Bead Embroidery Book Reviews

This is by no means comprehensive but I have recently acquired 3 books on the subject of bead embroidery. It is my intent to put on a small bead embroidery workshop for some of my students and these books are research for that event. In no particular order they are:

















Art of Bead Embroidery


















Bead Embroidery


















Designer Bead Embroidery

All three have excellent photos and illustrations. "The Art of Bead Embroidery" is geared towards beading jewelry for collars, pendants and bracelets. "Bead Embroidery" is like a sampler book with patterns to use while learning the effects of different stitch and bead types. It's great as a library of stitches and should prove very useful for technique instruction. "Designer Bead Embroidery" is written with clothing embellishment in mind. Because of that it takes into account laundering needs and durability for wear. Its designs have less 'wow' factor than those in "Art" but the functionality information makes it a more than worthwhile investment. So basically, I have three books with very different but equally great technique ideas, one that is huge for inspiration, one that is perfect for practice work and instruction and one that addresses the unique challenges one encounters with beaded dance costumes.