The roots of embroidery were sowed during ancient times, with each culture stitching textile art into its history in a unique way. It’s easy to say that it has been around forever, from mending clothes to creative endeavors; hand embroidery is famous among artists that readily incorporate it into their masterpieces or use the embroidery hoop as a frame to guide for fabric art.
The good news is that stitching is a readily accessible craft to start, as embroidery skills have been passed from generation to generation and require inexpensive supplies. Here’s all that you need:
Stitching Supplies
1. Fabric
The possibilities are near endless when it comes to fabric. Still, we recommend pure cotton for starters who wish to begin sewing as it’s relatively easier to handle. However, ensure that the material doesn’t stretch, or the weave isn’t extremely loose as it may come off as problematic.
2. Needles
Needles come in different sizes, but the selection depends on the type of fabric you’re making use of, as some needles work better than the rest. Embroidery needles generally have bigger ‘eyes’ to accommodate the size of the floss.
3. Embroidery hoops
Likewise, hoops come in various sizes, ranging from a few inches to a foot long in diameter. This consists of two-piece made of either wood or plastic that help keep the fabric taut.
4. Scissors
No, not the ones you have lying around! You’ll end up cutting a lot more than intended. Embroidery scissors are palm-sized and are used to trim thread.
5. Thread or Floss
You’ll find all the colors in the world when you look out for thread. Best of all, skeins are cheap! A string of floss is usually multi-stranded, usually in sixes. For more detailed work, you can even choose to divide the floss. A thread organizer also comes in handy to store embellishments, threads, and other supplies that you’ll likely purchase when you begin embroidery.
Now that you’ve all the supplies in store for hand embroidery, you’ll need to learn some basic stitches.
Stitching Methods
1. Running Stitch
Recommended for marking dashed outlines, the running stitch is the simplest embroidery stitch that adds details to your embroidery. The method involves pushing the needle through the fabric and then poking it through the front at a relatively short distance to create a stitch.
2. Backstitch
Start by pulling the thread through the fabric to do a forward stitch. On the underside, space the needle to the length of the desired stitch and move the needle and thread through and back down again towards the end of the stitch to create a solid line.
You’ll need to learn tons of other stitching methods, such as the split stitch, stem stitch, French knot, satin stitch, lazy daisy, chain stitch, feature stitch, and seed stitch. So, pick up a book or search for tutorials online.
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