A-Z of Embroidery Stitches 2 (A-Z of Needlecraft) Flexibound – September 15, 2015

I purchased the flexibound book instead of the kindle version this time as I wanted the full benefit of the large pictorial instructions, not that the ebook version could not do this, but it would require additional steps to enlarge the page....nuf said about that. As a novice at the art of embrodiery, I found this book to be an excellent source across the board. It devoted 3.5 pages on threads and how to use them with particular stitches, 2 pages on needles which includes an awesome needle chart, 2.5 pages on Hoops with instructions on choosing and preparing a hoop; specialty hoops; getting the most out of a hoop; keeping it clean; and binding. Scissors and stitch tension shared a page before the actual instruction on how to make particular stitches. Because I was new to this, I did a cursory overview of the stitches, and then went back and tried 11 stitches- regular blanket, alternating diagonal , back, chain, diamond, fern, four sided, gobelin filling, Italian knotted border, straight, Pekingese- and I did it!!! I also tried, with success, several harder ones. The step by step instructions were excellent, and the accompanying pictures enabled a novice like me to be successful. This book is an excellent tool for the novice, and an awesome reference for the expert stitcher. I have uploaded several pages from the book to provide the reader with a more generous overview. Hopefully it will answer some questions you may have about content as well as samples of this instructional style. Enjoy!!!!!

I love the A to Z series, I have several, acquired as I branch out to other types of needlework. This is another simply wonderful title, lots of photos. It’s very colorful, and a pleasure to use.

A really good must have for learning stitches. Clear instructions.

I really liked this book. I have been using the basic stitches in my embroidery work, but A-Z Embroidery Stitches have introduced me to a wonderful plethora of new stitches. I really recommend this book, if you are willing to learn different stitches.

This is a fabulous book!!! I actually purchased the Embroidery Stitches 1 and 2 books, and I am so glad I did!! The instructions and diagrams are so clear and easy to follow! I love that they have actually photos and not just diagrams. I'm a very visual person, as in if i can see it done then I can do it. These books are perfect for me!! The steps are thorough and I'm not left wondering what to do next.The variety of stiches is also amazing!!! My mom taught me how to hand stitch and embroider when I very young, and in all my years, I haven't seen over half of these stiches before!! So I love all the new ideas and different designs I use in my work!! I couldn't be happier with these books!!!

Lots of examples and information

I preordered this book and expected to get it next month, the announced release date. But it arrived yesterday--and I's not even a Vine reviewer--and I thoroughly perused it.*sigh* I wish I could give it more a ringing endorsement but here are the pros and cons:Pros:---every single page is laden with color photos with captions and directions accompanying each step of a stitch.---there are many stitches and a good variety....um...I'm out.Cons: you must get the first book:A-Z of Embroidery Stitches (A-Z of Needlecraft)What's even worse is that even COMBINING these two books, unless you're a very experienced and expert stitcher, I guarantee you will not be able to teach yourself how to do many if any of these stitches.---the pictures are WAY too small to best show how to make a given stitch.---while there seems to be a sufficient number of photos, way too often, the first few steps are squeezed into too few pictures and then later steps are stretched out longer than you need.---there is a lot of discussion about needles, hoops and fibers but very little on fabric.I have hundreds of needlework books including dozens of stitch encyclopedias and dictionaries. I am a huge niggler of WHAT is shown and the WAY it is shown if it's a book on technique. You should be able to assume that a book titled "A~Z" will be absolutely comprehensive and easy to understand. Not so, here. I smiled when I first opened the book and saw my MAIN stitch I use to gauge a stitch book: the bullion knot. Hike up the Look Inside! feature at the top of the page and scoot down to page 5: a pretty rose shown with the twists going in both directions. The point about this stitch the author is making is about "S" twist and "Z" twist threads. Are you lost already? I have studied embroidery fibers and the huge variety fascinates me: silk, cotton, linen, metal, artificial, blends, etc. If I weren't already pretty clear about the "twist" of fibers, I couldn't tell what was going on here: the fiber is twisted clockwise or counterclockwise and the bullion knot is twisted around the needle clockwise or counterclockwise...so are you double twisting it one way or the other...or making the twisting "cancel each other out?" I don't know.What's worse is if you want to make that pretty rose, you're outta luck: you can flip through the whole book and from the table of contents to the index, there is no reference to the bullion whatsoever.AND while I was looking through this to report to you what type of embroidery you can do here like surface stitchery vs. counted thread, I realized I was having to look closely at what I could make out of the fabric...but I shouldn't have to work that hard. LITERALLY, the only mention of fabric appears in little purple boxes on pages 58 and 88. On page 58 you're warned that embroidery will often show from the back so you need to make sure your thread is suitable for your material. On page 88, you're given a listing of the various fibers that make up fabrics as I described threads above...but that gives NO CLUE what threads to use on what material. The vast majority of fibers used here to display stitches are yarns too thick even for crewel work. Especially since several colors can be used to show one stitch, thicker fiber can make it easier to make out the stitch. But now you have no idea how many strands of floss should be used on what count of linen.I can't give this less than 4 stars because it is very well-written and I will be able to get a lot of use out of it...but only to complement my other more comprehensive stitch guides.

Well it is so funny. I got this because some of the stitches I was using weren't in the first book. I like the size and how easy it is to use while stitching. The big problem with this is it still didn't have some of the stitches called for in Carolyn Pearce's Work Box pattern. They were in the back of the book but I wanted to keep the photo of what I was working on and not have to flip back and forth.Still this is another great book and I may just photo copy the missing stitches to keep them in the book. Guess this would have been even better as a 3 ring binder.