Everything You Need to Know About Starting Your First Embroidery Project

Hello and Welcome!

Hi there! Welcome to my first every blog post, where you I break down everything you need to know about starting your first embroidery project.. I hope that you find this little article helpful and informative, and that you are inspired to jump into the lovely and exciting world of hand embroidery art.

What Brought You Here?

Do you keep finding the most precious, sweet, endearing embroidery pieces on social media? Do you keep saving them so that you’ll be able to eventually get started on your own project? Are finally ready to take the leap? If so, I’m honoured that you came here first.

I am certainly by no means an expert, but there are a few things I’ve learned that I think will help you as you start out. That being said, feel free to bulk up your embroidery journey by consulting other embroidery masters. I promise I won’t be offended!

Let’s Get Started

The great thing about embroidery is that you need very little to get started, and it’s also easy to obtain what you do need.

When I started out, I was living in a small town with no specialty stores (I live in a different town now, but same situation). As long as your town has some sort of craft store (quilting store, knitting store, gift store), it probably sells the thread, hoops, and needles you need to get started. 

There are only a few things you need to get started on embroidery.

The First Thing – Embroidery Floss

There are two main brands – DMC and Anchor. When I first started out in that one town, they had DMC embroidery floss and so I always bought that. Almost every pattern I’ve ever come across uses DMC thread. If you can get DMC, get DMC. I have found that out of the two brands, DMC is the most colour fast, meaning that the colors don’t bleed when they get wet or are washed.

That being said, where I live now only sells Anchor, so I buy that instead of DMC and it has been really totally fine. If you only have access to Anchor, don’t sweat it. The only thing is that if you are using a pattern that calls for DMC, you will have to convert the DMC color to the Anchor color. Most of the time, the store you’re at will have a conversion chart, and if they don’t, it’s super easy to find online. I use yarn tree when I’m converting between the two: Anchor to DMC Embroidery Floss Conversion Chart from Yarn Tree

A QuiCK WARNING

You can find embroidery floss at dollar stores, but it’s usually off-brand and low-quality. I would not suggest using this kind, because the thread is not properly slippery like DMC or Anchor. It often gets sort of stuck in the fabric as you’re pulling it through. The thread should slide easily and without resistance through your fabric.

Sites like Temu sell embroidery thread bundles for super cheap. I cannot vouch for Temu, as I have never used it. I would guess that the quality is quite poor. Tread with caution and use your discretion.

The Second Thing – A Hoop

I buy most of my hoops from the thrift store. In fact, I’ve probably bought 95% of all my hoops from various thrift stores throughout the years. For some reason, there is always an abundance. That being said, you do need to be careful when choosing your hoop. You want the inner and outer hoops to be touching completely all the way around.

In this first image above, you can see that both rings fit tightly together and there are no gaps. This is perfect, as the tension between the two tightly fitted rings and the fabric will hold the fabric nice and snug. In the image down below, the screw is the tightest it can go, and there are still gaps between the two rings. This would not be a good hoop to work with, as the two rings would not hold the fabric taught. When your fabric is properly taught within the hoop, it is much easier to work with.

The Third Thing – Embroidery Needles

I must confess that I don’t know all that much about the different sizes and uses of the different needles. Some embroidery professionals will suggest using “chenille 20” or something like that, and I’m sure that’s a great suggestion. In fact, I encourage you to follow all such directions, but I have always just sort of used what I can.

At the store where you buy your floss and hoop, they will probably also sell packages of needles with different size needles. The reason the size matters is because if you have a needle with a large eye size, it will be easier to thread, but it will also poke a bigger hole in your fabric. Depending on the fabric, you may find that causes an issue.

Get a package of embroidery needles like you normally would, and when you have your fabric, just go with whatever works best and doesn’t cause any issues with your fabric.

The Fourth Thing – Fabric

I buy most of my fabric from the thrift store. What’s nice is that you usually only need a small square of fabric, and your local thrift store often has lots of small, cheap squares of fabric.

the type of fabric

I’m usually looking for something in white that’s a natural fiber (cotton, linen, or a blend of the two.). However, if it’s from the thrift store, it’s probably not going to say what it’s made of, so I honestly just go by feel.

You don’t want it to be stretchy. You also don’t want it to be too thin. If it’s too thin, the hoop won’t hold the fabric taught, and the threads on the back of your work will show through the front.

moderately Tightly Woven fabric – good

You also want a fabric that is tightly woven, but not too tightly woven. If the fabric is too loose, it’s hard to do intricate work because there just aren’t enough threads to work in between, and the fabric also frays and makes it hard to work with when you’re finishing the project.

super tightly woven fabric – bad

If the weave is too tight, it’s too hard to work the needle in between the threads. I also like a more rustic look to my fabric, and if the weave is really tight, it looks too modern. Basically, go ahead and buy fabric that you like the look of, and as you’re working with it, you’ll figure out what you prefer and don’t prefer.

a note: working with clothing

I have never embroidered on clothing, which is both very stretchy (ie, t-shirts), or very stiff (ie, jeans). Most of what I do is for artwork, where the finished product will not be worn but displayed. If you come across the most precious pattern for embroidery on a pair of jeans, go ahead and do it. Let me know how it goes and maybe even write me a lil’ tutorial:)

The Fifth Thing – An Erasable Pen

Your best bet is a heat or water-soluble fabric pen. You could technically use a regular pen, but it will not wash out of your fabric. If you don’t completely cover every single line the regular pen leaves behind, it will show through the work. I made this mistake on one of my first projects. It was so sad that after all my hard work, you could see the black line of the pen.

