Cat Lady Embroidery is a reformatting and re-release of Neko-Darake Shishu 380 originally published in Japanese by applemints. Translated by World Book Media and due out 3rd July, 2018 in English by Quarto - Creative Publishing International it's 120 pages & available in paperback format.
This is 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 cat-alphabets as well, for personalization (or monogramming gifts for cat loving friends).

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

This is an interesting and creative book. Do you enjoy embroidery? Do you like cats or know someone who does? This book is perfect. It gives many ideas for cat designs to embroider and information on how to make it happen. So many cute ideas.

I think I just found my new hobby! This is such an amazing book! The embroidery instructions in this book are easy to understand and follow. I have always been interested in embroidery, but the fact that this book is filled to the brim with 380 cat themed designs is exactly the push I needed to get the ball rolling. This is just too amazing to pass up!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

This book is super cute! I also like how there are basic embroidery instructions and a guide for each pattern. I guess if I where to make one "complaimt" it would be to ask for more.

I love this book. As a cat lover, I have many ideas on how to use the projects here, and love the images chosen. The directions for making the stitches are clear and I like that there is a separate image for explaining, and another for tracing the image itself. The images are cute and useful for a variety projects, and I was pleasantly surprised by how many images were included. I highly recommend this for cat lovers, and even beginner stitchers since some images are easy enough to recreate, and the instructions are very clear.

#CatLadyEmbroidery #NetGalley #Cats

Creative and cute catalog containing a large collection of embroidery about cats. The book starts with basic techniques of embroidery for the beginners. The rest of the book can be used for any level of expertise. The patterns are beautiful and can be used to provide a personal touch to items such as tote, sheets, shirts and more. Purfect!

Cat Lady Embroidery 380 Ways to Stitch a Cat by Applemints is for everyone who adores cats and hand embroidery. Each of the cats are adorable. Their poses and outfits and mannerisms are 'classically cat'. They each have their own personality. There are charts for different embroidery thread companies so you are not limited to one brand. The artwork is terrific and the introduction and instructions are clear and concise. I would like to thank Applemints, Quarto Publishing Group - Creative Publishing International
Creative Publishing international and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

This is not your normal cross stitch book. Like other books it is filled with patterns. There are 380 ways to stitch a cat. There are cat faces, whole cats, cat alphabets, cat boarders, and more.

These are not full pictures or scenes. The book allows to make your own designs and add the cats to it.

The book has stitch guides, tool & materials, thread conversion charts, projct inspiration guide and more.

This book is great for cat lovers. It's also good for beginner stitchers and advanced as well.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

Una raccolta di schemi a tema gattesco, che sebbene graziosi non sono particolarmente d'ispirazione. Qualcosa da sfruttare si trova di sicuro, ma siamo lontani dalla miniera che si sono rivelate altre raccolte simili.

This book is absolutely excellent! I'm a self-certified cat lady who's recently taken up embroidery again after a long gap, and I really appreciate the variety of awesome patterns in this collection. The stitch instructions are well-laid out and simple, which is a lovely refresher of the basics, and there is a really useful chart for converting colours used between brands. The cat designs are super cute, with some realistic-looking, some cartoony, and even some really nice borders and patterns that could be used on anything. I love the Halloween patterns. I'm going to be embroidering cats on everything now!

One tiny gripe is the "Norway Jean Forest Cat' on the front cover, which should be 'Norwegian Forest', but since this book is a translation, and the cat is recognisable as a Norwegian Forest, this is only minor.

I’m so glad I got this book as it’s absolutely wonderful. I have to admit I’m a sucker for a ‘crafty’ book. I used to be a real craft addict and have tried my hand at most things. These days, I struggle to find the time to do anything like this, but I always love to have a look at the books. Books like this always make me want to pick up my needle and thread again, and to be honest this book may be the first one in ages where I WILL pick up the needle and thread instead of just wanting to.

I love cats just as much as I love reading and to combine three things that I enjoy – cats, reading and needlework – well this book just has to be a winner. This book shows you with simple, easy to understand instructions how to embroider the cutest cats ever. It is filled with page after page of embroidered cats, in all different shapes, sizes and poses! The first half of the book shows you the ‘finished article’ – what the cats look like embroidered. The second half gives you clear instructions as to what stitches to use for each cat, and a full size template to copy and trace onto your fabric.

