Introduction 6
Materials and equipment 8
Inspiration 16
Colour 20
Texture and pattern 24
Techniques 28
Shop fronts 50
Teatime treats 64
Country garden 78
Animals 92
Seaside 106
Templates 122
Index 128
Abigail Mill studied Embroidered Textiles at Cumbria College of Art
and Design and graduated in 1990. After graduating, she set up her
business with the help of The Prince’s Trust and has been working
ever since. Over the years she has developed her own unique style
and technique of free machine embroidery, and has been featured in
several craft books and magazines.
She has also taught in art schools and worked on private
commissions, including artwork for the Buxton ward at the Norfolk
and Norwich University Hospital.
As well as selling her pictures at art and craft fairs across the
UK, Abigail runs a publishing business, printing greetings cards
from her original artwork, which she sells through gift shops and
galleries in the UK, France, America and Japan. She sells to major
clients such as John Lewis and has been selected by the Crafts
Council to exhibit regularly in New York and San Francisco. Abigail
lives in Bristol, UK. www.abigailmill.co.uk
I came into contact with Abigail Mill a few years ago when she came
to the Bristol branch of The Embroiderers’ Guild to give a talk
about her work as a freelance textile artist. She was an engaging
speaker and I was very attracted to her delicate, pastel beach
collages. I don’t know what it is about beach huts, but they always
make me happy. On her website (https://abigailmill.co.uk/) Abigail
Mill describes her book as follows: “My book is published by Search
Press and is a snapshot of 20 years’ worth of embroidered images.
This beautiful publication is sold worldwide and has been a huge
inspiration for sewing fans, to take them into a more creative
direction. Whether you are a quilter, an embroiderer, or general
crafts enthusiast, this book is hugely inspiring. It's packed full
of images and ideas from over dying fabric to different stitch
techniques. There are gallery sections and step-by-step chapters to
work through too to make your own embroidered picture. If you
haven't got time to use it as an embroidery tool, then it makes a
great coffee table book!” I agree with every word. Stitch Magazine
in the June/July 2015 edition says “From flower-sprigged beach huts
to a seal bobbing merrily in a floral sea, Abigail's decorative
approach will brighten any home. It's simple to translate your own
holiday snapshots using this charming folksy style. … These pretty
fabric sketches make superb use of pattern and texture … Appliqué
is perfect for utilising precious scraps of haberdashery or
cherished clothing remnants. Fully exploiting appliqués freedom,
Abigail renders a bucket and spade in chirpy polka dots and peps up
a gaily striped seaside parasol with cotton lace. Techniques are
clearly shown but the book's strength comes from Abigail's
exuberant approach - mixing frayed edges with finished ones,
applying fabrics in gathered and folded form as well as flat; this,
truly, is reworked fabric made fabulous.” As the author says, “I
create texture using frayed and ruffled edges, but I do not like to
use straight lines, seams or hems.” A lady after my own heart. I’m
not very good at precise work, and although I like crisp creations,
my heart sings more when they are free. After the introduction, the
book covers materials and equipment (fabric being the most
important), inspiration, colour, texture, pattern and stitching
followed by building a scene. The last half of the book consists of
examples and step-by-step instructions. I recommend this book. As
Abigail Mill says, “it makes a great coffee table book”, although I
would suggest that you either create something inspired by her work
or do one of the projects.
*The Embroiders' Guild*
This delightful book is full of the most joyous creations such as
teatime treats, animals and the seaside. As well as the projects
there are templates, detailed instructions and beautiful
illustrations showing you how to stitch, dye and creature
texture.
*Hot Brands Cool Places*
February 2015 From the minute you open this book you are enthralled
with the detail of these embroidered pictures. The attention to
detail in the book is excellent. From gardens to seaside scenes
there is a variety of themes. Full sized templates are at the back
of the book allowing you to make something very personal to you. It
could be for a family member reminding them of a holiday by the sea
or a cottage garden. Full of delicate colours with snippets of lace
and ribbon with free machine stitching. Fully illustrated step by
step instruction will make this book a must have.
*Young Embroiderers*
June/July 2015 From flower-sprigged beach huts to a seal bobbing
merrily in a floral sea, Abigail's decorative approach will
brighten any home. It's simple to translate your own holiday
snapshots using this charming folksy style. Southworld Green places
a lighthouse artificially within the same image as the village
green, encouraging readers to employ similar artistic licence.
These pretty fabric sketches make superb use of pattern and
texture. Stitched seagulls soar in a blue and white lacy voile sky
above pink and white gingham 'brick' cottages. A strip of floral
lawn forms the roof, unifying the terrace. Fishing boat scenes,
fishing shacks and a tempting seaside sweet shop are just some of
the other inspirational images. Appliqué is perfect for utilising
precious scraps of haberdashery or cherished clothing remnants.
