I love the simplicity of cross stitch, you make a row of diagonal lines going one way and then you go back the other way. It’s easy to get into a rhythm because it’s all the same, over and over. But embroidery is a whole different ballgame, there are tons of stitches. Apparently, far more than I even realized because A-Z of Embroidery Stitches* is full of ones I’ve never even heard of!

I had a hard time even getting a photo of the contents pages listing all the stitches, there are so many! I counted and there are 84 different stitches listed, and that doesn’t even count all the variations like the 8 types of blanket stitches.

I tried my hand at a couple of the stitches in the book and I found the photos all really easy to follow and the directions to be clear. Besides a handful of basic stitches, I always need to reference either YouTube videos or an online guide when doing embroidery stitches.

I really appreciated the little diagram that appears on the top showing all the different steps at once. It was really helpful for me to get an idea of the progression of the stitches.

In addition to all the different stitches there is also a great general overview on getting started with embroidery – transferring designs, choosing needles, finishing your embroideries… There are also tips for left handed embroiderers and a lot of great information about thread painting and working with ribbon.

The cover of the book advertises it as “a complete manual for the beginner through to the advanced embroiderer” and I would definitely agree. This is a truly comprehensive stitch guide and I was really impressed with how easy to follow the photos and directions are.

I was also excited to see that there are a bunch of other “A to Z” embroidery books either out or that will be released this year – whitework, needlepoint, threadpainting, ribbon embroidery, stumpwork. I’m really excited to check out some of these, especially if they are as detailed as this one!

A-Z of Embroidery Stitches* is published by Search Press Classics.

Please Note: This post contains affiliate links that are indicated by an asterisk*. I received a review copy of this book from Search Press Classics.