How to Embroider Almost Everything

I received a free digital advanced review copy through NetGalley. A comprehensive, visually appealing, and easy to follow guide.

This is a perfect beginner book for anyone wanting to start embroidering their own designs. The projects consist of simple pictures based on a subject and there is a good variety of ideas mainly in a fun simple style. It is a very inviting book and will encourage lots of people to have a go. Different stitches and methods are introduced but all the designs and ideas can so easily be adapted or added to. I think this is an excellent resource that makes embroidery accessible.

Full of simple charming drawings for all sorts of things, this book is a great resource for the embroiderer. The first pages are an introduction. Besides the usual stuff about materials and tools, there are detailed instructions on how to embroider on different types of fabric and plenty of useful tips. A stitch dictionary with the basic stitches used in these pieces follows.

The bulk of the book are the designs. Each category has a two-page spread. On one page you'll find the drawings with thread color numbers listed on them. The facing pages have all the designs stitched. I like that the examples are on different colors of fabric, making for a cheery look. The drawings are simple and in a doodle-like modern folk art style. But they are not simple outlines, they have enough detail to make them quite charming as stand-aline designs.

This books an excellent resource for the beginning embroiderer.

This is such a fun little book. I have been dabbling in embroidery off and I am so excited about this book. It is quirky and ad inspirational. I enjoyed the simplicity of the designs and the information on transitioning to different fabric types. This is s a great beginners book and it had tons of fun patterns. It was perfect for my skill level. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

What a lovely book!!! It is full of great designs and ideas. I didn’t know about Wendi Gratz but she has a new fan!

A cute little book with quirky designs. It is very much a beginners book. Only six embroidery stitches are explained but there is a wealth of design ideas based on doodle drawings using these stitches.
This would make a lovely gift for someone wishing to take the craft but too simplistic for anyone more advanced.

How to Embroider Almost Everything is a huge collection of surface embroidery designs with tutorials. Released 22nd Oct 2019 by Quarto on their Quarry imprint, it's 128 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats.

There is a good introduction which covers tools and materials, choosing and stabilizing fabrics, how to use the templates and color codes in the book, selection of floss, embroidery tutorials and stitch diagrams, etc. There probably isn't a lot which will be new to more advanced stitchers, but it's a good solid basis for newbies.

The templates and patterns themselves are arranged thematically with a full color gallery page followed by a template with floss colors (DMC numbers are used) and thread counts (usually 3 for outlining) given for each of the 500+ designs. The patterns are varied, whimsical (see book cover), and appealing. These would be great embellishments for gifts, soft furnishings, pictures, and a zillion other uses. The book includes some borders, frames, and lettering as well, so personalized gifts are a possibility. The thematic subject groupings included in the book cover: plants, animals, people, locations (beach, etc), household items, at play (toys, fantasy, imagination), celebrations (birthday, baby, love), weather and outdoors, and the aforementioned letters, borders, frames.

Well made and comprehensive. I -really- love that surface embroidery is making a big comeback. It's been mostly cross stitch and needlepoint for decades. Surface embroidery provides a real outlet for originality, expression, and creativity, utilizing simple tools and without a massive outlay of time.

Five stars; well done!

I love embroidery. I think the art of embroidery is fascinating and beautiful.

This book showed the basics for embroidering and how to get started. It also had a tonne of really cute ideas to start off with. The only thing I wish it had was more advanced stitches, or just more stitches to learn. However as it was an embroider almost anything the basic stitches are really all that are necessary.

If you haven’t taken a stab at embroidery I absolutely recommend it.

I'm a big fan of Wendi Gratz. This book is a great extension of what I already love about her blog - tutorials of some basic stitches that are easy to understand (I think I finally, FINALLY get the satin stitch now!). Her designs are super-cute and easy enough for even beginner's to handle. I usually consider an embroider book "pretty good" if I see a design or two I want to try. With this book, my biggest problem is picking out which one to try first!