Some people can freehand their projects, but I cannot. If you can do that, all the power to you. Every project I do, even if it’s only 1” tall, I use a fabric pen. Unfortunately, I have found that lots of stores that sell all the other supplies you need, don’t sell a very good fabric pen. It’s either not the right color, or not a fine enough tip.

The one I currently use that I’m quite happy with is the Fine Line Mark-B-Gone from Amazon. If you’d like to buy it, it can be found here: Dritz Mark B Gone Marking Pen for Sewing, Blue : Amazon.ca: Home. It’s water soluble and you will have to wait for your project to dry for a few hours after you’ve washed it out.

One thing about this pen that I wish was different is that the tip would be more fine. I have seen lots of people suggest the Frixion heat erasable pen. I have not tried it myself but I’m sure it’s a good option. If you’re chomping at the bit to get started on a project, go ahead and buy the blunt-tip from your local store. You’ll be alright for your first project. As you get better, you can start adding more gadgets to your toolkit.

The Sixth and Final Thing – A Pattern

There are a few different option you can go with when choosing a pattern.

find a free pattern

There are plenty of free patterns out there that you can find with a simple Google search. You can try this one from this super cool gal over at friendstitchembroidery.com: 1 Cor 16:14 Floral Scripture Embroidery Pattern – Friendstitch Embroidery.

Buy A pattern

You can also buy a pattern off of Etsy. I have bought lots of my patterns from Etsy and have always been very happy with them. However, beware of cheaper patterns that are literally only the pattern of the project. They don’t include a stitch guide, color guide, hoop size, or any other type of instruction. These are usually patterns created using AI. They look lovely and bright but often don’t make all that much sense.

An example would be weird combinations of threads or unconnected pieces on the pattern, like a flower head without a stem. You can usually identify that they are AI by how cheap they are – usually only about $2 – $3. You are of course free to do whatever you’d like, but I wouldn’t suggest buying these patterns.

What’s All This Going to Cost?

One of the best things about embroidery is that it’s an extremely economical hobby. Let’s add up everything we’ve outlined.

1. Thread – about $1.50 per skein. Obtained at your local craft or thrift store. Buy a few essential colors like green, blue, white, purple, pink, or brown. Alternatively, you can just buy exactly the colours you need for the pattern you’ve picked out.
2. Hoop – about $3 – $8 per hoop. Bought your local craft or thrift store. A 6” will probably be your best bet because lots of patterns fit into that size. If you have extra money, get a few other sizes as well. 
3. Needles – about $3 per pack. Obtained at your local craft or thrift store. In a pinch, you can use a regular sewing needle. However, the eye and neck of the needle are usually smaller and a bit harder to work with.
4. Fabric – varies – free to $20. Bought from your own stash of unwanted linens, the thrift store, or a quilt shop.
5. Fabric pen – $5 – $15. Not strictly necessary but does make your job easier. Obtained from your local craft shop or Amazon.
6. Pattern – free to $15. Obtained from a Google search or Etsy. 

In Summary of the Above Point

Embroidery is a lovely, cheap hobby to get into. To get started, you’re only paying about $20. This would include 4 skeins of thread, 1 hoop, needles, fabric, no pen, free pattern. If you wanted to get a bit more high-tech, you could pay more like $90. This would include 10 skeins, 3 hoops, needles, new fabric, fabric pen, pattern. But really you only need $20 to get started. Isn’t that just great?

And the best part is, embroidery is very forgiving, so even though you’re a noob, you’re first project will probably actually look quite good!

Listen, I’m not one of those people who can pick up something and be instantly good at it. If I can produce something like the picture above on my first night of embroidery, you can, too!

After that first project, my next project was embroidering a tea towel for my sister’s birthday. Hey, guess what? She’s actually still using this tea towel! 

A Note About Gifts

Even though embroidery is lovely and looks perhaps like it shouldn’t ever be used, you should encourage the receiver of any gifts to use said gift. It’s no use if it sits on a shelf for the rest of its life!

One Last Thing – Getting Your Pattern Onto Your Fabric

There are lots of different ways to transfer your pattern. Most patterns you buy will have a section that describes their favorite way. Here’s my favorite way:

The First Option

If your fabric is light enough, you can simply lay your fabric on top of your printed pattern and trace it out. You would trace it out once it’s already in the hoop.

Depending on your fabric, you may find that you just can’t see your pattern through your fabric well enough to properly trace the pattern.

The Second Option

1. Grab your phone and turn the flashlight on the highest setting, then put it down with the flashlight facing you.
2. Grab a glass pan and put it on its face so that it’s creating sort of a bucket on top of the phone. Place your printed pattern on top of the pan, and then your fabric (in the hoop) on top of that. Now you have the phone illuminating your pattern, and you’ll be able to trace your pattern much more effectively.

Alright, I think that should be everything you need to know to get yourself started off. If you think there’s anything I missed, go ahead and ask me a question in the comments! Thank you for being here as I outlined everything you need to know about starting your first embroidery project!