This book is an absolutely wonderful guidebook, leading the way into fully self-empowered creativity and embroidery-style stitching. It is also a permission slip to jump heart-first into your very own style of stitched or multi-media creativity, with your imagination leading the way.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THIS BOOK:
* This book is GORGEOUS- beautifully and colourfully put together in such a way that makes me want to start creating right away. I love that this book is so bright and full of amazing illustrations. Before I even started to read it, I had to flip through every single page to see what jewels awaited me.

* I just LOVE how the author describes her own method for creating patterns to embroider, and continues to urge readers to make each piece their own. This absolutely sets this book apart - and where the EMPOWERED portion of the title stands proud. Not only can you make your own version of the patterns that she has provided, but you can also create your own portraits and/or text embroideries using her easy-to-follow method. Each reader is handed their very-own permission slip to stitch whatever and however they want to, based on their own unique interests. Personally, I think that people would be a lot more willing to try out their own creative muscles if the teaching of all arts was as encouraging as this book.

* I have done some embroidery in the past - usually as a means to visibly mend and/or embellish clothing and accessories. I have done a bit of counted cross-stitching as well. I feel relatively comfortable with a needle in hand, though these are by no means my go-to creative method (like knitting is). Simply put, I am not a complete novice, but I am neither a skilled stitcher. With that caveat, I personally think that the instructions for both individual stitch types and all patterns in the book are very easy to follow.

* I usually really like learning things like this in a workshop setting because I feel like you can learn better from the presenter’s own personal mistakes that way. But in Empowered Embroidery, there are all sorts of little ‘tips’ and ‘tricks’ scattered throughout that achieve the same result. The author obviously wants to make her readers feel comfortable and supported as they practice this new skill.

* There are patterns included of six iconic women: Frida Kahlo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Michelle Obama. The author not only walks readers through the process of embroidering their own project of each, but she also includes various ways in which you can make each differently. In this way, each pattern can be made by everyone from a very anxious novice, to the more adventurous creative, to someone who only needs vague suggestions before running off in their own direction. Honestly, these is a very hard balance to attain when teaching, and I think it has been done marvellously in this book.

WHAT I DISLIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK:
* I would have liked to see more progression of easy projects through to much more difficult. I’m not sure the given patterns are even in order of difficulty - they all seem much the same level, except for the second last (Ruth Bader Ginsburg). I would really have liked to see at least one pattern a bit more filled in, but less intimidating that the facial embroidery of RBG.

* Personally, the patterns given aren’t really my style. I still think that the book is fabulously executed, well laid-out, and explained wonderfully. Plus, it definitely gives the reader permission to create whatever they might be inspired to. I am sure that I could often reference this book for its creative method - but I don’t think I will make any of the patterns as they stand, unless I was making a gift for one of my feminist friends.

Ultimately, this book is a real winner. Whether you are new to embroidery, or already know how to stitch but want to venture into portrait making, this Empowered Embroidery is a solid choice.

Thank you to the author, Amy L Frazer, NetGalley and the publisher, Walter Foster Publishing, for an e-book copy of this title in return for an honest review.

This book hit at the perfect time: the pandemic has forced us all to rexamine our hobbies and some have looked for brand new ways to express their penchant for arts and crafts. Frazer's book hits the spot.
Presenting the age old art of embroidery in fun and modern ways, it works as an inspiration of what can be done. Although perhaps a bit too advanced for beginners, it's still a vision board for aspiring artists looking for something to while away the hours, not unliked our forebearers in this art before us.

Amy Frazer has created the loveliest book for needle workers of all levels, from beginners to experts. She starts with the basics, tools and supplies needed, drawing ideas, stitching techniques, the usual topics of any stitchery book. What really makes this book stand out however is her detailed instructions and tutorials on face painting with thread. This is something I have long been interested in learning to do and this book does not disappoint. Her step-by-step details have me excited to try out my first face painting with thread. Embroidery is no longer just making pillowcases and potholders; it is serious art! This book belongs in every serious stitcher’s library. I thank NetGalley and the publisher, Walter Foster Publishing, for the opportunity to read it for my honest opinion. I gave it four stars.

I am an absolute beginner at embroidery so I have to admit being a bit scared to tackle these patterns. However the designs are beautiful and the book is laid out so well I know I'll have no trouble.