I've been on a crafting book kick lately including embroidery books. I'm just super curious if there's anything new out there in the world of needles and thread. The answer is, not really. But this is a fresh take with pictures that are good and instructions that, while not thorough, are better than most. This book also gives ideas for patterns - not full out patterns, just ideas.

Four stars
This book came out October 22nd
ARC kindly provided by Quarry Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

What a fun little book! This simple primer really does tell you how to easily embroider just about anything, from cacti to space ships to sewing machines to Vikings. I do wish the people had arms in the girls, boys, ladies and gentlemen sections, but I was happy to see that people in the fantasy sections and others had arms so I can just steal theirs. :) Darling and accessible, anybody can embroider happy little pictures on everything from cloth shopping bags to clothing to dish towels with these easy instructions.

I love that each set of designs shows finished, embroidered pieces, and then the exact same objects are shown as line drawings with the simple drawn pattern to trace. Gratz also provides instructions to get you started with embroidery if you're new, plus some easy answers to issues you might have.

The patterns also work as simple drawing patterns, which would be great for kids who want to see easy ways to draw things like foxes, houses, you name it.

All in all, a wonderful resource. I don't even embroider at the moment but I would consider buying this for our family.

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

Get your needle and thread and start
Quilter and blogger Wendi Gratz has divided her book "How To Embroider Almost Everything. A sourcebook of 500+ Modern Motifs +Easy Stitch Tutorials - Learn to Draw with Thread!", published by Quarto Publishing Group - Quarry, into tow main parts: 1) Getting Started, and 2) Embroidery Stitch Patterns for Everything. The first part introduces everything the readers need to know in a simple way to get their embroidery projects started: fabric, thread, hoops, needles, patter transfer, starting and ending stitches, ... - no matter if they are beginners or more experienced embroidery artists. The embroidery patterns in the second part (plants, animals, people, toys, letters, ...) Can literally be used for all kinds of projects (clothes, curtains, decorations, ...). Gratz considers embroidery as drawing or coloring in slow motion - with a thread. She offers step-by-step tutorials for essential stitches, tips and a resource list to help the artists. The book presents itself with clear photos for the samples and a great design. It is inspirational and uses a great variety of really cute motifs which also can be combined. The book can be highly recommended as a guide for beginners and advanced embroidery artist and it also makes a great present.
It would have been helpful if the author would have included a conversation chart or at least the names for the embroidery floss (she uses DMC, but others might already have embroidery floss from JP Coats, Anchor, Madeira, or other sources). The patterns are not available as PDFs which would be desirable for an easier transfer. The pages need to be photocopied and in this case a spiral- or comb-binding or a binding that lays flat would be helpful since the only other option is to copy the patterns manually. It is also important to note that the book only covers "normal" embroidery and no cross-stitching, tapestry, or other type of needlework.
The complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. I was under no obligation to offer a positive review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#HowToEmbroiderAlmostEverything #NetGalley

Cute but rather simplistic designs. I wish there were more designs, design categories and that some were more elaborate. The whole feel of the book is rather kitschy but it comes across as cute while being informative.

I love this book!
The instructions are so easy to follow and I love the easygoing, friendly way it was written! There was plenty of pictures with the steps so that you could see what was being talked about, which makes it a lot easier to follow!
There is a big section of embroidery patterns in the back which are just perfect for anyone want to give it a go immediately or even follow along with some of the instructions!
I will definitely be getting a hard copy of this book so I can have easy access to it during my sewing sessions, and so I can easier use the patterns!
I completely recommend this book for any beginner, or anyone who isn’t quite confident in their embroidery yet!
Thank you for sending me a e-copy to read and review!

Lovely book of embroidery.
Very simple and primitive in style.
I feel designed for the new stitcher or for someone who is looking for these sorts of designs.
Some are ideal if you make cards, would be perfect to stitch and turn into birthday cards for children, which I will do with some of the designs.
Would make perfect sampler pillows or little framed gifts.

