I rounded up 10 hand embroidery books for beginners that I have either used myself or would recommend checking out, based on my knowledge of the author and the reviews!
If you decide you want to forge your own path like I did, you can check out these posts and lists here on my blog:
- Modern embroidery kits
- Basic embroidery stitches
- Best embroidery tools
- Free hand embroidery patterns
- Embroidery sampler patterns (these are designed to let you try a bunch of different stitches)
- The best online embroidery classes for beginners
Pin this list of embroidery books for beginners with this collage image or link!
The best hand embroidery books for beginners
Embroidery: A Step-by-Step Guide to More than 200 Stitches from DK Publishing – with fantastic reviews, this looks like a great reference book for folks learning to hand embroider! Lots of photos and a focus on technique over projects.
Rebecca Ringquist’s Embroidery Workshops: A Bend-the-Rules Primer – the author is well known for her sampler patterns (I share some of them in this post!) and this book gets great reviews! It is a mix of technique and project, including a sampler pattern.
Mollie Makes Embroidery – this is a project focused book with a wide range of styles and project types, it is a fun book with modern ideas! Read my full review and see what I stitched from this book here.
Stitch Love by Mollie Johanson – this is a motif heavy book with lots of designs that are very cute and simple, as well as some simple projects. I love Mollie’s Style; read my full review and see what I stitched from this book here.
Hoop Dreams: Modern Hand Embroidery by Cristin Morgan – with hipster, pretty motifs, this book uses 10 basic stitches and has a wide variety of projects included.
Thread Folk: A Modern Makers Book of Embroidery Projects by Libby Moore & Paige Tate & Co. – I love Thread Folk patterns! This is a project based book with modern designs.
Mini Hoop Embroideries: Over 60 little masterpieces to stitch and wear by Sonia Lyne – Maker of famed tiny hoops, this author is sharing a ton of adorable patterns to stitch in them!
Boho Embroidery: Modern Projects from Traditional Stitches by Nichole Vogelsinger – she is always sharing fun projects on instagram and this book looks like a good time too! Her approach works a lot with existing prints and fabrics, making it a great way for beginners to start.
Stitchcraft: An Embroidery Book of Simple Stitches and Peculiar Patterns by Gayla Partridge – focusing on 9 basic stitches, this book share projects with a darker aesthetic!
How to Embroider Almost Everything: A Sourcebook of 500+ Modern Motifs + Easy Stitch Tutorials by Wendi Gratz- this book has some basic stitch instructions and then loads and loads of fun illustrations! These are very beginner friendly designs; see the cactus I tried below!
30 Day Challenge: Embroidery by Jessica Anderson- the publisher sent me a free copy to check out and I stitched one of the designs! This book has a nice progression of super simple to intermediate patterns, with clear stitch diagrams and explanations. My daughter has a few pages bookmarked for herself!