Embroidered Animals: Wild and Woolly Creatures to Stitch and Sew

by Yumiko Higuchi

A lively and accessible book featuring embroidery motifs and sewing projects that highlight the wonder and beauty of the animal kingdom with designs for foxes, cats, owls, zebras, and pandas.

From elegant birds to adorable rabbits and wonderfully simple sheep, the 25 motifs and patterns in this book offer both a modern flair and an organic true-to-nature style. The whimsical animal designs--ranging from wild wolves, cheetahs, and giraffes to cuddly and cute bears, cats, dogs, monkeys, and pigs--can be incorporated into any of the sewing projects included, such as bags, pillows, bookmarks, and sachets, so that beginner and experienced embroiderers can mix and match patterns according to their own interest and skill.

• ISBN10: 1611808863
• ISBN13: 9781611808865
• Publish Date: 18 May 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Roost Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 96
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781611808865

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Embroidered Animals is a tutorial and pattern book with example projects by Yumiko Higuchi. Due out 18th May from Roost Books, it's 96 pages and will be available in paperback format.

The included projects are all stylishly appealing and full of colorful surface embroidery featuring both domestic and wild animals. All of the tutorials include full color pictures as well as detailed line drawings with stitch guides and directions. Materials are readily and widely available. Although the tutorials are specific to finished projects (a trifold pouch, bags, pouches, cushion, scissors case, and several others), they could all easily be adapted to whatever finished form the reader wishes.

The stitch diagrams which are provided include clear pictures of straight stitch, lazy daisy, satin, French knot, chain stitch (used in most of the projects), and other surface embroidery techniques. It would be possible to complete the projects in the book by just using the stitch tutorials, but obviously having a more experienced stitching buddy would help.

Full size templates are included as well as materials lists and suggested finishing instructions.

It should be noted that this book is about surface embroidery, not cross stitch. It's lovely to see tutorials and and upswing in interest for the other fibrearts; it seems like only cross-stitch had any following for a long long time and it's nice to see surface embroidery enjoying a renaissance.

I enjoyed the book very much. It's a worthwhile and fun introduction and guide to learning embroidery. Many of the designs in the book could also serve as a good jumping off point for dimensional embroider/stumpwork.

Four and a half stars

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.