A good start for the beginner or near-beginner embroiderer..
As well as taking you through the basic stitches, Gratz has some nice info on basic techniques such as what fabrics and needles to use, how to transfer patterns on to fabric and how to embroider on thin and stretchy fabrics.
The stitches are illustrated clearly and Gratz covers a nice range without making it daunting.
With some embroidery books I feel a bit overwhelmed but this is very down to earth and you won’t need special materials.
The motifs for you to copy are basic but fun. They would suit an older child well.
All in all, an easy to use and clear embroidery starter guide for beginners and those with a little experience who want drawing templates.

Occasionally there is a book which you really, really want to read and enjoy because you are a big fan of other things the author is renowned for. In this case I love Wendi Gratz as a quilter and blog writer because her art work is fun, her ideas original and her instructions very clear. Thankfully this book doesn't disappoint in any way.

The basics at the beginning are simply explained, everything you need to know as a novice or more experienced embroiderer are there and the materials and equipment required are easily sourced but not expensive. The beauty of these designs, all 500+ of them, is that they can be used on anything. You don't need special material instead put them on your jeans, bed linen, even curtains! Also the designs can be adapted to personalise in pretty much any way you can think of.

I was able to read a copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who is already a fan of this author, wants to try freehand embroidery or likes to add their own touch to their fabric projects. This will be a great addition to any crafter's library.

This was a fantastic book! Very easy to follow instructions with clear pictures to walk you through things step by step. There were also lots of very cute examples and patterns to help get you started. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get started embroidering and is looking for simple and easy instructions and inspiration.

Just got started in embroidery and am always looking around for cute doodles that I can turn into stitch art. This book looks perfect for that. Lots of variety (animals, plants, pirates, space) and easy shapes that still come out nicely. Some good tips for beginners at the front end of the book as well!


I received this book in exchange for a free review, but all opinions are my own.

This book has an abundance of cute whimsical doodles turned stitches. The layout is pretty simplistic.
There is a very short section with a few basic stitch examples ( a very small section, making this more of an inspiration book over instruction) This makes the book more appealing for seasoned crafters because most of the space is dedicated to ideas rather than a re-hashing of technical stuff. There is enough info on the basic stitches, and it may be all that is needed for the ideas in the book.

Each page of examples is followed by a black and white page with the designs. This allows you to copy exactly or use as inspiration and do your own thing! The book includes examples of techniques the author uses to transfer designs but many are simple enough to freehand with a water soluble pencil if you are a doodler. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC to review.

What an awesome resource!! As someone who has been wanting to learn to embroider, this book was extremely helpful in this process. I love how the pictures and explanations make the new learner feel like they can accomplish learning how to embroider.

I must admit I expected something else from this book. I thought it was going to be about embroidery in different kind of materials, like paper, for example. But it actually was about different shapes and objects. Which is not something bad, just not what I was looking forward to when I requested the book. I highly recommend this book for people who want to lear embroidery but are afraid by the different stitches. In this book you have the basic stitches well explained and there's A LOT of different templates so you can embroider different motifs on blankets, pillow cases, and so on. It's a really good book if you want to start trying your hand at embroidery and has very diverse patterns.

This book is full of easy to follow instructions and many cute patterns to help you learn to embroider.

This book stands out because it offers more than 500 stitch motifs based on sketches. From flowers and insects to fairies, unicorns, monsters and snowflakes.

Materials and fabrics are explained, as well as basic stitches and trouble shooting.

I had to laugh at the first part of the book, I carry my embroidery kit in an old Altoids tin, too.

This book provides a huge range of images, from people and animals, to buildings and flora. Also included are simple borders and an alphabet. I appreciate that it provides you with everything needed to create lovely embroidered designs, including instructions and advice on fabric, basic stitches and more.

I have not yet used the designs, but I plan on embroidering a hoop using the dinosaur images because they are so sweet! Although, my favourite design was the jellyfish.

I only wish that some final designs were also given, laid out as to how you would decorate a hoop. I'm not great at envisioning final products, so I would have liked to see the combinations of borders and designs together in a completed layout.

There are 126 pages in this book, minus the credits and ISBN stuff. 25 of them are about materials and how to sew.

