specific stitches to a discussion of the decisions faced by an embroiderer and the big-picture techniques to be used. Chapters focus on selecting the appropriate stitch, creating outlines, shading techniques, and much more.<br><br>In the author's own words: "The custom has been, since woman learnt to kill time with the needle, to think of embroidery too much as an idle accomplishment. It is more than that. At the very least it is a handicraft: at the best it is an art... [This book] sets forth to show what decorative stitching is, how it is done, and what it can do."