Everything You Need to Know to Begin Embroidering!

Learning to embroider is fun and easy! This guide will teach you three basic stitches (running, back, and satin), how to knot your thread before and after stitching, and how to make your own designs with heat-erase pens! You can copy my design to start or make your very own with these few foundational skills.

Tools Needed for this Guide:

1. Embroidery Hoop
2. Embroidery Fabric (any color you'd like! I used natural canvas or beige)
3. Embroidery Thread (I will list the exact colors I used in further steps, but again, this is your art!)
4. Embroidery Needle (I like a large eye for ease of threading)
5. Threader
6. Scissors (sharp fabric scissors are best)
7. Heat-Erase or Washable Fabric Pen

If you have worked with embroidery floss before, feel free to skip this step! If not, let's learn some foundations of embroidery!

Embroidery Floss 101 -

Embroidery floss is sold in small amounts, and each strand is actually 6 strands twisted around itself. Different patterns may have you use different quantities of floss for different looks. The more strands you use at a time, the thicker the look with be. *Note: If using all 6 strands at a time, you may need a larger needle eye size to accommodate the thread size.

When separating the floss, I find it helps (especially if your strand is very long) to keep a firm, constant pressure on all three sides (the original end and the two sides you are separating) and slowly but steadily pulling the two sides apart. If you don't hold the original end, it can tend to get twisted and knot itself.

Threading Your Needle -

An inexpensive needle threader is a lifesaver here! Trying to push 6 strands of floss into a small needle eye is going to ruin all your fun, trust me.

Before you begin, and after you have your needle threaded, you will want to make a knot at the end of your floss. One of the coolest things about making is finding a maker community, so throughout this instructables, I will be sharing the makers that helped me along the way!

And remember, there are so many different ways to accomplish a task. If one technique doesn't feel right to you, seek out another. :)

I found this video to be especially helpful for making knots at the beginning and end of your stitches: Beginning and Ending Embroidery Knots by @artbyaubreeren

Another technique that I see very often used is this one: How To: Tie a Knot for Embroidery by @da__mira

Here is a short demonstration video I created: View Here!

For the purpose of being consistent with my instruction image above, these directions are having you start on the left and work towards the right. Once you have learned the technique, you can just as easily use this stitch right to left, up and down, diagonal, or any way you can imagine!

1. Come up from the back of your fabric towards the front on the far left side of your first dash line. Pull your floss through until the knot is against the back of the fabric.
2. Plunge needle down towards the back of the fabric from the front at the far right side of the same dash line. Pull tight and you have made your first embroidery line!
3. Come up from the back on the far left side. Pull tight.
4. Go down towards the back from the front on the far right side. Pull tight.
5. -12. Repeat until you have completed this sampler or wherever your ideas take you.

Finish: Tie a knot on the back of your project and trim extra floss length with scissors.

Here is a short demonstration video I created: View Here!

Same as with Step 3, these directions go from left to right. Once you are comfortable going one way, you can also do this stitch right to left, up/down, etc.

1. Come up through your fabric from the backside to the front on the far left side of the line (back stitch is usually denoted on a pre-made pattern by a solid line. I put dots on the diagram above just to help describe it).
2. Plunge your needle from the front to the back as far along down the straight line as you want your stitch to be. Typically, once you decide on a length, you aim to do similar lengths of stitches, but get creative and see what you like! Pull your string tight.
3. Here is where we start to go "backward". Come up from the back of your fabric to the front on the far right side of where your next stitch will be.
4. Plunge your needle from the front to the back of the fabric in (or very near) the same hole you ended your first stitch. This creates a seamless line.
5. Come up from the back to the front at the far right side of the next stitch.
6. Go down of the far left side, at the same spot your last stitch "ends".
7. -12. Repeat steps 5-6 until you have made all your stitches and filled in your line!

This stitch seems complicated at first glance, and I highly recommend watching the video provided above or some by other makers! Once you see it done and try it out, it becomes easier and is a great stitch for making borders and doing lettering! You got this!!

Here is a short demonstration video I created: View Here!

Same as with Step 3, these directions go from left to right. Once you are comfortable going one way, you can also do this stitch right to left, up/down, etc.

Satin stitches are used to fill in an area with colors! You can do all one color or stop where you want, tie a knot, and keep going in different colors. These steps are for a rectangle, but once you get it down, you can use this stitch to fill in any shape (circle, heart, etc.).

1. Come up from the back of your fabric to the front at the bottom, far left of your shape. Pull your string tight.
2. Go into the fabric from the front to the back at the top left corner, making a straight line across your box.
3. Repeat until you have filled in your shape!

*Tips:

1. I recommend going a little outside of the lines on a pattern to fully cover them. If your pattern has removable lines (like those made with a heat-erasable marker), you don't need to worry, as the lines will disappear with ironing.
2. Sometimes, while you're going, one of your stitches will not be as close as you wanted to the previous one, leaving a gap (see my video for example). You could take your stitch out and redo it, but this often results in frustration and tangles. I'd recommend instead just adding another stitch into the gap, and nobody will ever know!

If this is your first embroidery project, keep it simple! I picked a sunrise (or sunset?) over some water so that I could practice using all three stitches. Before you write on the fabric, place your fabric within an embroidery hoop (mine was 8 inches), and tighten until the fabric is firm and smooth across the top. Now you can write on it!

Words - Use a back stitch for the most clarity. Back stitches are denoted by straight lines.

Running stitches are denoted by dashed lines. For my design, it is the sun rays and the water.

Satin stitches are denoted by an empty shape. For my design, it is the center of the sun.

As for Completing the Project:

I started with the words first, satin stitch next, and ended with the running stitches. For the sun rays, I stayed true to the drawing on my fabric, but as you will notice if you compare my design with my end result, I went nuts with the running stitches in the water! And that's okay, you can change your idea midway! Most importantly, try to have fun with it.

Need more inspiration? This maker, Cutesy Craft, has compiled a variety of beginner ideas here! Or just try googling "Beginner embroidery ideas" or searching Instagram with the hashtag #easyembroidery. Honestly, almost anything you end up drawing will look super cool and impressive once you've embroidered it!

*Fun Family Keepsake Idea: Have your child draw something on the fabric after it's been stretched tight in the embroidery hoop. Now you or they can write their name and the date and pick out colors! You'll have captured their creativity in a really neat way!

If you want the exact color of floss I used, here they are:

Sun from bottom (pinks) to top (yellows)

1. 600
2. 899
3. 445
4. 973
5. 444

Ocean

1. White - B5200
2. Blues - 996, 3846, 826, 959, 3845, 336

Making is messy, and if we can embrace the mistakes, we will discover something truly valuable! Anyone can make. Thank you for sharing your unique art and ideas with the world!