Point de Croix: Book Review

This Friday I'm sharing with you one of my favorite needlework books of inspiration, Point de Croix et Autres Secrets de Broderie (ISBN 2-84567-054-0). It's published by Ecole Lesage which is a haute couture embroidery school in Paris. My dream is to spend six months to a year in Paris studying their embroidery techniques....Ahhh, to dream...

This "book" is actually a box of 5x7 cards with a picture on one side and instruction on the other. Sandwiched between each card is a design transfer and a piece of transfer tissue. Though different from a traditional book, it's presentation is quite lovely and allows you to carry a card to work from rather than the entire book.

There are 40 designs showcased and all of the instruction is in French. Despite this, there are close-up pics and I didn't have too much trouble getting the general idea using what remains in my memory of my college French.


The eye candy is breathtaking and each card makes my creative juices bubble over with inspiration and excitement. (Click on image to see close up detail.) I see many ideas for crazy quilting, surface embroidery and clothing embellishment. The pictures themselves are so beautiful, that they are worthy of framing.


I loved the pattern used on the choker above and decided to use it to make a special gift for my sister to commemorate the trip we took to Paris when I bought this book.

One night after dinner, we went to the Eiffel Tower to see it "sparkle" with millions of tiny blinking lights. The effect is magnificent, I don't care how many times you've seen it. It is a delight for the eye and I still feel tremendous joy remembering it. You can see my picture below.


I made a Christmas ornament using rose montees at every intersection of the grid and used a vintage art deco buckle and a ribbon for one of the segregating parts of the tower. I was happy with the result.

I intend to chart the design and re-stitch it with a few modification. First, I would frame up a piece of fabric with a dense weave like a silk brocade. I used linen in the original and the holes of the linen interfered with my couching stitches. I also had a very difficult time making the tower "straight" when I finished the ornament. Having the piece stretched on a frame should mitigate this problem. The model was stitched in metallic DMC so I used that as well. I liked it for laying out the grid but I don't think it was stiff enough for the tower outline. I would like to try it with a small kreinik torsade instead...

I highly recommend this book though it isn't so easy to get a hold of....There were two used copies on Amazon but they were pricey...I ordered mine from the French needlework store Sajou and had no problem with the delivery, you just have to pay for overseas shipping. If you've never visited their website, it's a treat as well.