Needlepainted Plants and Pollinators: An insect lover's guide to silk shading embroidery

by Victoria Matthewson

Overview

Discover the beauty of nature through the art of needlepainting, blending embroidery with a love for plants and pollinators.

"If you love the idea of needlepainting natural subjects in realistic ways, I think you’ll really love this book. There’s much to learn from it, and it’s a good guide in observation and in building “nature journaling” skills with needle and thread." - Mary Corbet

• Expert Guidance: Learn silk shading techniques with detailed instructions and stunning examples.
• 9 Exquisite Projects: Stitch vibrant plant and pollinator pairings like the ox-eye daisy with a hoverfly or fennel with a seven-spot ladybird.
• Fascinating Insights: Gain entomological knowledge about pollinators, verified by Buglife charity.
• Skill Development: Perfect for intermediate embroiderers or ambitious beginners eager to expand their craft.

This book is more than an embroidery guide—it's a celebration of nature brought to life with needle and thread.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782218609
Publisher:	Search Press
Publication date:	11/09/2021
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	9.31(w) x 10.13(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Victoria Matthewson is a hand embroidery artist specializing in needlepainting, also known as silk shading or long and short stitch embroidery. Combining her love of nature and craft she has developed a distinctive style of embroidery, creating realistic artwork inspired by British flora and fauna, with a special focus on insects.

Working in silk floss thread (as it creates a depth of colour and shine that brings each piece to life) and using the smallest size 12 embroidery needles and a magnifying lamp, each piece can take between weeks and months to complete.

She is proud to have built a reputation as one of the top silk shading artists in the UK: in March 2018 she won Needlecrafter of the Year at the National Needlecraft Awards in collaboration with DMC thread for her embroidered ladybird. She has recently been accepted to join The Society for Embroidered Work and have also created two recent projects for Stitch magazine.

Her website is www.victoriamatthewson.com

Editorial Reviews

Mary Corbet's Needle 'n' Thread - Oct 2021

This is one of the books I’ve been Absolutely Dying to get to! The book is Needlepainted Plants and Pollinators: An Insect Lover’s Guide to Silk Shading Embroidery by Victoria Matthewson. It is a lovely book from Search Press, and it falls into a very interesting category. It’s pretty much a nature journal in thread, combined with instruction and projects.
I knew it was going to be good. 

Unlike many needlework books, Needlepainted Plants and Pollinators is a hardbound book, which gives it a “coffee table book” feel – and for good reason. Whether interested in embroidery or not, this is the type of book that anyone can pick up and connect to. After all, we all live on a beautiful planet filled with growing things and curious creatures. Whether we “see” them is another question – but we know they are there. Opening the pages of the book is rather magical – there’s almost a Wow! on every page.

If you love the idea of needlepainting natural subjects in realistic ways, I think you’ll really love this book. There’s much to learn from it, and it’s a good guide in observation and in building “nature journaling” skills with needle and thread.

There’s nothing I don’t like about this book. All my little pleasure molecules in my brain start buzzing when I open it. It makes me happy.

From the Publisher