Cicely Mary Barker's beloved "Flower Fairies" are an enduring vision of elegance and beauty. Her exquisitely delicate and intricate colour illustrations have captivated children and adults alike for more than 85 years. Now, for the first time, five of her beautiful fairies are introduced not only to ribbon embroidery and stumpwork fans, but to all needle crafters who enjoy creative three-dimensional embroidery. With numerous new ideas and techniques, this book has been designed to appeal to both beginners and advanced embroiderers.Easy-to-follow, close-up photography and step-by-step instructions will show you how to: embroider the exquisite flowers and leaves in silk and organza ribbon; make the delicate stumpwork wings in organza and silky threads; use organza and silk ribbon to make applique leaves and petals; make charming stumpwork insects; dress the fairies in layers of organza and embroider their hair; embroider the fairies' clothing in long and short stitch - the easy way; and, create three-dimensional designs using colour, texture and shapes. The five "Flower Fairies" taught in this book are the Periwinkle Fairy, Black Medick Fairies, White Clover Fairy, Stork's Bill Fairy and the Red Clover Fairy.

About the Author

An artistically inclined mother and a keen interest in all things beautiful got Di off to an early start as an embroiderer. Her love for this discipline soon became her livelihood and starting an embroidery business was just another natural progression for this talented crafter. She opened her first shop in the Natal Midlands and when the family decided to uproot and move to Johannesburg, along went the business. After four years of running one of Johannesburg's most successful embroidery shops, the family's urge to settle in Cape Town became too strong to ignore. Di now lives in the Mother City where she runs two successful embroidery shops.The end product of her latest interest, hand painting her own range of silk and organza ribbons for embroidery, is marketed to retail outlets worldwide.

Reviews

Customer: I received my Fairy Book, printed fabrics and ribbons from you yesterday, Jan. 23!!!! You posted it, I believe on Jan. 17. Wow, was I surprised that it arrived so soon. I have not started reading the book nor sewing anything yet, but wanted to give you my "first impression". The book is beautiful, beautiful and the printed fabrics as well. Love the quality of the fabric. I almost hesitate to do any sewing on them for fear I will not do them justice. However, when I paged thru the book, I know there is no reason for me not to either know how to embellish them or how to do any of the stitching. Your photography is very clear and beautiful. Such a pleasure to just look at. I have been a sewing teacher in the past, written instructions and patterns. It is difficult to write instructions so that they are relatable to everyone; complete, clear and concise. I have a huge library of at least 300 books relating to every phase of stitchery imaginable, and I think that this book is truly the very best. These little fairies just seem so very realistic because of the photography, like it wouldn't surprise me to see one perched on my arm! Thanks ever so much. You and your fairies are part of my life now...at least if I am not working on these projects every day, I will look at them when I enter my sewing room, and smiile and feel good. Can't wait to share them with my granddaughters... Have a great day... Diana Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA Customer: Just wanted to say that the Fairy book is wonderful. You can see how much work has gone into this and the best part is that it is nice and thick so one can ponder over the book for ages. It is very informative, has clear concise instructions and great easy to look at pictures. This book is ideal for the beginner, intermediate and advanced embroider and can be used as a great learning tool. I am very impressed and every teacher in the country should have this book on her shelf. Di, a fabulous book and a job well done. I look forward, as usual, to the next book. Congratulations Annamaria Kelly Embroidery teacher, Fourways, Johannesburg. The Textile Directory: This is a book for lovers of Cicely Mary Barker's Flower Fairies. Pictures in the book are to guide you whilst you stitch and the techniques described are for the beginner or the advanced embroiderer. The ideas in this book can be used for other projects and designs and single elements can also be used as embellishments. Detailed photographs show you every step to be followed with a comprehensive list of hints and tips, but an index might have been even more helpful. My mother would have loved to have this book, it's for lovers of the sentimental pictures of fairies at the bottom of the garden. Oh and you'll need good glasses when executing the exquisite stumpwork on the bees and butterflies. Whenever I hear that Search Press has another title by Di van Niekerk out I have to request a review copy of it and know what its fate will be - my keeper shelf! This one is no different, showing how you can adorn your walls with stitched masterpieces based on Cicely Mary Barker's timeless and beautiful Flower Fairies. If you are a novice needlecrafter you would probably be better off not looking in here, except to see what you can aspire to with plenty of practice. This is one for the more advanced stitcher, and a more exhaustive set of instructions really cannot be imagined. There is everything in here, from copiable prints the right size to transfer to your cloth to lists and lists of what you need to buy and what stitches to use. You can learn the stitches in here if you don't know them all, and this book combines some excellent drawn diagrams of these with lots of small but clear photographed details of the work in progress. Books like this make everything else look sketchy, although of course this is a book showing how to reproduce the author's work exactly. If you want to add your own special touch you will need to change things so make sure you read it through first! Five fairies are shown in here from oft-reproduced favourites like the Red Clover Fairy to the less well known Black Medick Fairies. You will have some real masterpieces if you work through all these, and learn a lot about this type of lush needlework into the bargain. I love it!-Myshelf.com Welcome to the enchanting world of Flower Fairies. This fascinating book uses many types of embroidery techniques culminating in a truly stunning work of art. The stitch instructions are very clear and easy to follow, the patterns and directions for working the design are fully detailed and straightforward. The use of pieces of organza for the fairies dresses is a simple and quick method for covering a good sized area of fabric fairly quickly. If you wish to create a family heirloom then this is the book for you.-West Country Embroiderers (Reviewed with Embroidered Alphabets) These three books present beautifully designed projects using surface embroidery and silk ribbon. The flower fairies are elaborate stitched pictorial collages applied to a printed background that is available from the author's website. Each script alphabet letter is an individual project and much simpler to execute. Embellished with ribbon flowers and filling stitches, they are perfect for decorating linens and clothing. Van Nierkerk, who runs embroidery shops in Cape Town, South Africa, can supply threads and other materials for these projects.Library Journal USA Di Van Niekerk brings the well-known "Flower Fairies" by English author and illustrator Cicely Mary Barker (1895-1973) to life in a new way. Using color photocopies of the fairies printed on cotton fabric, Van Niekerk has embellished the illustrations with ribbon embroidery and stumpwork. Meticulous step-by-step instructions, each fairy illustration shown in color and full page ready to be photocopied, hundreds of color detail process photographs, and large color stitch diagrams show readers how to make their own enchanting fairies. This beautiful book has something for both beginners and advanced embroiderers.-Piecework