Last weekend, I enjoyed a delightful spurt of Weekend Reading.

Accompanied by a fascinating booklet on embroidery (thank you, Janice!), I took myself to the front porch and sat in the sun and read away. It was a delightful, quiet couple hours of really good reading, with some note-taking scattered in for good measure.

Stitchers with an interest in historical embroidery (especially from the Victorian through Edwardian ages) and in ecclesiastical embroidery will probably find the booklet equally as enticing.

The Embroideries of Liverpool Cathedral is a booklet published by Liverpool Cathedral.

It details, among other things, the histories of the various associations connected to the history of the embroideries at Liverpool Cathedral, highlighting the work they accomplished and their influence in perpetuating the skills necessary for ecclesiastical embroidery.

And, as you would expect, the booklet is packed full of delightful images of embroideries from the collection at Liverpool Cathedral.

The images are clear and beautiful, and many are large enough to enjoy the details of the embroidery.

The last part of the booklet, about the Elizabeth Hoare Gallery – is more of the practical “history” of this type of embroidery. The author of this section, Mary Schoeser, writes about the making of church embroideries (the process, colors, the symbolism), as well as about the collection itself.

There’s information on handling historical embroideries and on storing them.

And there’s a nice collection of short biographies of the influential designers during the time periods – from Bodley to Pugin, and many in between.

One of my favorite visual aspects of the booklet: throughout the books, we get glimpses of the cartoons (or drawn designs) as well as the corresponding finished embroidery. And both are beautiful!

I think what I took away most from the book, though, is how a few skilled people, with focus and enthusiasm, can do so much for the perpetuation of an art form.

It’s a lovely little booklet, providing interesting insight to the times and to the situation of embroidery as a learnable craft and as an art form, from the mid-1800’s onwards.

Further Information

Now, you might be thinking that you have to visit Liverpool Cathedral to acquire your own copy. But for those with a keen interest in the subject, you’ll be happy to know that, in fact, you can order The Embroideries of Liverpool Cathedral online, through the Cathedral shop.

You can also visit the Liverpool Cathedral website to read a little more about the Elizabeth Hoare Gallery and about the embroidery exhibit at the Cathedral.

Coming Up on Needle ‘n Thread!

Tomorrow, a little tool talk, and next week, a tutorial, a lovely piece of work from a reader, and a few other stitchy delights.

I hope you have a terrific weekend!