I think this is a great book for beginners to experienced embroiderers. All of the frequently asked questions you can think of are elaborated on in the beginning of the book. Materials needed to pattern idea generation are all covered. There are also comprehensive stitch guides with visual aids given for all foundational and advanced stitches needed for the patterns. The patterns themselves are easy to follow and include a stitch and color guide. The patterns themselves are well thought out and will be a fun project for a first time stitcher to an experienced embroidery artist.

Folks, we all know I'm a cross stitcher but I've always wanted to branch out. Problem is, I can't draw to a standard my picky brain wants, & everything has to be perfect 1st time or it isn't worth doing. Hi, Aries. Up until today, I've always thought embroidery was too hard. *cough* pandemic sampler *cough*
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Amy's book, however, has answered questions I didn't know I wanted to ask & gave me quite a few lightbulb moments. Suddenly, all the overwhelming pieces made a lot more sense.
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I can't say I'm going to immediately rush out to get more supplies but there's a new excitement in my mind. I'm realising how many avenues this opens up for me. I'm also imagining projects that aren't either or. This isn't unique I'm sure, but it's been a while since I felt that creation buzz for something new.
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This book hasn't been released yet but keep you can pre-order via link in @amylfrazer 's bio.
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Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery published by @quartocreates on March 2, 2021.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Reposted from @amylfrazer

This is a lovely book with some amazing projects in it. It is well planned moving from the basic equipment and stitches to elaborate designs. It seems to cover everything you would need though I have to confess to feeling slightly overawed by the fact I would need to draw my design to start. The explanations look clear and explicit and are supported by lovely photos and illustrations.

This book covers a wide range of female American icons, which aren't necessarily to my taste, but I think they could easily be adapted (drawing aside!) to any character of your choice with a little thought.

I work in the library of an academic school so I don't think we would stock it but for anyone creative this would be a welcome addition to their bookshelves.

If you want to embroider portraits of wonderful women like Maya Angelou, this will be a perfect resource. I didn't realize it was only portraits and I really don't think I have a need to spend this amount of time on embroidering iconic women, but it's perfect at that. There's good information about all the stitches and lots of step-by-step illustrations. Good diversity, too.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Excellent step by step guide to embroidering portraits. I loved the close ups and details that really help both beginners and experienced stitchers. The designs are also really good. I wasn't expecting this book to cover thread painting or offer so many stitches. I also enjoyed how often Frazer really encourages you to play with the designs and that all combines to make this an especially excellent gift to a teenager or really any woman of any age interested in a new hobby.

A very useful guide, but a bit short, to get into the world of embroidery, or, as in my case, to know some things I didn´t know or to get some inspirational ideas to improve your creativity..

This was a great book! Loved the images of all the wonderful women. The author gives clear instructions while also giving the reader options to make the image their own. A wonderful and creative book to start your embroidery journey!

Empowered embroidery is a very well thought out book. The book begins with the standard overview of various supplies noting the authors favorite cloth and thread types. The book then provides a background on the research and creativity that the author took to creat these various templates and designs. The author further provides tips for researching and creating your own design projects. The stitching though limited on type provides a detailed guide fir the various way stitches can be used with examples of simple designs. The projects in this book are not some much complicated or challenging as they are time consuming. The effort put in is worth it however because the end result is beautiful. With that in mind the author provided a more comprehensive guide to starting the various projects that I have seen in terms of tracing and transferring the images. Patterns are directed around the following women: Frida Kahlo, Eleanor Roosevelt, maya angelou, Harriet Tubman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Michelle Obama. The designs guides are very detailed with many pages committed to each design. The author further provides different options for various aspects of the design so readers may create their own personalized version. At the start of each women readers are provided with several inspirational quotes that represent what these stood/stand for in our society. Furthermore the author provides you with a handful of sketched for each women that a reader might turn into an embroidery piece. Many of the designs can be mixed and matched and techniques can be used on other templates.

This was a great book to look through! While the embroidery is above my skill level the book also goes over the sketching and layout/design pieces. There are basic instructions and patterns for the images, but the best part is having a modern take on this skill with exceptional women as the subjects!

Empowered Embroidery by Amy L. Frazer is a beautiful book! This is definitely for someone who has some experience, but the designs of these 6 fabulous women are extraordinary. The instructions are clear with step-by-step directions and pictures. I only wish there were more projects.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group-Walter Foster for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Pros: My favorite part of this book was the introduction by the author/artist to know her inspiration in creating this book—learning about strong women. The author/artist’s turning to art during the pandemic is both relatable and inspiring. Another favorite part of this book is that the author/artist treats each portrait as a research project and encourages the reader/embroiderer to do the same.

