Embroidery is having a bit of a moment. If you’re on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed it too. Maybe I’m a little biased, but it’s easy to see why! Embroidery is not only enjoyable, but it can be used to decorate your home, or spruce up a piece of clothing. Best of all, it doesn’t cost much to get supplies.
Like most crafts, it can be confusing to know what supplies you actually need. So today, I’m sharing this guide to help you make sense of it all. Here’s everything you need to start embroidery today!
What Do You Need to Start Embroidery?
What fabric can I use?
Most fabrics will work, but some fabrics are easier to work with than others. As a beginner, you could practice on some scrap fabric, or on an old piece of clothing. For now, avoid fabrics with stretch, that’s knit, or can easily snag. Right now, you’ll want to stick to plain, woven type fabrics.
If you want to purchase fabric, there are several options. Linen and linen-cotton blends are a popular choice for hand embroidery because its weave makes it easy to work with. Quilting cottons and muslins are also popular for its wide range of colors and lower cost. Overall, if you stick to light or medium weight cottons or linens, you’ll be good to go!
What kind of thread can I use?
Again, you have a few options to choose from. Embroidery floss is very popular, and it’s my personal favorite too. Embroidery floss is made up of 6 divisible strands. You can choose your width based on the number of strands you use. Embroidery floss is available in many colors. For example, DMC branded flosses come in over 500 colors!
Another popular choice is Perle cotton. Perle (or pearl) cotton is a non-divisible thread, but it’s available in different widths. While there are fewer colors of Perle cotton, there are still hundreds of colors to choose from. Both options are available at most craft stores, so it’s easy to try each one.
What about hoops?
Embroidery hoops come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and materials, but the most common are the round wood ones. These are easy to find in craft stores and come in a variety of sizes. Their round shape makes it easy to stretch your fabric evenly. Since most embroidery patterns are made for round hoops between 5″ and 8″, this would be a good place to start. All of the patterns in my Etsy shop are for 6″ hoops.
Plastic round hoops (ex: Susan Bates Hoop-la hoops) are also popular for its non slip lip on the inner hoop. They work really well in keeping your fabric taut, but they may not be the best choice for delicate and lightweight fabrics. Other options include Q-snaps, flexi hoops, spring-tension, and scroll frames.
What kind of scissors do I need?
When you are first starting out, any sharp scissors will do. Once you’re ready to invest in a pair of embroidery scissors, an inexpensive pair of thread snips or small embroidery scissors will do the trick. Both options will let you make close snips to trim up threads. Etsy has a bunch of cute, affordable options!
If you’re looking to cut fabric, your everyday scissors won’t do. Scissors that have been used to cut paper or plastic packaging will be too dull to cut through fabric. Again, there’s no need to buy anything fancy when you’re just starting out. Just make sure that your fabric scissors are only used on fabric, and they should stay sharp for a while!
What about needles?
For embroidery, you will want a needle that’s sharp and has the right sized eye. A dull needle can snag your fabric, and a needle with a too small of an eye won’t thread easily. There are embroidery needles you can purchase, and this is the set that I use. Most sets of embroidery needles have a few sizes to choose from. Another type of needle people like to use are milliner’s needles, because they have a narrow eye that makes it easier to do French knots.
What else do I need?
If you have everything that’s listed above, you have all the basic supplies you need for your first embroidery project. The items listed below, while not required by any means, will definitely help you out!
Disappearing Ink Pen/ Chalk Pencil
Whatever option you choose to use, you want to make sure that it can completely disappear when you’re completed with your project. A chalk pencil or chalk pen is great to use on darker color fabrics. Another option is a disappearing ink pen. I like this combo disappearing ink pen. I use the purple air erasable side for quick projects or the blue washable side for bigger projects.
Bobbins and Storage Case
Prevent your embroidery flosses from getting tangled up by winding your floss onto bobbins. The most common ones are these inexpensive plastic ones. They’re also available in cardboard, or you can purchase some unique wooden ones on Etsy.
Once you have all of your flosses wound up onto your bobbins, you can store your flosses in to a divided case like this. These are really handy to keep your colors organized, plus it makes it easy to take your projects on the go!
Thimble
Save your fingers from needle pricks, and get yourself a thimble! There’s a huge variety in thimble styles from basic plastic, to leather ones, to palm or ring style thimbles. Pick the one that’s the most comfortable for you.
Pinking Shears
You can reduce fraying while you work with pinking shears. These work well on linens and other fabrics that are prone to fraying.
Looking for more embroidery supplies? Check out my Ultimate Gift Guide for the Embroidery Lover, for more embroidery goodies!
