This book was received as an ARC from Zakka Workshop in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed looking through this book. At first I do have to admit I was a little disappointed due to the first few pages only being photos of the final products with no instructions but as I read the fine print the page number at least was given for the instructions and that put a smile on my face. A lot of these patterns were so cool looking and even a few jumped out at me that I know a few friends and family would like for potential Christmas and birthday gifts. I know many members of our community will appreciate this book and have lots of good things to say about it.

We will consider adding this title to our TT Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Beautiful embroidery book for any beginner siticher or someone curious about embroidery. Loved the pictures, lots of great instructional photos and descriptions as well. I was surprised that all the designs are on little baby purses bit they're neat!

Such books are always better as physical copies so one can go back to it again and again. I have started being interest in embroidery and it’s perks so this was great. If not having tried everything but visually and due to the interest in the art, this was fun.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for honest opinions.

I am not a big crafter — however, in theory, I love the idea of having crafty hobbies. I’m not excellent with intricate details, and to be honest, I don’t feel creative enough to start anything from scratch. Reading books about crafting therefore, in my opinion, allows me to provide a certain kind of perspective: the complete amateur.

Right off the bat, I’d like to say that the cover is enticing. It looks modern and strays away from that “art book you find in a thrift store for $0.25” vibe. The cover and theme of the entire book reminds me of cottagecore and plant gal aesthetics. Right now, these crafts are really popular, so it makes sense to modernize the imagery.

That being said, the photos are clear and use the same subject in various poses. Something I thought could’ve been better was the instructions being after all of the projects. Maybe instead, it could’ve been in sections based on skill levels. Likewise, I thought maybe the instructions could’ve used a bit more clarity but overall were fine probably for someone who knows what they’re doing.

All in all, a modern approach to instructing craft and a cool potential buy for a gift or artist.

Going through this book I kept thinking it would make for a beautiful coffee table book. Its photos so simple & clean it was almost like an art book. The stitches and projects in this book might be better suited for an intermediate stitcher but regardless of that its filled with so much inspiration you'll want to keep practicing to get better and better. I liked how there were step by step instructions as well as plenty of patterns in this book as well.

--Simply Stunning Design. Truly Inspirational!--

I received an electronic review copy of this book, and here are my thoughts.

First of all, if you opened up the "Look Inside" preview and enjoyed what you saw in terms of designs and you are confident that you can or could learn the simple embroidery techniques within, then there is no further reason to read this or any review.

The designs are all gorgeous. They are shown on purses (which is in the title of the book!), but of course you could use them on whatever you wanted.

It's a beautiful book. Now stop reading the reviews and just get it.

I love to embroider and this book has some really amazing and simple ideas and I can't wait to try them all!

Several months ago, I started teaching myself embroidery after reading Tracy Chevalier’s A Single Thread. Since then, I’ve been soaking up as many books on the art of embroidery as possible, so this advanced copy from Yumiko Higuchi appealed to me right away.

I was enchanted with the historical aspects of embroidery as included in Chevalier’s book, and was delighted to find new cultural information about the art in Simply Stitched with Embroidery. Higuchi organizes the book neatly, with photos of the various projects shown first, followed by general information on equipment, supplies, and stitches. She includes lovely, short introductions to each project which discuss the motif and the inspiration for the design. Higuchi is known for beautifully embroidered purses, and there are plenty of those here, but the stitches she shares can be used in many different types of projects.

Reviewing advanced copies of art and craft books in digital form is always difficult because you can never determine what the final physical version will look like. I imagine (and hope) this one will be full of luscious, large photos of the projects, close-ups of the stitches, and some photos of the things, people, and places that inspired some of the designs.

I am recommending this for purchase at my library, and will recommend for anyone looking for something new and delightful in the art of embroidery.

Beautiful appliqué pieces using known embroidery stitches makes this a valuable book; the motifs would look lovely on purses, belts, scarves, whatever your imagination brings...great instructions and diagrams.

Beautiful designs and easy-to-follow patterns. This book has given me the opportunity to work in something different such as bags and purses, to apply embroidery in a different way. I loved the patterns and illustrations. I tried the feathers pattern in a canvas tote bag and I loved the result. I will definitely follow Yumiko's work closely and now I want to have all of her books, her artwork is just beautiful.

This book has gorgeous embroidery designs and fairly easy to follow instructions. I enjoy embroidery, but am not extremely good at it. I feel like I could follow along fairly well with the knowledge I currently have.

Disclaimer: I was given a digital copy of this book by Netgalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wow....I am been thinking about sticking my toe into embroidery and this book may have pushed me into the water.

I love the beautiful, yet simplistic motifs and was even more encouraged the book contains the templates in the back.

My cabin fever from covid is making me want to pick up an easy, transportable hobby. I may be headed to JoAnne's to get floss and fabric soon.

Simply Stitched with Embroidery
Embroidery Motifs for Purses and More
by Yumiko Higuchi
This is a book I requested and the review is voluntary.
I always wanted to learn how to do embroidery on little purses but this book shows how to start from the beginning and make many various sized small purses and stitch multiple cute little designs on them. No sewing machine needed to make these! It uses get instructions and photos to show the reader how to make the purses and stitches. Very nice! Another book to add to my buy-someday list!

Simply Stitched with Embroidery by Yumiko Higuchi is a collection of creative projects and patterns to learn embroidery. I picked up this book in as motivation to begin embroidering, myself.

Some of the designs I'm most excited to attempt are the water flowers, the flamings, and the flower medallion. I love the simple floral and nature designs that would look good on any purse or other home decor. I also appreciate that the end of the book comes with full size templates!

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the modern, minimalist, and whimsical embroidery patterns in this book. The photographs are helpful as are the project ideas using each pattern to make practical, pretty, and usable items! Will definitely be using the quirky cats motif a lot in my projects! If you love to embroider or are new to needlework I think you'll find something to enjoy in this book!

This is a great way to get embroidery ideas. There are patterns and colors that you may have not thought to use. Lots of images to inspire you.

This book is full of simply beautiful designs. The simplicity of the designs creates beautifu purses. My particular favourites are Woodland Holiday, Butterflies and Floweres and Flower Medallions. This book take simple satin, stem and chain sritches and creates simply elegant designs.

Yumiko Higuchi´s book offers nine different purses designs and dozens of simple embroidery motifs that can be used in a variety of projects.

Although the artists is Japanese, I found that the motifs were reminiscent of Norwegian embroidery, minus the color: floral and classical.

I really appreciated the detailed stitching instructions for each project.

Overall, a nice embroidery book.

A very different book on using lovely embroidery on small metal clutch purses. The book starts with a lovely series of embroidery motifs to be used in various ways both on the purses and other articles. as one progresses into the book the instructions and templates become into view. There is a lot I like about this book - the detail information on working with a clutch purse frame, the fine designs which really stand out in a beautiful way. It feels a very freeing and calming book in making some lovely accessories items.
Probably not for an absolute beginner as there are no how to make the stitches needed for the embroidery, but easy stitches that can be learnt and the result achievable for anyone with enthusiasm.

Wow a simple book to learn how to make this great pattern. The book reads fast and all is easily explained at the end. Great examples of what you can make. The pictures are gorgeous, but lack in the end. The book could have been organized a little bit more or do a project by project kind of thing. Overall, I liked it.