Have You Read It: The Field Guide to Embroidery

The Field Guide to Embroidery is the debut embroidery book of Jessica Kemper, an embroiderer who creates works to empower others to feel connected with nature. Her publisher, Schiffer Craft, an imprint of Schiffer Publishing, generously sent me a copy for review and I can't wait to share with you what's inside.

The Field Guide to Embroidery by Jessica Kemper

What is The Field Guide to Embroidery?

The Field Guide to Embroidery combines an interest of plants and animals with a love of hand embroidery. Kemper, who has a background in horticulture and environmental studies did a great job in making this book feel like a field guide to plants and animals of specific regions of North America. Get excited to dig in and learn her approach to beginner-friendly animal and plant embroidery.

Why You'll Enjoy the Field Guide to Embroidery

The Field Guide to Embroidery is a delightful and beginner-friendly introduction to not only hand embroidery, but also being aware of the plants and animals around us. The book starts with a quick intro to embroidery, covers materials, has stitch diagrams, and shares how to care for functional embroidery pieces.

Next, The Field Guide to Embroidery dives into the various ecosystems of North America (desert, mountain, waterways, forest, ocean, prairie, and urban) covered in this book. I love that the table of contents includes photos of each of the plants and animals so you can easily see what the project will be. This section of the book also makes learning about different animal ecosystems interesting and easy to understand.

Each embroidery pattern in The Field Guide to Embroidery includes a stitched sample for reference, the common and latin name for the plant/animal, a key with stitches and thread colors, the size of the plant/animal in the wild, the pattern, and the stitch guide. I was tickled to see that the size reference was always an embroidery hoop.

Throughout The Field Guide to Embroidery, you'll travel across North America, learning about plants and animals native to those ecosystems. It's a delightful journey and covers a wide range (52 to be exact!) of designs. This book is packed with beautiful hand embroidery filled with creative and beginner-friendly stitching projects.

Things to Consider About The Field Guide to Embroidery

While I'm not a newbie to hand embroidery by any means, I still enjoy a little hand holding when it comes to new designs, techniques, and themes that aren't in my usual wheelhouse.

The Field Guide to Embroidery does some of that, but I wouldn't have liked a bit more direction throughout the book.

The beginning of the book briefly covers an embroidery prep section and I would have liked to see a bit more direction and step-by-step diagram or photographic support. This section is rather text heavy and if I were a new embroiderer or looking to create these designs on wearable and functional items, as Kemper mentions and shows throughout the book, I think I would have to really hunt for the valuable tips shared, such as instead of knotting the thread, leave the tail loose and weave it into the stitches on the back to keep it easier to stitch sections and avoid bumps.

I appreciate that this book makes embroidery beginner-friendly. All 52 embroidery projects in the book can be created using the five stitch diagrams.

All of the patterns in the book are two pages. The photographic and illustrative diagrams along with keys are helpful in figuring out how to create the plant or animal shown, however, in some cases, I would have liked a little more direction. Where to start/ any helpful tips and tricks for that specific design, would have been welcome, especially since many of the patterns have small details and some that overlap.

Where You Can Order The Field Guide to Embroidery

The Field Guide to Embroidery can be found at most major book stores and on Amazon (affiliate link). If your bookstore doesn't have The Field Guide to Embroidery in stock, you can have them order it for you or you can request a copy at your local library.