Beginner's Guide To Embroidery

When you see beautiful stitching on Insta, Etsy or the high street, don't you think you'd love to be able to do that yourself? The goal is within reach, and with some basic materials, time and the know-how in this magazine, you'll soon be stitching stylish designs and upcycling tired clothes with pretty motifs. Inside Beginner’s Guide to Embroidery you'll find the information, insights and inspiration you need to make a start on your embroidery journey. With tips and tricks from professional designers plus projects suitable for beginners and beyond, you’ll be stitching on everything in no time! WITH DESIGNS BY GEORGIE K. EMERY LANA RED ELISALEX DE CASTRO PEAKE JESSICA ENTWISTLE JO AVERY MINKI KIM AND MANY MORE… MOLLIE JOHANSON Chicago-based Mollie has been designing for Mollie Makes, Simply Sewing and Cross Stitch Crazy for many years. Her workshop series…

Look around and it won’t be long before you spot some embroidery. This elegant stitching is the way clothes, accessories and soft furnishings have been decorated for centuries. Imagine being able to create this look for yourself from scratch – now you can! From traditional framed pictures to gifts, cards and things to wear, you’ll find all the help and inspiration you need right here. We’ll guide you all the way through; choosing materials and threads, practising all the most popular – and useful – stitches and creating projects that you’ll be very proud of. We’re going to teach you 22 stitches, which we’ve divided into chapters of different types, so that you can learn one at a time before developing your skills with the next set. You’ll find outline, filling, border…

CHOOSING YOUR FABRIC The real beauty of embroidery is that you can do it on so many different kinds of fabrics, from delicate silks to heavy denims. So many decorative possibilities! Just make sure you have fairly smooth – not too textured – surfaces and avoid fabrics with any kind of stretch in them. For best results, opt for a natural fabric. Beginners will find that plain, 100% cotton is very friendly to stitch on. Here are the main categories of fabric to know about: PLAIN WEAVE FABRIC Also known as ‘common weave’, these fabrics don’t have a regular weave (that is an equal number of vertical and horizontal or ‘warp and weft’ threads, if you want to sound in the know). Plain weaves are tightly woven, usually with a smooth surface. Most surface…

PREPARING YOUR FABRIC It sounds obvious but make sure your fabric is large enough not only to stitch the design onto it, but also to allow for what you want to make it into. For instance, you probably only need allow an extra 10cm of fabric for a framed design but quite a lot more if you want to turn your embroidery into a cushion. Make sure that you cut the fabric on the straight of the grain, particularly when using evenweave fabrics as the threads are quite prominent. Avoid fraying as you stitch (or the ends will catch in the stitching) by folding masking tape around the edges of the fabric. This is a quick and simple method for small projects that won’t take you long to finish. If you’re attempting a…

Aim to have your thread no longer than 46cm, as greater lengths can become knotted or separate. If you’re using a metallic thread then don’t cut your thread longer than 30cm, as it separates much more easily and then becomes difficult to work with. Some threads have to be separated into the number of strands you wish to use. The best way to do this is to cut a length of thread, then hold it gently between your thumb and forefinger about 5cm from one end. Take one strand and pull it gently. It will separate easily from the other strands. If you have to use more than one strand, you should always separate the strands individually then recombine them. This will make the strands lie flatter together when you…

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