Thankfully the rest of the book is very cute and informative, there are some lovely things to embroider especially the space creatures and the dinosaurs. They do all use one kind of thread which the author tells us is DMC6 strand but I suppose you could use a different type if you didn’t have access to that.


Cute and fun, I think the designs look easy as well as would work for beginners as well as the more advanced and, despite my annoyance at the Materials section it did give some handy hints on transferring your designs.

How To Embroider Almost Everything is going to be a really useful book in my craft book collection, one that I’m sure I’ll use often. This book would be great for beginners or even more advanced embroiders. The layout is great, it’s easy to follow and it has A LOT of stitch patterns! I would definitely recommend!

I loved this fun book. I’ve just started embroidery and I loved the easy quirky designs which would be useful in many creations.

I loved the illustrations which included a outline of each design along with a colour finished project with thread suggestions.

I definitely want to put this little book on my Christmas wish list , it will be a great reference book to hopefully progress my embroidery skills . Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this lovely book.

I think this book would be great for beginners! It is very straightforward and helpful on how to get started.

The patterns and illustrations are very simple and do not require any difficult stitches. The book doesn't lie - she provides patterns for lots of items (almost everything!)

However, I think for the more experienced embroiderer, this book would not be for them.

Decine di spunti, idee e schemi per arricchire con fili colorati pressoché qualsiasi cosa: è questo che promette il titolo, e che mantiene con una teoria di coloratissime creazioni, di gradi di difficoltà differenti ma mai impraticabili, da sperimentare ovunque ci sia del tessuto.
Un libricino prezioso per chi ama tenere le mani impegnate creando oggetti graziosi e utili.

Adorable ideas. This book is chock-a-block full of inspiration. There are instructions at the beginning on basic embroidery. There are group photos of all the embroideries as well as templates to copy or transfer. I wish there would have been more instruction for each embroidery.

I would like to thank the publisher, author and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

How to Embroider Almost Everything by Wendi Gratz contains over 500 modern motifs with the aim of the book being to allow you to ‘learn to draw with thread’.

In the introductory section, Gratz provides a succinct set of instructions to ensure that you’re ready to dive into your project. These 19 pages contain everything from selecting your fabric, thread and needles to finishing your piece.

I particularly liked the emphasis on the reader actively making choices; embroidery shouldn’t be difficult or expensive to try out. Gratz is enthusiastic and supporting, offering trouble shooting tips on trickier stitches which I’m sure will save a lot of users from becoming frustrated.

Following this, we’re then led into the motifs. They’re divided into nine different categories which you can explore based on your interests – my favourite spreads include the one on space and the one on dinosaurs.

I’m not sure a review of an embroidery book would be complete without trying out one of the patterns, so I opted to stitch a little dinosaur!

I’m very happy with how he came out. The pattern was very easy to follow and having a two pages spread with the pattern on one side and an example on the next makes it even simpler!

Whilst this book is primarily targeted at children who are new to embroidery, it’s a fun piece for those looking to try out a more whimsical style or branch out of other forms of stitching.

Great instruction on stitches and awesome examples of things to embroider. It was helpful to see the instructions for the item along with the embroidered item.

Vine Customer Review of Free Product

First part of the book is all about stitches and materials and how to transfer patterns, and how to treat your fabrics. Lots of information there, especially for beginners. I really like the idea of using water soluble transfer sheets to print the design and then adhere to the fabric and stitch. So easy.

Then there are designs. What differs this book from a lot of modern embroidery books is that the author shows not only schematics for the project, but also the projects stitched out on fabric with thread. You can see how it actually looks in real life. I am very grateful for that. You get a picture of stitched out design, and the schematics with colors used to copy and print and embroider yourself, using suggested colors, or not. The designs are cute and there are lots and lots of them, including an alphabet and frames and borders. Lots of fun stuff there, and lots of inspiration.

This one is super cute. When I was a kid my mom had this giant book of alphabets and cute little designs you could use on craft projects. This reminds me of that but much smaller. There’s a good variety of motifs to use here.. Animals, people, houses, etc. So there’s a little of everything. Have a chef you want to make a present for? There’s kitchen gadgets and foods. My mom loves sun faces, there’s a couple of those here that I may have to stitch onto something for her.

