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The Library Handbook of Embroidery

Handbook of Embroidery

L. Higgin, 1880

Handbook of Embroidery

The Library
Handbook of Embroidery, by L. Higgin, edited by Lady Marian Alford (1880)1 picture
About this book

By L. Higgin, edited by Lady Marian Alford. Published in London in 1880 by authority of the Royal School of Art-Needlework.

L. Higgin wrote this handbook for the Royal School of Art-Needlework in South Kensington, and Lady Marian Alford, the vice-president of the school, edited it. It was published in 1880 and dedicated to the school’s president, Princess Christian. It explains the needles, wools, silks and gold threads of the day, the fabrics used as grounds, the stitches worked in the hand and in the frame, and how to stretch and clean finished work.

The whole book is here, in 8 parts, with its stitch diagrams, its 22 design plates and the school’s own pages from the back of the book.

Floral design from the Handbook of Embroidery
Floral design from the Handbook of Embroidery.

HANDBOOK OF EMBROIDERY, BY L. HIGGIN, EDITED BY LADY MARIAN ALFORD, 1880

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Reprinted from Handbook of Embroidery, by L. Higgin, edited by Lady Marian Alford (1880). Free for personal use. Please share a link rather than copying this page.

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  1. Preface
  2. Chapter I: Of Implements and Materials Used in Modern Embroidery
  3. Chapter II: Textile Fabrics Used as Grounds for Embroidery
  4. Chapter III: Stitches Used in Hand Embroidery
  5. Chapter IV: Frames and Framing
  6. Chapter V: Stitches Used in Frame Embroidery
  7. Description of the Plates
  8. The Royal School of Art-Needlework in 1880