Some great designs & plenty of variety to choose from.
However this is a little cluttered & slightly overwhelming.
I'm looking forward to giving some of these a go & getting a better feel for it.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

There's a lot of different animals in this book, but I didn't love all of the patterns. There's also a lot of focus on birds which is nice but means other animals are left out. I like that the book is a helpful guide for learning to embroider! There's information on how to get started and pictures of what each stitch should look like. The pattern shows the completed embroidery, the pattern, and which stitches to use for the pattern. All of the how-to information is at the beginning of the book so you may have to do some flipping back and forth to get everything you need.

Overall it's a helpful starter guide!

This was a fun book that inspires a lot of creativity. I really enjoyed the patterns and the visuals on how the amount of thread you use changes the stitch. Very informative and cute

Filled with simple patterns perfect for customizing and a variety of projects, How to Embroider Almost Every Animal has a multitude of adorable and fun little patterns. Each stich is explained in a way that makes this perfect for a beginner or someone who is returning to their craft after awhile and needs a little refresher. I can already see several pages that would be really fun to make as gifts, and others that will be good to try simply for my own enjoyment. Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

So many beautiful, embroidered animals, cute. Great visual pictures, great step by step instructions, overall, I thought this was really easy to follow. I had an advance copy of the kindle version, but for me I would prefer a book version if I were to use it.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

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.

This book has tons of animal embroidery ideas in it, which will look lovely on so many projects! I think that it will be well-liked by older students who are interested in crafts, too.

With nearly half of a thousand animals, clear instructions, and helpful tips this How To book will be just what an embroiderer needs!

An interesting book full of different birds and animals to embroider. I do more quilting, so was hoping for more additions to add to that. Not sure how these would work, as they are small. May just be me, but several animals seemed have really big butts too. I was also a little confused with the start or prep of the fabric. Would recommend though, as a lot of variety is shown here.

This is a nice simple guidebook to all kinds of animals to embroider. Each type has a page or three filled with that type of animal (zoo, dogs, etc.). First there is a page of color depictions of the finished animals and later on there is a page of B&W sketches of the animals with little guidelines next to each about what stitches to use and such, and then there is a page of just the sketches so you can trace or photocopy it. Each one is true to size but they are meant to be small, about an inch to two on average, sometimes smaller. At the end there are several pages of examples of projects using the animals in all sorts of ways like hats, potholders and shirts.

Some of the assortments are zoo animals, zoological signs, animals with letters, dogs, cats and birds. There are more birds than any other group, one assortment just for parakeet types. They are average in cuteness and realism, not overly twee or authentic. I wouldn't say almost every animal is depicted by a long shot (perhaps they are being literal and only mean mammals and a few others?) but it's a nice assortment.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I like the format and the variety of animals. I'm not such a big fan of the style, they're kind of thin and anxious looking rather than either totally cute or realistic. I wish they were a tiny bit more appealing, that would make it just what I'm looking for to add to the library collection.

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.

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.

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 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.

I love books by Applemints and this newest is no exception. Even klutzes like me can learn how to embroider an array of animals in this wonder of a book! There are 400+ stitch designs — something for everyone. I especially loved the motifs for birds and for woodland creatures.

You’ll find checklists, step-by-step how-tos, templates and stitch guides, plus photos of stitching on scarves, hats, napkins, purses, and more. Great crafty fun!

5 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 02 Mar 2021  
#HowtoEmbroiderAlmostEveryAnimal #NetGalley

Thanks to Applemints, Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry, and NetGalley for the ARC, in exchange for my honest review.

This book had easy and clear instructions and also allowed me to create some really cute and adorable animal embroidery! I really appreciated the time and effort put into the beginner instructions and the throuroughness of the details.

What an amazing resource for embroidery! When you first start using the book it can be a little intimidating because it contains so much information. You’ll soon understand how it works and really benefit from all the instructions. The book contains really clear instructions on how to do the different types of stitches so it’s great for beginners as well as experienced stitchers. I think a paper copy of the book would be the easiest to use. Thank you #netgalley

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.

