Embroidery: A Step-by-Step Guide to More than 200 Stitches Paperback – Illustrated, June 2, 2015

I'm mighty disappointed, partly with the book and partly with myself.First, this is an excellent book. But they keep republishing the same thing and just changing the cover. I already have this exact book, just an earlier edition. Can you make out the small print on the cover here? It says: "Previously published as 'Stitch Sampler'." Well, darn it, I already own "Stitch Sampler." This book is listed under the publisher, DK, instead of the author, Lucinda Ganderton so I thought it was a new book. Let me help you make sure you're getting the right publication:This one is the 2015 paperback I'm reviewing: EmbroideryThis is the identical 2015 book but with different title and in hard cover: Embroidery Stitches Step-by-StepThis is the original paperback book published in 1999. I purchased it a year ago and use it all the time.: Stitch Sampler: The Ultimate Visual Dictionary to Over 200 Classic StitchesThe is the identical 1999 hardcover book (at 77¢ this is the best bargain): StitchThis is the 2006 hardcover edition (current used price over #40): Stitch Dictionary which was published in paperback in 2009 (current used price under $7): Stitch DictionaryTHEY ARE ALL IDENTICAL. 160 pages each and all filled with excellent photos and directions for the 200 classic stitches. I hope you find these links helpful as well as this, my original review:I have myriad needlework books but this is one I turn to consistently. It's one of the very best stitch guides I own...among dozens.These are the chapters:Intro, Materials, Tools & TechniquesGallery of Stitches...p. 22 [shows every stitch in the book with the page to find its diagrams]Line and Border Stitches...p. 36 [e.g. back, stem, split and chain stitches]Filling Stitches...p. 70 [e.g. small repeated stitches to make a "powdered"--filled--area]Openwork Stitches...p. 94 [i.e. pulled fabric, drawn thread, cutwork, insertion and edging stitches]Needlepoint stitches...p. 116 to 156--the largest chapter. [e.g. straight and diagonal, cross and star, looped and tied stitches]I have used the excellent illustrations design short workshops for samplers both for my Embroiderers' Guild of America group as well as the local quilt museum. Lucinda's secret is to use bright colored yarn on wide gauge fabric so you can see where the needle goes. And she shows where the working needle is in every diagram. The average stitch in all hand embroidery entails probably 4 or 5 separate steps; most books only show 2 and then the finished product. Here, the author shows ALL the steps in each stitch including that all-important "how do I begin the second stitch?" The only stitch I can quibble with is the bullion knot, my go-to stitch to evaluate a stitch guide. While I have books that show 5 and even 7 steps, this one only having 3 steps is sufficient because of the close-ups and because the explanation smooths over any lack of diagramming. So this exceptional book is the exception to the rule.To be able to learn stitches quickly and easily makes me feel accomplished instead of frustrated. Take the fear out of learning new stitches and check out this book.I think the confusion stems from Lucinda Ganderton being an English author with different publishers there and in the U.S. I don't think that's a good excuse for this confusion but I've given you the heads-up you need to buy this book...yes, get this book...but only buy one.

This is an awesome beginner or reference book. Definitely will be useful. The book is divided into sections:- First 20 are the intro, tools, materials and techniques.- About 14 pages of quick reference images, which is a gallery of stitches. with just the name and page reference for further instructions. This is useful.- Then there are the instructional sections (about 120 pages) including line and border stitches, filling stitches, openwork stitches, and needlepoint stitches.- ending with the index.The book is glossy, full colored, organized and pretty.It does not include projects, or design patterns, only the stitches, which is what I wanted.Some of the stitches are similar, but are shown in different variations. For example, there is satin, surface satin, and encroaching satin presented as 3 separate stitches, but they are similar and presented together. Same with various buttonhole stitches, feather stitches, chains, knots, running stitches, etc. I say this because “200 stitches” includes these variations, it’s not “200 families of stitches”, sooo keep this in mind.And again, no project, so it doesn’t show the stitch incorporated into a finished project.The price is great for this book in my opinion. It’s exactly what I was looking for.

Excellent book for someone just starting out or someone trying to remember how to do some of the more complicated techniques they've only done once or twice. Great illustrations and easy to follow instructions, the kids and I love just looking through and finding stitches we like to practice or use in a design. The book is colorful, well-organized, fun to look through, and has great pictures and directions. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking to start embroidery or bolster their skill set.

This embroidery book is very detailed, has beautiful color pictures and almost all the stitches you could possibly do. However, it is still hard to figure out how to exactly do some stitches as the instructions are in 3-4 visual steps and if you're fairly new to embroidery you'll still need to watch a video or two to figure out how to place your needle.I learned at least 75+ stitches in middle school but I had not embroidered for many years, so I bought this book to refresh my memory for some more complex stitches that I couldn't remember at all. I found that despite looking at the images, I still had a hard time making the stitch perfectly - some examples were the feather stitch, double feather stitch, chained feather stitch and closed feather stitch. These are stitches I used to do many years ago, but even so the limited directions were not too helpful for me.I think the most useful thing for me was that the images of 200+ stitches in the book jogged my memory, and I was able to draw on my long lost learning and recreate most stitches, but the directions in the book are quite confusing to me. Maybe it's just my way of learning, but I've learned cross stitch, knitting and crochet from books before but this proved a bit harder even though I used to do embroidery. I will have to watch YouTube videos in addition to this book. For crafting I prefer to buy the paper version of books, so I purchased the paperback, the Kindle version is far cheaper.

I bought a book and it didn’t give step-by-step instructions. This book does you will not be disappointed