There’s one page of instructions for following the patterns. I felt that was the weakest part of the book, but also not a huge issue because honestly, you’d probably buy this book for the patterns themselves and not the instructions since you can stitch them however you want.

As someone who is interested in embroidery, I found this book to be extremely helpful! The descriptions of the different fabrics and how to use them properly, how to best utilise the thread for each of them, a list of supplies, and of course how to do the basic stitching was so great.

I liked that the descriptions were short and simple. Oftentimes in books for beginners, there is so much information and that can make the process of learning a craft tedious and boring rather than fun. After reading them, I felt I had a better understanding of embroidery basics.

The photos and steps on how to do the basic stitches were clear and straightforward. I appreciated that Gratz was encouraging alongside those steps by reassuring the reader that there are so many things one can embroider by using those techniques. I can imagine that I am not the only one to feel intimidated by the beautiful embroidery that exists and Gratz's enthusiasm for beginners to give it their best was fantastic.

Overall, Gratz wrote a wonderful introductory book to the world of embroidery with a plethora of fun and simple patterns that I look forward to trying out.

How to Embroider Almost Everything by Wendi Gratz

A Sourcebook of 500+ Modern Motifs + Easy Stitch Tutorials - Learn to Draw with Thread!

This book has hundreds of ideas for anyone interested in embroidering something unique. Perhaps you want to decorate a pair of jeans or a dishtowel or a handkerchief or baby outfit. Simple line drawings are turned into interesting stitched creations that can embellish any fabric from stretchy to fine to heavy.

This book took me back to times my mother would drive us to snow ski then sit in the lodge stitching fabric to pass the time and then later she and I embroidered a pair of bell bottom jeans and a work shirt with mushrooms, mice, flowers and more.

Stitchery and handcrafts are not as often seen as they once were and this book could easily be used to teach young girls to stitch as part of a badge for scouts or just for fun on a rainy day.

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

4-5 Stars

This book is such fun, with lots and lots of simple designs ready to be transferred to garments, gifts, or everything, and then stitched. The book illustrates 6 simple stitches - straight stitch, cross stitch, backstitch (with simple variations), lazy/chain stitch, French knot and satin stitch, that can be used to embroider the designs. They are categories including succulents, animals, space, cars, alphabet, trees, fish and so very much more. A lovely book for some very pretty, easy embroidery works. One can do lots or just one -whichever it will be guaranteed to be a winner.

This is a pretty comprehensive guide to embroidery, and includes sample designs as well as stitch instructions. The images are cute but feel a little generic, like clip art, but are a good, easy place to start. I don't know how well they would appeal to an experienced embroidery enthusiast, especially when the book mentions printing out designs and how easy embroidery can adapt to images you pick up yourself. The stock images aren't really the draw, although they are perfectly serviceable for projects. Instead, I was interested in the more modern approach to image transfers and techniques the book delves into. I use erasing markers that sometimes refuse to erase and sometimes I resort to miserable tracing at a window which is terrible for complicated pieces. There is the tactic of printing on fabric with a printer and some ironed freezer paper that I resort to too, which still is too much effort for too little result. I was really interested in the pattern transfer stabilizer the book mentions, as I haven't heard about it before and it sounds really uncomplicated. I was impressed that the older methods are mentioned, as well as something new that I had no idea about. The book really does give the impression that indeed almost everything can be embroidered and shows how to do it well, making the clip artish images seem unimportant to the overall enjoyment of the book.

Now I truly understands the basic embroidery and I can start on a project! I've been wanting to work on one but I didn't have spare time to go learn so this book is definitely a blessing for me! A great referral with easy to understand guide.

