How to Embroider Almost Every Animal is a brilliant resource and reference book providing over 400 pictures of different animals to embroider. It is suitable for all levels, as step by step instructions for various stitches and tutorials for some techniques are included. I loved the way the pages were jam packed with so many pictures, giving you so many to choose from and lots of ideas. The book is colourful and visually appealing and would lead to lots of new creative ideas for new projects. Overall an excellent book and resource.

The embroidery patterns in this book are so cute: I want to try and recreate them all. The book is structured to allow even a beginner to have a go, though some of the designs are quite intricate and complicated and may require a little practise. The range of animals is immense and there will be something for everyone. I like how the groups of animals are themed and was particularly drawn to the pages of 'Beautiful Birds', 'Dashing Dogs' and especially the stylish giraffe! However, each time I flick through the pages another wonderful creature catches my eye.

The pattern pages look a little cluttered and confusing with all their numbered codes but I suspect you soon get used to which stitch is being suggested and have an appropriate colour palatte selected.

This book was a little hit and miss for me. I was looking for some patterns to embroider on my sons blanket to match our woodland animal theme nursery so I thought this book would be perfect but the designs were a bit all over the place. Some were really beautiful and detailed but others weren't quite as nice so they felt a little disjointed. I did really like the examples of ideas for where to use these patterns and the pictures of the different stiches were nice and easy to follow but because there were so many animals in this book, the actual instructions for each animal pattern were a little cluttered and hard to see.

How to Embroider Almost Every Animal is an encyclopedic sourcebook for animal surface embroidery by Applemints (Mieko Sasaki). Due out 2nd March 2021 from Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 120 pages & will be available in paperback format.

This will be an oddly formatted book to western audiences. The first 30% of the book is a catalogue of designs (and there are oodles of them!) presented in full color. There is a short gallery of project inspirations after that (4 pages) along with an introduction and general techniques chapter. This chapter covers materials, fabric and thread choices, needles, scissors, tensioning devices (hoops) etc etc.
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.

Anyhow, following the materials and supplies chapter is a really well done tutorial chapter about the different stitches used for the patterns in the book. The step-by-step photos are annotated and accompanied by explanatory text. They're clear and easy to follow.

The final half of the book contains the patterns for the elements listed in the catalogue at the beginning. They are mostly small(ish) elements which can be combined and switched around as desired. There are several animal alphabets as well, for personalization (or monogramming gifts for animal loving friends). Although it's not clear from the cover art, many of the included patterns are for anthropomorphic animals in hats, clothes, dancing ballet, riding bicycles, etc. (Not all, but I would say roughly 10% of the patterns)

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 embroidery/stumpwork.

Four and a half stars

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

The book does exactly what it promises to do which is provide embroidery templates for a variety of animals. While there is extra focus on more common animals such as cats and dogs the books does give some complex animals such as marine life. The techniques used are quite basic so they are good for beginners but I would not recommend this book if you need a comprehensive to starting embroidery. This is because the book only covers basic stitching techniques and offers no tips for beginners. Furthermore the guides for each template are minimal providing a single image and numbers for stitching guides. While this may be good for a more experienced embroider it may also be confusing for a newbie. I would say this book would be good for a moderate embroider. The book includes full size templates for each design and while covering a variety of animals also covers some alphabets and zodiac signs which is a nice added bonus.

How To Embroider Almost Every Animal is a nice book for those of us wishing to learn how to embroider. There is every animal you can think of in here. I wish the directions of how to embroider the animal
was with the picture of the animal. It's also a little too much on each page. It would be nice to have them spread out the pictures of the different animals a bit more and have the directions beside each one. I did find the stitch guide extremely helpful!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarry Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

Such a cute book! This definitely belongs in every embroider’s library! There are so many designs here that I’m really not sure which one I’m going to use first! There are instructions at the end of the book, so confident beginners would be able to embroider these designs.
Kudos to the designer!

This is a seriously beautiful and handy book that I have found very helpful as a beginner in embroidery, but I imagine it would also be inspiring for those who are more experienced in embroidery. The animals are very cute and there is also a very vast range of animals here which I would imagine look very cute on clothing items or general accessories. There is a section on embroidery tips too. An all around fantastic book which I'm sure many creative people will love!

The variety of styles and animals in this book is a delight! It's impossible not to be inspired. I appreciated the gallery of sample projects as well. For me, there are two issues with this book. There should be an index of animals at the back. If I know I want to embroider a tapir, how am I going to find it? (Weirdly it's on the mythical animals page?) Secondly, a lot of the color photo samples show extensive and highly skilled usage of filling in shapes using short and long stitch (or possibly split stitch? I'm not an expert), and I think there needed to be more exploration of that technique to end up with results anything like the photo.

