Book Review: The Hand Stitched Flower Garden (and giveaway!)

I am so excited because today we get to take a look at The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden: 40 Beautiful Floral Designs to Embroider, Plus 20 Great Project Ideas by Yuki Sugashima! We received a free copy of the book from the publisher and will be giving away 1 copy at the end of this post!

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews on Feeling Stitchy.

The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden is a beautiful book of nature inspired embroidery motifs and 20 awesome projects including an egg cozy, a cell phone cover, and jewelry (just to name a few).

The first thing that caught my attention (other than all the gorgeous photos) was that the embroidery designs and projects are organized by season - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter - so you can stitch something all year long!

Here are floral examples from the "Summer" section.

I especially like how the book not only includes surface stitches, but also dimensional stitches, and beading.

Each of the 20 projects includes:

- suggested color palettes with DMC floss #'s
- list of embroidery stitches used
- list of all materials needed
- detailed step-by-step instructions with photos

The book also includes: a stitch directory with photos, 7 pages of actual size templates, and a tools and techniques section.

Since we are currently enjoying Spring here in my neck of the woods, I chose something from the "Spring" projects to stitch - a cute little butterfly pin cushion (as seen in an earlier photo above).

I knew immediately I wanted to stitch the pin cushion because it includes two techniques on my list to learn: the long and short stitch and dimensional stitching (those wired wings on the butterfly).

The project instructions were so easy to follow and guided me step by step from stitching to assembly.

I referenced the stitch directory to learn the long and short stitch for the butterfly and the "Techniques" section of the book showed me how to stitch the wired wings.

I love how my butterfly turned out and am already trying to decide what to complete next from the book!


The Hand Stitched Flower Garden is for any stitcher who loves floral inspired embroidery. There are designs and projects for all levels of experience - with motifs that can be stitched with a few easy stitches for the beginner to dimensional stitching for someone who wants to take their stitching to the next level!


Check out Yuki's blog for more of her beautiful stitching: https://yhandmade.wordpress.com


Giveaway time!!

To win a free copy of  The Hand-Stitched Flower Garden - please leave a comment on this post by 9 PM US CST,  May 13, 2016 and please tell us: What season (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter) is your favorite time to stitch and why?

** This giveaway is open to US and Canada only! **