Step 1: What You'll Need to Start Embroidering

To start embroidering, you'll need the following items:

Embroidery hoops come in many flavors, though the basic circular wood and plastic ones are the most common. You can find them at most craft stores. :)

Cut a square of fabric slightly larger than your hoop.

To start, loosen the screw at the top of the hoop. You'll then separate the hoops. Place the outer hoop to the side - we'll worry about it in a second!

(If you're using a plastic hoop, the inside hoop will have a lip. This lip can come over the top of the hoop OR hang below the bottom. Your choice! See the last photo for how I assemble my plastic hoops.)

Lay the piece of fabric over the plain inside hoop.

After you have the fabric over the inside hoop, push the top hoop down over the inside one. This will sandwich the fabric between them. Now you'll want to tighten the screw a bit and begin pulling the fabric taut. The fabric floating between the hoops should not give very much - this will make the embroidering much more complicated than it should be.

After the fabric is taut, keep tightening the screw until it feels secure to you. But not so tightly you can't budge it! You'll regret that once you've embroidered for a couple hours and your sore fingers can't open the hoop. ;)

Step 9: How to Do the Satin Stitch

Satin stitch is great for adding big splashes of color to your embroideries - filling in letters and shapes and all kinds of things!

To practice satin stitch, first draw a simple shape on your fabric. Then use a backstitch to outline it. Then you'll simply go back and forth across the shape (I always like to start in the middle, but it's personal preference.) until it's filled in.

Try it again using the other two methods!

The two most important things about satin stitch are:

• getting as close as possible to the outlines so that your satin stitch looks nice and full - you can always go back and fill in those bald spots with seed and straight stitches, but it's easier to get it right the first time!
• don't continue your satin stitch on the back of your work. It'll waste your embroidery thread and make your work bulky! To avoid this, bring you thread to the front for the first time right next to the outline on the left. Then, bring it across, and down next to the right outline. Instead of crossing over to the left side of the outline on the back of the fabric, just bring the needle right back up next to where you just pushed it through. That way you're saving thread and time. :)

Embroidery 101: How to Embroider

By jessyratfink CLAMP Podcast Follow

More by the author:

About: Hi! I'm a slightly feral mountain hermit that likes to be helpful. I do community management at Instructables & Tinkercad. 🙌 Want to hear me chat about making? Search "CLAMP Podcast" on YouTube. 🤗 More About jessyratfink »

This instructable will teach you the very basics of hand embroidery. Learning to embroider is not as tough as you might think! With a bit of practice, you'll get it down in no time. Plus, embroidery is a nice relaxing thing to do after a long day if you're a lover of crafting while watching TV or listening to podcasts - most of my nights are spent embroidering! :D

In this instructable, I'll cover running stitch, back stitch, split stitch, satin stitch, stem stitch, french knots and seed and fill stitches. These stitches are the backbone of embroidery - there are loads more advanced stitches out there, too. Once you've mastered the embroidery stitches in this instructable, I really recommend googling or going to the library to learn more stitches. They're addictive.

Here are some other embroidery tutorials to get you started. Head to the last step for even more!

• how to transfer embroideries to fabric
• embroidery hoop picture frames
• Legend of Zelda embroideries + pattern
• turn embroideries into wall hangings

Make Cards

Oh, I know what you’re thinking – sew on cardstock? Yes! That’s exactly what you do! Use a good, quality cardstock, watercolor paper or another heavy paper, and plan on testing it to be sure you like the results. Use plain paper without any added or embedded elements that would be hard for your machine. The next is to use a smaller, sharp needle to avoid large holes and a cut-away stabilizer. Don’t hoop that paper, lay it on top and use a temporary adhesive spray or tape that won’t tear the paper like a painter’s tape.

Stick to designs with lower stitch counts. If you’re using GO! free, downloadable designs, I would suggest using the blanket stitch. You can still use fabric with fusible on the back for applique even! Once you are done, you can cover the back of the card with scrapbook paper to cover the stitches and let it all just be pretty!