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.

Art Makers: Empowered Embroidery features instructions for illustration, basic stitches and embroidery techniques. Also the book includes 6 projects with portraits of famous women. I love the portraits of Frida Kahlo and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I can't wait to start these projects. A great book for more advanced embroiderers. I only wish the book included more than 6 projects.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

The embroidery is beautiful! But I was expecting more patterns and options. The patterns included are beautiful but also very detailed and time intensive. There are patterns of inspiring women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michelle Obama, and Frida Kahlo.

There's helpful information on getting started with embroidery like how to choose your fabric and supplies as well as pictures of each stitch. Overall it's a helpful guide but not as in depth as I was hoping for.

As the very title suggests book provides step by step instructions how to embroider six empowering women including: Frida Khalo, Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, Harriet Tubman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Michelle Obama. At the very beginning of the book we get a guided tour of essential tools and meterials together with stitching techniques. If you are looking for something more to embroider than the empowering ladies the book is not for you. It's strictly focused on creating six hoops with aforementioned women.

Empowered Embroidery by Amy L. Frazer is a collection of creative projects and patterns to learn embroidery. I picked up this book because I have just begun embroidering myself. This collection features basic stitches and also several powerful women throughout history such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Michele Obama, and Frida Kahlo to name a few.

I would love to eventually get many of these pivotal women. I do suspect this book is for more advanced embroiders but I appreciate that the end of the book comes with a useful list of supplies to get to begin embroidering.

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