I am fairly new to embroidering and I just loved this book! Not only does it give excellent and easy-to-understand practical information about getting started in embroidery and techniques, but it comes with adorable cute patterns. The patterns tend to be more on the young and whimsical side (the front cover is an excellent indication of the patterns inside. So, you won't find intricate flowers or other similar patterns. This is more simple and contemporary cute. For that reason this could be a great gift for a 6+ year old who is just starting, although I can see a lot of fun projects I would do as an adult as well!

I was given an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Easy to follow instructions and adorable patterns. I love how you can mix and match elements to create your own original designs too. This would be the perfect book for someone just getting into embroidery; great for kids also.

Cute book. The format of this book was so hard to download though. I do love the easy to follow patterns though. Embroidery is a lost art.

This guide was super helpful, and I really enjoyed it. As a total novice, I found the information in here really good, and I was able to follow along with no trouble at all. All round great book, which has definitely helped me with my embroidery skills!

How to Embroider Almost Everything is a great book for beginners and embroiderers alike. It has great descriptions at the beginning of the book for all of the stitches you will need for the patterns in the remainder of the book. The patterns are adorable! This is book has definitely elevated my embroidery and has given me many ideas for new pieces. Highly recommend.

This book showed the basic stitches for embroidering and how to get started. It also had a loads of really cute ideas to begin with plenty of templates to follow.

Each double page has a colour photograph of the finished stitching alongside the design with the DMC colours used, but doesn't state which stitch should be used - that you need to decipher that from the picture.

There are the following motifs to create:
- Plants
- Animals
- People
- Out and About
- Around the House
- At Play
- Celebrate
- Weather and Skies
- Letters and More

I thought the motifs on the front cover look like a child has done them, whereas the designs inside are much more artistic.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a digital copy of this book by NetGallery, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved this book with fun sketches to embroider. My absolute favorites were the flowers, paisleys, drinks, and the borders. Be warned: this is not glamorous embroidery. It is simple sketches....but oh so fun.

I will definitely be buying myself a copy of this gem. I have never seriously tackled embroidery, but this might propel me to do just that.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

An easy to follow guide to embroidery. I liked the way the book was set up and will definitely be practicing my stitches.

This is an easy to read and easy to understand primer for beginners. II explains briefly what are the best material and threads. The advice how to deal with difficult fabric is useful. What I liked most is how simple stitches can result in very creative patterns. The big selection of patterns in various categories are great for later uses. This book is a keeper.

What a fun book! Easy instructions, cute patterns. I usually do counted cross-stitch, but these look like so much fun that I plan on stitching away too.
Thanks for netgalley for an advance copy of this book for an honest opinion.

Very cute book. I didnt know you could do so many complicated figurs in sucha simple, colorful fashion. Great skill for someone to learna nd relax with without taking too much time. Easy to follow visual instructions.

This is a great instructive house to modern embroidery for just about anything. Handy helpful tips for different stitches and a cute and quirky style of embroidery for new textile artists and experienced needle wielders alike!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a really creative, inspiring and engaging sourcebook of embroidery designs from play items to animals, and plants to things around the house. It guides you through the steps for considering the types of threads, hoops, fabrics and, of course, a range of stitches. I would highly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in stitching.

Adorable and charming designs that make embroidery look easy. AND it is easy, sometimes, we just need the inspiration to get us going. I started in a very disciplined world where the stitches were "just so" and "started in x direction." As a child, I didn't think freestyle embroidery could be a viable direction. Wish I had this book when I was young. I liked this book and recommend.

I seriously love this book. The designs are so adorable, and the how-to stuff at the beginning is very helpful, especially the bit about stitching on different types of fabric. This is a great resource for any stitcher, from beginners to experienced embroiderers, and will serve as inspiration to create one's own designs as well. I'm still pretty sure French knots were created by Satan, but I may try them again using the technique in this book, which is a little different from what I've seen before. The only problem I have with this book is trying to decide what to stitch first- those flowers! And the space stuff! The monsters! The paisleys! How will I choose?!?

#HowtoEmbroiderAlmostEverything #NetGalley

I love this book. I sew a lot and like to embellish some of my work. These motifs are easy to learn to embroider and it is satisfying to complete. I use these on quilts, bags, etc.
many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.