Japanese Book Review: Embroidery Designs

We're in the middle of a little Wednesday series here on Wild Olive...and it's all about Japanese craft books in my collection. Today's book is in English, but it's from a Japanese company. It's also kinda vintage. And awesome. But if you're a fan of embroidery, you can probably tell that from the cover. In fact, I wish I had about 100 books like this, because I'd be in embroidery heaven.Before I show you all of the lovely that's inside, here are the details on this title, which you can still get your hands on. The ISBN is 9780870407383, and right now there are several copies on Amazon, which is where I ordered mine for around $4.And now, on to the embroidery goodness!A variety of styles are represented in this book, ranging from sweet and simple, to sophisticated and artistic, to just plain cute. Some of the designs have an 80s feel, which is when the book came out, but I'd say that 75-80% of the book is pretty timeless.There is a lot of fill stitching used, and there are different techniques and types of stitches used for this. Helpful for a person like me who is never satisfied with the look of her fill stitches. (Yes, it's true...which is why you don't see me filling things very often!)The photos above give you a look at how the designs and patterns are presented. It's really easy to follow these! (One complaint: there are some finished embroideries that didn't have a pattern in the book! Sadness!)There are also some project instructions included. These flowers and ladybug go on the corner of a sweet little burp cloth! You might also recognize those circles...they are where I got the polka dot stitch from! But look below and you'll see their instructions for the stitch, which didn't work for me. No matter...I still found a way to make the stitch happen!Oooh! More fill stitch ideas!This spread is probably my favorite in the book. Applique, embroidery, and cute little animals in their homes!Do you have any favorite vintage embroidery books, Japanese or otherwise?