Fully exploiting appliqués freedom, Abigail renders a bucket and
spade in chirpy polka dots, and peps up a gaily striped seaside
parasol with cotton lace. Techniques are clearly shown but the
book's strength comes from Abigail's exuberant approach - mixing
frayed edges with finished ones, applying fabrics in gathered and
folded form as well as flat; this, truly, is reworked fabric made
fabulous.
*Stitch*
December 2014 Abigail’s gentle textile works are a delight,
capturing nostalgic images of English coastlines, cottage gardens
and villages. After chapters on materials and equipment, the
techniques are thoroughly explained and the reader is encouraged to
have a go at the five beautiful projects presented. Full colour,
detailed instructions make this a truly inspirational book to
appeal to every needlewoman.
*East Kent Embroiderer's Guild*
June 2015 Abigail Mill's distinctive applique style is based
on free machine embroidery, layered organza backgrounds and
over-dyed printed cotton fabric. This book sets out how you can
learn from her time-tested techniques to create versions of a
number of her own pieces, or apply her methods to you own
compositions. There are sections on Colour Pattern, Texture,
Stitching and Building a Scene, and in depth photographs
illustrating Abigail's construction of a variety of whimsical
English seaside, countryside and tea time appliqued scenes. There
are plenty of inspirational photos or similar pieces accompanying
each project. It would be easy to combine your favourite elements
of those into your own variation on the theme of why not try her
charming Hen House project featured on page 57 of the issue? The
technique is wonderfully free, there isn't any piecing and very few
straight lines, but there's a lot of ruffling, layering and free
motion embroidery, all adding up to a fun technique to try.
*Popular Patchwork*
March 2015 Textile artist Abigail Mill studied Embroidered Textiles
at Cumbria College of Art and Design, graduated in 1990 and went on
to set up her own business selling her unique appliqué artworks.
Abigail’s passion for embroidery really begins to charm you in this
book, as she talks you through what inspires and influences her and
as she describes in detail the elements that bring her work to
life: colour, texture, pattern and free machine embroidery
techniques. The book features five beautiful step-by-step projects
that you can’t help but want to attempt! Abigail explains the
materials and equipment you will need then effortlessly leads you
through the making of each of the projects with concise text and
helpful pictures, and at the rear of the book also provides
templates to help you build your appliqué scenes. Whether you are a
first time sewer hoping to develop your experience or a skilful
sewer looking for a new challenge, this book will nurture your
talent and take you on a colourful journey inspiring you to create
wonderful pieces of your own.
*SEWING WORLD*
March 2015 This book is the latest in the Textile Artist series
from Search Press. Here, Abigail Mill shows us a wonderfully
detailed insight into her work and how it is achieved. The work is
centred around views of places in the greatest seaside town
traditions, from VW Campervans to pots of tea and cakes, all
summing up the traditional perceptions of being British. But this
book is very interesting, and turns on its head the notion that
these pictures with simple shapes and lines are simplistic in their
construction. The hand-cut fabric and frayed edges may convey a
free-form approach, but a lot of consideration is given to colour,
fabric choices, composition and finishing touches. Taking us
through the component parts of how Abigail approaches her work, the
projects that then follow reveal the complexity of these pieces.
Attention is given to building up a picture and the different
stages of how this is done is clearly explained. Over-dyeing of
commercially printed fabrics is carried out to provide the correct
colour graduations in the work and pictures show how sheer,
coloured and over-dyed fabrics are collaged together to create the
background and then the focal points cut out and built up. The
attention to detail is also something to admire. Carrots, ferns,
pumpkins and flowers are built up using fabric scraps, lace and
torn fabric, and these add to the richness of the scene presented.
Small details are added with machine-stitching. The collage
appearance of the work, with overlapping edges, some roughly cut
shapes and a flatness of perspective, draw you in to look closer at
the apparent simplicity. It is then that you start to realise that
everything has been carefully chosen and placed. The templates that
are provided for you to do the projects also reaffirm this. The
shapes are simple, but there is a place for shading, dimension and
detail. Norfolk provides much inspiration here and it is uplifting
to see the love of the villages and shops that have inspired
Abigail Mill. The step-by-step instructions are clear and well
illustrated which is necessary where there is so much detail in the
pictures. Any of these projects would brighten up any room, or your
mood, as they evoke happy thoughts of seaside towns and ice-creams
by the beach.
*Workshop On The Web*
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