In an incredibly stressful year like 2020 and now 2021, creating art through embroidery is a fantastic way to distract my hands from social media. Although I have embroidered tea towels using iron-on transfers, I’d never thought about creating portraits with embroidery until I read this book. Although I haven’t made an attempt yet, I know that RBG’s portrait would be my first project. Not only was I inspired by this book to attempt portraits, I also learned new stitches and techniques.

Cons: Although the author/artist does a great job making this book accessible to embroiderers of all skill levels, including beginners, there might be some embroiderers who struggle to learn by reading a book. For those visual learners, I suggest watching some how-to videos on YouTube to supplement what they learn in this book or signing up for one of the author/artist’s own workshops!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quatro Publishing Group - Walter Foster for the opportunity to read this book!

What a different embroidery book! There is information for the beginning embroider, but this book is probably better with for someone with embroidery experience. But if you are looking to embroider strong women, this is the book for you! From Eleanor Roosevelt to Ruth Bader Ginsberg, there are very explicit directions.

I’m looking forward to embroider someone from this book to give to my young niece - girl power!

This is a great celebration of inspiring women. The book contains a guide to basic stitches, and patterns and instructions for six portraits. Not all of the patterns are equally strong, though Frida Kahlo is lovely.
It’s accessible enough for beginners, but for me the real value was in the vibrant design of the book and the infectious enthusiasm. The techniques could be used for any figure you have a sketch of. It gives you the confidence to do your own thing, and motivates you to experiment with creating artworks of your own heroines.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Empowered Embroidery is perfect for the novice stitcher and more accomplished stitchers alike.

The book starts with a review of a wide variety of materials that are useful to all embroiderers, but may seem foreign to someone just entering the craft. Something special about this book versus many other embroidery books is the detail given to how to perform various embroidery stitches.

Empowered Embroidery features 6 famous and influential women from history and a wide variety of techniques that will bolster anyone’s embroidery skills.

This is a beautiful book, and the projects use such a variety of techniques that it really was inspiring. The projects in the book are different from each other in exciting ways. To me, the choices of women themselves were honestly a little uninspiring. I think there are so many amazing women in history who've done amazing things that having two of them best known for being first ladies of the U.S. is maybe a little tired? As far as the instructions go, the steps were laid out nicely. I think for someone who wanted to use this book as inspiration for their own original embroidery portraiture, you'd better come in with some drawing skills! I thought it was cool that the embroidery instructions gave two views on how to do stitches based on whether you stab the needle through the fabric or keep it on the right side always, but I did find some of the instructions confusing. I had to read the backstitch instructions many times to know what was going on, and I already know how to backstitch!

I love how 'women's work' has become a political and social tool. In the past I have shared books featuring quilts that have a message, teach history, and celebrate iconic leaders.

I have combined quilting with embroidery to create I Will Life My Voice Like A Trumpet which features embroidered images and words of female abolitionists and Civil Rights leaders and to make Remember the Ladies featuring the First Ladies.

The employment of women's work as political and social commentary can be traced back centuries.

Amy L. Frazer book Empowered Embroidery leads artists through her process of turning sketches into embroidered art that celebrates courageous women like Frida Kahlo (seen on the cover), Eleanor Roosevelt, and Harriet Tubman.

I have only used the basic stem stitch for my quilts. I was excited to learn how to incorporate more intricate embroidery into a design.

After reviewing the necessary tools and how-to of embroidery, and showing how she develops her sketches, Frazer uses her included projects to illustrate the process.

Specific stitches and how to employ them is detailed in ample photographs.

Empowered Embroidery is a fantastic resource for artists. It does assume an ability to sketch portraits to make original art. (I have also used copyright free images and photographs for some of my quilts.)

You do not need to be an experienced embroiderer. Frazer covers everything you need to know.

The stitches and techniques are transferable to any embroidered project. For instance, the step-by-step process of creating the multitude of flowers in the Frida Kahlo portrait are basic skills easily transferable to other projects. Frazer shows how to built layers of embroidery floss to create the dimensional feel of the flowers. The way Frazer creates eyes is also impressive, easily accomplished.

The portraits differ in style so each teaches new techniques. The Eleanor Roosevelt portrait uses running stitches. Maya Angelou is on a colored linen background. Harriet Tubman includes fused applique. Ruth Bader Ginsberg is thread painted. Michelle Obama includes favorite quotes.

This book will inspire you to celebrate your personal heroines and heroes through embroidery.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.