Barbara Hammet

Hammet presents patterns with a variety of subjects from landscapes to facial portraits, in sizes from large picture portraits to small motifs which could decorate other items or be adapted to your own projects. The colour selections of threads are rich and inventive and the charts very clear. The format of the book is easy to follow with full-colour photographs before each pattern and the projects are well thought-through with complementary fabric and finishing choices. It doesn’t feel like the author has done extensive research or added something new or refreshing to the subject matter, but this collection still contains some of the best charts I’ve seen with inspiring colour stories.… (more)

This book had a lot of neat ideas. Many of them possibly looked better in the pages of books than they would in real life, at least if you're trying to avoid the Grandma look in your home decor, but I did finally settle on a cute daffodil border pattern that was fast and easy to embroider on a towel. It now looks very nice in the guest bathroom. The great thing about cross-stitch is that it could not be simpler to learn, yet in this age of non-crafty people, if you sit and do it for any length of time, people will flock around you saying, "How did you do that? I could never do anything like that!" And it gives you an excuse to sit and watch tv without feeling guilty for accomplishing nothing. If you have more time than I do, and probably also more patience, there are a lot of fairly lengthy projects in here that would look extremely cool when finished. Think of the Christmas present possibilities. Or you could sell them on Etsy. In any case, this book may come in handy.… (more)

2009 Not the kind of thing I normally buy, but when I see it really cheap on a used book table... Good move. The patterns are lovely, and I particularly like the smaller designs in the back. The descriptions of how the larger designs were put together were very interesting, and could help someone get up the courage to start designing themselves - especially with all that design material at the back.

(When leaflets advertise large numbers of designs for small charts with no additional material about them, I see no reason to complain about the '75 beautiful designs' on the cover. They are not all full projects, but they certainly are designs.)

2015: However, I don't think I ever stitched anything from this book. Discarding now.… (more)