Start Stitching: Five Tips
One. Find the right needle and fabric.
Any needle sharp enough, with a big enough eye for your thread, will do. Avoid “tapestry” needles; they’re more blunt than you want for embroidery. For fabric, high-quality felt and mid-weight denim are ideal options. Anything too thick, like a lined jacket, will be hard to force your needle through. Anything very light, like silk, is easier to stitch but also requires a careful hand to ensure the fabric doesn’t pull or bunch.
(This image is to show the knotted threads on the back of a piece; I don’t recommend ironing with a ski waxing iron like this green guy… but if it’s what you have, it works fine.)
Two. Get good at knotting your thread.
Begin embroidering by tying a knot in your thread, then starting from the back of your textile, just move the needle from the back to the front to create basic stitches. Where I’ve noticed people pause most is in the tying-off once they’re done stitching with that length of floss. There are a few methods; type “tying off embroidery thread” into Google and find one that works for you! You’ll know it works if, with practice, you can maintain the right tension: you’re not pulling the thread so tight that the fabric bunches when you knot it, but not so loose that there’s excess thread in your stitches.
Three. Don’t feel like you need to plan too much; every mistake is undo-able.
One of the best things about embroidery is that you can stitch over or pull out stitches you decide you don’t like. In the above example, you can see I first stitched the mountain as smaller than I wanted it, and just modified by keeping and ignoring the “mistake” stitches. No decision is binding.
Four. Do it for the process.
Embroidery is SLOW. Know that before you begin, and embrace it. How can you find your flow state and enjoy the process of stitching? Do your best to detach from the final outcome and enjoy making shapes in fabric. Put on a podcast, audio book, or a good chill playlist to stay focused and patient.
Five. Find your own style.
This goes for all art, but: the more varied your inspirations, the more original your art will be. Think outside of the box for how you can bring YOU into your embroidery work. As you’re starting, following a pattern purchased from an embroidery artist who offers kits is great. As you grow, you’ll be able to create your own visual language for this by choosing stitch styles, subject matter, color palettes, and embellishments that reflect your truly personal vision.
I would love to hear if these tips are useful, and I’d love to see what you create. You can tag me on Instagram, send me an email, or tell me in the comments. I’d also like to create more specific education resources, so let me know what you want to know. Happy stitching!
You can see more of my past stitching work here.