Loved this informative craft book about embroidering animals. Because I have some experience with embroidering, I felt that I could easily make the designs in this book into reality, and I would love a alphabet sampler with their cat font! Overall a great little book, filled with instructions and ideas, but the method here is to copy exactly as you see and this design is certainly not for everyone.

How to Embroider Almost Every Animal by Applemints is a collection of over 400 motifs and beginner stitch tutorials to embroider different animals. I picked up this book because I just got into embroidery and would love to attempt some of these animals.

Some of the designs I'm most excited to attempt is the owl, the bunny, and the flamingo. I love the simple designs that would look good on any purse or other home decor. I also appreciate that the end of the book comes with all the various samples of each animal!

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

Detailed instructions and basic drawings of animals, nature, buildings, emblems, and alphabet letters with animals. Very cute! .

This is a nice little book. There are lots of ideas for how to use the motifs to personalise items, make cards, gifts etc, and there is a good stitch directory with instructions - great for anyone needing a refresher, or even just starting out in embroidery.

There are many lovely examples of the work - but I feel that the book would have benefited from having larger images (OK it would add more pages but hey!), as the overall feel is a tad "cluttered" - but still very nice to look at.

Having said that the book is packed with ideas and there are SO many lovely animals to choose from. I particularly loved the "Folk Animals" section - the images have real character and the colours are gorgeous - and also liked the dogs, cats, and birds sections.

There's a nice section of animal alphabets, but again, these may have benefited from being a bit larger (though of course it's hard to tell from a digital copy of a book!)

There's also a handy thread converter chart, including DMC colours which are probably more widely available in the UK than the ones used for the examples in the book.

All in all a nice little book, with plenty of inspiration, and one I'd certainly buy in print.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

Thanks to Applemints and NetGalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Even though this book has plenty of cute designs grouped in sections, including one on mythical beasts, as well as zoological signs and animals with letters, which I appreciated. I don't find this book useful for beginners due to the lack of step by step guide for beginners and no close-up photos. Overall, a great book for those who want to explore new designs and try new embroidery!

The 400 plus motifs in this book can be used to embellish your gifts or your clothing and accessories and bring them all up to a whole new level of cuteness!

I loved almost all of the designs – they are colourful, adorable and attractive.

You can use them to embroider on such things as scarfs, placemats, napkins, handkerchiefs, pouches, bags, caps, clothes, cushion covers, gloves, socks, and fabric bookcovers.

I liked that, for every design, there is a stitch guide as well as a plain outline for easy tracing.

The section for beginners ensures that anyone can achieve good results.

Love this book! It has me itching to pick up some thread and needles!

Un bestiario originale e semplice insieme, che oltre agli schemi forniti aiuta nell’ideazione di nuove composizioni a tema zoologico.

I love the wide range of animals to embroider here. From garden birds and insects to mythological ones. I do wish the stitches could be shown a little bigger but maybe that is the fault of reading on a kindle instead of a hardback.
I think they all look effective without being too detailed and losing the beginner embroidered.
Lovely book. A great reference guide.

This was an adorable book of fun animal embroidery patterns. It is very accessible to newcomers to embroidery while still interesting for the seasoned stitcher. I tried a few of the patters and found them easy to follow if I read the instructions. What I liked most about this book was the way multiple artists and styles were represented in the different collections so you could see a variety of art styles reflected in the example patterns. This is great for beginners because it can help you discover your own embroidering style. Overall, I found the book to be both cute and helpful, with clear instructions and lots of embroidered animals!

Since the pandemic forced everyone to spend more time at home, I have pulled out my embroidery supplies and have been stitching away. While initially, the layout of the How to Embroider Almost Every Animal: A Sourcebook of 400+ Motifs + Beginner Stitch Tutorials book appeared slightly confusing. After having spent some time reading it, I now think this book is great!

This book is exactly what it says it is. It is a sourcebook, with hundreds of animal motifs to use or to riff off of. While admittedly not all of the animals are exactly my cup of tea, I appreciate the breadth and variety. The book includes zoo animals, farm animals, astrological animals, mythological animals, birds, fish, as well as alphabets featuring various animals.

Being that it is a sourcebook, it is a jumping-off point for executing your own stitching project. Stitching being the art that it is, no two people will re-create anything in the same way but this book can serve as a guide for using animals in whatever way your project needs. Sometimes the photography is lacking (white stitching on a white background) but I feel that the ideas still make it through. For the person looking for embroidery inspiration, I think this is a great book!

I requested and received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley, the publisher, and the author in exchange for an honest review.

Received a copy of this book for a honest review from NetGalley.com

I have spent sometime teaching myself to embroider. I love it and feel complete relaxation. I was super excited to receive a copy of this book but was a little disappointed to find that the designs were not very fluid and you could see the differences between each set of patterns.

My favourite patterns were - in the forest and pretty parakeets.

My least favourite - the dogs and cats. This made me disappointed because they were too much like caricatures.

You could tell different artists completed these designs.