Ever since I started residency back in July, I've been craving some sort of creative outlet. Days are busy and long and require a lot of brain power, so in the evenings I've been finding it hard to sit down and read a book. I have been wanting some sort of monotonous task that I can still feel productive while just sitting on the sofa relaxing and catching up on my favorite shows. Enter: needlepoint and hand embroidery.
I'm going to save "Needlepointing for Beginners" for another day because truthfully, there's so much I'm still learning and because it's a way more complicated process than I've found hand embroidery to be. One of the main differences between the two is that you hand embroider on a piece of fabric (like a napkin) and with needlepoint you stitch on mesh that you then have to turn into something else (frame it, make it into an ornament or pillow, etc.). This makes hand embroidery SUPER quick and easy to finish projects in less than a day - a big win in my book!
Hand embroidery only takes a few supplies to get you started, and I was able to purchase all of them in one quick trip to Hobby Lobby with the exception of the napkins that I ordered on Amazon.
Supplies to get started:
Embroidery Needles: I picked up a pack of needles in various sizes for $1.99 from Hobby Lobby but these ones from Amazon look great too!
Embroidery Thread: DMC Embroidery thread is easy to find and Michael's and Hobby Lobby carry it in a ton of colors. You want to make sure you get embroidery thread and not woven thread (what you use for needlepoint) because you'll want to separate the 6 strands into smaller groups for some stitches.
Embroidery Pen: I grabbed mine from the sewing department in Hobby Lobby but I've read great reviews about these ones on Amazon!
Embroidery Hoop: These come in various sizes but since I knew I was going to be stitching cocktail napkins primarily, I grabbed a 4" one from Hobby Lobby. I got a plastic one but the wooden ones work great too!
Something to stitch on: My friend and I wanted to start embroidering together, so we split a pack of 50 cocktail napkins on Amazon, but I quickly ordered an additional 12 pack since I've been stitching like a crazy person! You can literally stitch on anything you want - a shirt or sweatshirt you already have, napkins, a dog bandana...truly there are endless opportunities for stitching! Here are the cocktail napkins I've ordered- Pack of 12 and Pack of 50.
Once you've collected your supplies, now it's time to get started! You'll want to decide on what you want to stitch and either free hand it with the water erasable embroidery marker, or if you're an OCD perfectionist like me, print out your design and trace it onto whatever you're stitching with the marker. To make my heart and daisy napkins, I arranged the hearts/daisies in PowerPoint and then printed it so the spacing would be right when I traced them.
After you've traced your design onto the napkin, place your hoop around the design and get stitching! The easiest way to learn new stitches is to search YouTube for some stitching videos. I've basically stuck to satin stitch, backstitch, and split stitch since these are great for beginners! When I do satin stitch and backstitch, I typically separate my threads from 6 down to 3 so it lays flatter (I used this satin stitch for the hearts and daisies and backstitched around them to define them). With split stitch, I like stitching with 6 threads so it looks a little more bulky and defined (this is the stitch I used for the Clemson and Cheers napkins).
Once you've finished stitching, take a wet paper towel and wipe off the embroidery marker. It comes right off super easily and then let your project dry. Once it's try you can iron it and I've found the best method for this to be laying a fluffy towel on the ironing board followed by your project face down and then a thin towel on top! Set your iron to whatever setting is appropriate for the material (I used the cotton setting for my napkins) and press with the iron for a second and don't rub the iron around or it will flatten your stitches.
I hope you find this little guide helpful and please send me pictures your projects if you decide to start this new hobby! Happy stitching!
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