{photos by me}

A friend of mine expressed interest in embroidery. If you know me, you know I will gladly tell you everything I know about a subject, whether you want me to or not. This time I did remember to pause and ask if she wanted me to impart my knowledge or let her discover the craft on her own. She asked for it so I emailed her my “What I Know and What I Wished I’d Known…”. I figured I’d share my email to her here, in the off chance someone else is discovering embroidery. It’s a lovely craft and I absolutely love it. Especially when I have time to sit and do it for a while.

Materials Books and pocket guides – I use this pocket guide more than anything. It is the best pocket guide I’ve found. I have several embroidery books and have flipped through a few at the library. Honestly, this is the best book I’ve found.

Hoops – Tension hoops are the best! They get a really good grip on the fabric and you don’t have to fuss with it. I recommend using a 7”. Anything bigger is hard to have a good grip on, too small is too small. I have a couple of these I use for projects and then the cheap wood ones for displaying when I’m done.

Floss – Do not, under any circumstances, buy one of those bags of floss. If you have good floss, you can’t go wrong. Those bags do not contain good floss. The floss in those kits looks very dull and cotton-y. DMC floss is very sleek and pretty. And when you’re pulling it through the fabric, it’s important to have good floss because it will start to separate and get fluffy looking. This is the one time when fluffy = bad. Buy your basic color wheel of thread and go forth. Sometimes Michael’s and Joann’s has them on sale. Sometimes people on eBay have lots of them. DMS is my favorite. There’s another popular kind that I can’t remember the name of, but I’ve never seen or used it so… go DMC!

In the store, you will see little white cards to wrap your floss around. Buy a pack. Those little things make not having a big pile of floss easy breezy. And they can be ring clipped together so they don’t run away.

Oh and floss is six strands of thread. Feel free to experiment with separating the threads. Sometimes you need the full six, sometimes two is better.

Needles – Any pack of embroidery needles will work. I find I like the longer ones, but to each their own. One thing to keep in mind is that most of the time you’ll be threading a full piece of floss through. That’s six strands of thread. Make sure your eyes are big enough.

Thimble – I hardly ever use mine for embroidery. Sometimes I use it, but honestly it just gets in the way.

Transfer paper – I have some. I’ve used it once when working with black fabric. Chalk would’ve been easier to work with. Not really into it.

Disappearing ink – Can’t live without this stuff. I have a pen that has a purple side and a blue side. Purple disappears in about 24 hours (depending on the moisture in the air), blue side disappears when water touches it. Aside from floss and needle, this is the most invaluable embroidery tool.

Fabric – Use whatever. There are no limits.

Scissors – When I started I didn’t think scissors was a big deal, I’d just use the everyday house scissors. Nope. Wrong. Those little embroidery scissors? Use them. I got a pair of awesome ones at my favorite fabric shop for like five bucks and I love them. They are pointy and sharp. I can’t imagine ever using house scissors again. And don’t use them for other things. Just like your fabric only scissors, these are embroidery only scissors.

Tips

* Don’t leave your fabric in your hoop after you’re done stitching for the day. If you leave it in, the fabric will never bounce back to its original form, no matter what you do. The point of the hoop is to open the fabric’s weave so you can easily embroider. You want your fabric to keep its tightness so when you’re done, it looks clean and smooth. Now if you’re going to keep the embroidery in a hoop for display then it’s ok, because it will always be stretched so it’ll always be smooth.

* Don’t use a water bottle to spray your work when done so as to wash away the disappearing ink. You will get water marks. Which are never good. Use a moist q-tip to get the marks you can see. Don’t worry about the ones you can’t, because you can’t see them so they don’t exist.

* If you’re moving from one part of your design to another keep this in mind – unless it’s only a couple of what would be stitches, then tie off and restart at the new spot.

* Some people run their floss through a wax before starting. Don’t bother. Just keep your strands to 18” or less. By the time the thread get tired, you’ll be tying off.

* Occasionally your floss will start to twist around itself. Let go of the needle, hold on to the hoop and let gravity do its job. If you just let the floss hang every once in a while it will untwist itself and you’re good to go.

* If you need ideas or tips or whatever, I’ve put together a very basic source for stuff on Pinterest. Feel free to click around and be inspired by the loveliness bloggers have stitched, photographed and blogged.

* If you don’t already know it, learn the quilter’s knot. I use one wrap around for embroidery. Maybe two if it’s going to be worn and washed. That knot will change your life. http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/photos/my_favorite_knot/index.html

* I keep a scrap of fabric in my embroidery box. I use it for testing out stitches and colors. It’s super helpful.

Just remember you can always undo what you done, there are no mistakes, just sections you get to re-embroider and that means more practice!