If you are a complete novice, or just a bit rusty (like myself!), there are easy to follow instructions as to what tools you need, how to do each stitch and how to trace the pattern onto your chosen fabric. There are also some examples of the cats on actual projects such as pencil cases, bibs, coasters and cushions. The cat peeking out of a shirt pocket was my particular favourite and so effective to show off these cute little creatures! Full of inspiration for the budding embroiderer, I imagine it would be very easy to use each and every one of these cats on future embroidery projects.

Absolutely purrfect for cat and embroidery lovers alike. Fantastic! Miaow!

Thank you to the author and Publisher for this free book.

This book is a treasure trove for cat lovers who are needleworkers. Th motifs, if small, are adorable, full of character and whimsy.

I love that the authors hooked us by first giving us over 50 pages of great embroideries (stitched examples of all motifs. After that and before the stitch guides and templates you have the technical instructions. These, though short, are excellent for those doing embroidery on cloth.

The motifs are divided into chapters including "Curious Cats" and "Holidays." Every one is packed with designs you'll want to stitch.

Based on the thread they used. Olympia floss, and some of the motifs, I'm pretty sure this book originally appeared in Japan. Because there isn't much text, this isn't a problem.

I highly recommend this book.

This book is full of cute cats. There are 380 different motives, from Christmas cats to broders with cats and cat alphabets.
There is a guide on how to get started, which materials to use and a detailed stitch guide.

I am not sure this book is suitable for complete beginners, but I would recommend it to advanced beginners and higher.

I received this book through NetGalley to review honestly.

And honestly, I'm totally digging this book.

I'm really more of a dog person, but this book has great projects and motifs that are shown clearly, stitched, and design elements that let you create a project how YOU want it, which is always a bonus in these kinds of books. Aesthetically, it reminds me of Japanese craft books (which I *adore*, by the way), and some of the designs are totally hilarious. (A cat with his head in a water glass, which is hilarious because it's *true*, for example. Or a very displeased feline who's human has decided to put him in a football jersey. Stuff like that, which you don't often see in cutesier books.)

There's a section for most of the major holidays (Halloween, Christmas, etc.), an impressive selection of cats wearing clothing, and some totally classy flora/fauna designs. These would all make amazing gifts for folks. Or for yourself. I'm not judging.

There are cat alphabets, cat corners, and cat borders. There are all different fur colors, including hairless. There are folk cats, cute cats, and contemporary cats.

Folks, it's a LOT OF CATS. And it's all good.

And as a technical sidenote: the instructions (all conveniently located in one section in the back, so you can get all hopped up on inspiration first) are really, really good. There are photographed examples of how to do each stitch, and a clear guide on how to read and use the included charts. The charts are in black and white, which means the contrast will make it easy to transfer the patterns. (I love color charts, in theory, but in practice, the tracing is sometimes less than a walk in the park and more a walk on the edge of a seawall during a thunderstorm while holding a lightning rod and shark bait. You stitchers know what I mean.)

If you have a cat, have ever loved a cat, or embroider and know someone who fits the cat lady moniker, you need this book.

(Now we just need to convince Applemints to come out with a dog companion for those of us with canines in our blood.)

Are you kidding me?! This book is *adorable*!! 'Cat Lady Embroidery' is a fun and inspiring book for cat lovers interested in embroidery. It's separated into a couple of sections: immediately going into quirky kitty images you can create. Afterwards, you'll find easy to follow guides and tutorials as well as photos of what you can do with your image. I think this would be perfect for beginners because of this.. I'll be recommending 'Cat Lady Embroidery' to my fellow cat ladies and purchasing the book for myself when it comes out!

As a cat lady and a crafter, this book immediately appealed to me. But I'm not yet much of a stitcher and these designs looked like they may be beyond me. The designs are too cute to pass up, though, and after marveling over all of them, I made it to the instructional part of the book and I think I can do this!

Every cat-lover will find something to like here. There's realistic designs that can be customized to recreate any cat. Lots of whimsical and funny designs ranging from traditional to more modern. You can make a large piece with lots going on or isolate individual cats for small details. The book has borders and alphabets that can be added to other projects. Every design has a clear image that can be used to copy.

Many Japanese craft books are intimidating. There's a lot of detail and not always a lot of instruction for the newer crafter. That's not a problem here. The guides are clearly explained and all the stitches needed are explained and have photos. A beginner can pick this up and start putting cats on everything. In case they don't know what to put cats on, there are plenty of project ideas.

This book is a delight in both the designs and the instruction.