How to Embroider Almost Every Animal by Applemints
Sourcebook of 400 motifs and beginner stitch tutorials

Handy book to have if you are one who would like to add a bit of creativity in animal form to clothing, linens, samplers, handbags, hats, book covers or just about anything you can think of. This book is set up with plenty of little illustrations of completed project animals and then at the back of the book there are two diagrams for each animal. One is the pattern that can be traced, and the second details stitches used, number of strands of embroidery floss needed and colors in the example. At the very end stitches are listed with directions on how to create them.

This book reminded me of the jeans that my mother embroidered in the early 70s for my sister and I. There were toadstools, animals, birds, flowers and more. This book would lend itself to putting decorative motifs of a different sort on whatever fabric you might consider embellishing.

I did find the images simple and would have liked the book to include how one could draw their own animal or find an animal in a book and use that to create their own figure and determine what stitches to use for the project.

Did I enjoy this book? Yes

Who do I think would enjoy this book? People who have done some sewing as it is never quite as easy to take on projects like this using a book as it is when you have a teacher to observe. If you have some sewing skills this would be easy to use, though.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Quarry for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4-5 Stars

Easy to follow and so informative! I tried a few of the patterns and they work up really nicely! I’m not much for embroidery I’m more of a crocheter but this was easy enough to follow I was kind of able to do it. I think I need more experience before I can really do embroidery though

I'm not able to embroider but this book motivated me.
Some of the designs are really beautiful,.
There are so many different designs to choose from and instructions are very clear.

This looks like such an great book and I love embroidery. However, I requested it on 2/11 and it was archived on 2/12, so I never was able to view it. I would really like to see it. The cover alone gives me ideas of how to do stitches.

Unfortunately, this was a problem. I look closely at the archive date, but not sure why I was sent a book that was being immediately archived. So, next time a book like this comes out, I will definitely put in for it.

Thank you NetGalkey for trying and offering me a copy of this beautiful book.

Cute book. Has groups of animals shown completed then with instructions. Looks like a lot of fun, simple projects that you could use to personalize stuff like scrunchies, masks, napkins, etc. Had some realistic and some whimsical animals and includes basic embroidery instructions.

Absolutely loved devouring this book. So many animals to embroider! I think I might need to do them all. The instructions were set out really clearly and all the stitches were included in the handy stitch guide. The colour conversion charts were a bonus and I’m definitely going to buy my own copy on publication.

Wow, wow, there are 500 templates on animals that can be embroidered of all sort so projects. The templates given in the book are original size which are quite small, but no doubt they could be enlarged if wanted.
The categories are amazing including, zoo animal themes, aquarium, mythology, forest, farm, small creatures, zodiac animals, storybook, folk look animals, birds, cats, dogs, birds, emblems and animal alphabets and many more. Instructions are good as is the color thread list and designs are easy and quick to complete.
Good beginners book for children too

If you are wanting to try out embroidering or need new ideas because you have done so much already, then this book is for you!!! The first part of the book shows you all the different types of stitches that you can work on. There is also a part when it tells you how to transfer patterns. I liked how it had real pictures and so you know what it will look like when you are finished with it. Towards the middle of the book, it begins to show you different patters on how to make animals. It also gives references on how to make some flowers as well. Each design shows you which stitch to use and also what colors are needed. Again, I would recommend this to anyone who is wanting to begin or enjoy embroidery even more.

This is such a great book! You really can find pretty much every animal on these pages and I like that there are different ways to do quite a lot of them (for example - there are a lot of different poses for embroidering a cat).
The book not only shows the motifs in colour, but also how to embroider them in a separate diagram. The embroidery techniques are also clearly explained.
The reason that I have not given this book five stars is because some of the pages are rather busy and it makes it a bit difficult to see how to do each motif. I know that it would be hard to get so many into one book (and in a reasonable amount of pages without this but it would still bother me while working).
For that reason, this book might not be ideal for a beginner but I think that an experienced embroiderer shouldn't find it too difficult to read.