Introduction to Tambour Hand Embroidery: A Step-by-Step Guide Have you ever seen an intricate design elegantly embroidered onto fabric and wondered how it was done? The art of hand embroider…

Let your hand embroidery speak for you! Learn how to stitch letters in four decorative ways.

If you’re just joining us here on Needle ‘n Thread, we’ve been exploring five different ways to interpret wheat in hand embroidery. Last Friday, we looked at how to embroider wheat in two quick and simple ways, using daisy stitch and granitos on two different stalks. Before that, in Part 1, I posted the free ...

If you want to do hand embroidery, you really need to know how to backstitch. The backstitch is probably THE most common outline stitch. It gives a nice, smooth, continuous line. If you're going to be stitching tight curves make sure to use a shortish stitch length. Otherwise, just use a stitch length you're comfortable with and

Beautiful Sunflower Embroidery Tutorial Free Ideas – Here is a beautiful Sunflower embroidery tutorial that will certainly brighten up your days. With a few basic supplies and a little time, ... Read more

This blackwork embroidery tutorial will teach you the basic blackwork stitches.

For you an Instant Download able PDF file of this Vintage Hand Embroidery Design My Designs are all out of print and hard to find. Each pattern is in public Domain. Design 7474 Horses for Pictures or other Vintage Style Linens. Vanity scarves are my favorite. This pattern contains 10 different horses, each horse is 5 x 5 inches. Also included are copies of my original embroidery instructions and color guide. Also Included are instructions on how to apply your designs to fabric for hand embroidery and directions for old fashioned color crayon tinting. This pattern was first printed 4/12/1963 and passed into public domain 4/13/1991. FYI Blondie's Spot is now on Face Book, there you be notified of new items. I like to share my projects and yours if you like. Also please take a look at Blessed Hats for Cancer, my daughter and I created this group in which we gather hats or materials. I then deliver the hats to local oncology sites and hospitals to Cancer patients. Psalm 121:3

Sometimes we are stumped with what embroidery design we want to use. Perhaps we are bored with our normal go to pattern, or maybe we just can’t find the perfect fit for a project. This amazi…

The Ultimate Daisy Flower Hand Embroidery Tutorial Ideas – Daisy flowers have always been a symbol of innocence and simplicity. Their delicate petals and vibrant centers make them a popular ... Read more

Learn how to do Chain stitch in 4 simple steps!

Amazing selection of free printables letters and monograms for your hand embroidery projects. Suitable for all kinds of DIY projects.

String Art Embroidery on Paper Hand Embroidery is possible on anything that you can get your needle to go through. One good medium is paper. Here is a quick tutorial on how to stitch over the paper using hand embroidery stitches and a combination...

Birds & snacks ❤️🦆   ☺ 50% cotton & 50% polyester blend, with a cosy, fleece lining inside. ✐ Dreamed up, hand drawn, designed & embroidered in the UK. ✿ Hand wash if possible. Or machine wash, inside out, at 30°c. ♥ Everything is uni-sex sizing, yay! Please take a look at our size guide for more details (it's just next to the product title).   ☻ Sade is a UK size 8 & wears a size L navy sweatshirt ☻ Luena is a UK size 14 & wears a size XL pastel green sweatshirt ☻ Amelia is a UK size 12 & wears a size L grey sweatshirt

So you want to embroidery a t-shirt or spruce up that old jean jacket? Before you get stitching, check out these 7 helpful tips for hand embroidering on any garment.

Here’s a visual guide to some of the most common hand-embroidery stitches found in quilts and other sewing projects. 35 Basic Hand Embroidery Stitches

Looking for free embroidery patterns? We've found some blogs and websites that offer free hand embroidery patterns for whatever mood strikes.

Here are 9 of my go-to hand embroidery stitches for filling in spaces, step-by-step instructions, and examples.

This topic is something I've wanted to cover for a while now. It is especially beneficial for beginner embroiderers who are currently exploring long and short stitching and needlepainting. So, today's topic is actually not just “using long and short stitch as a filler”. I mean, we all know that it can be used as one, right? And we all know the main “how's” of using it as a filler: outline the shape and fill with long and short stitches. In fact, the main point that I wanted to speak about today is using long and short stitching to fill a curvy/wavy shape. Or, in other words, a shape where the direction of your stitches has to change slightly. This wording, however, is a bit too heavy for a headline and I just don't know how to phrase it better, haha. Anyway. Why is this topic important? The main problem here is that long and short stitching consists of straight stitches. And one of the characteristics of stitches is that you can't really bend or curl them. Most of the time, it is a straight line between point A and point B that we use in a lot of various ways. It is not a brush stroke that you can lay in any curvy or wavy way you want. So how can you use these straight stitches to not only fill a shape but keep the “flow” of that shape? Actually, the main trick here is the same as with stem stitch. If you go to the Stem StitchCrash Course and take a look at the last point, you will see there what I said about using it for curves. Stem stitch is a straight line, so that's why the secret is the same. Make your stitches shorter! You can start with guiding stitches, as usual, keeping their direction aligned with the shape's outline. After filling the empty space between the stitches, you can start with the second row of stitches. Now, if I'm completely honest, I lose the sense of which stitch is short and which one is long, quite soon after that. So I just vary the length of my stitches and vary the place where they come out from the previous row. If one stitch started lower, I start the other stitch higher, and so on. This is the longest that I allow myself to make the stitches in such cases. The shape didn't reach the main curve yet and is still pretty straight, so I can slack off a little bit and make the stitches longer. Also, don't forget to keep your stitching dense. Currently, there are definitely more stitches here than there were at the beginning point. As you reach the curve, make your stitches shorter. Look carefully at my stitches here and imagine that they are continued longer and longer. If you do that, you will realize that they actually would bump into the outline. That's why we make them shorter. The other rows of stitches will soften the “straightness” and will create an illusion of bending stitches. We are on a finishing line here. The shape is narrowing down and the number of stitches we use to fill it at this part is decreasing, but we still need to maintain the same density. And so, this is the final result. By the way, this is a new design I'm currently working on! It is going to feature a lot of long and short stitch and color blending so it is going to be a GREAT practice for you! :) Hope this post was helpful! Check out the other Needlepainting tips to master it better :)

Beautiful Sunflower Embroidery Tutorial Free Ideas – Here is a beautiful Sunflower embroidery tutorial that will certainly brighten up your days. With a few basic supplies and a little time, ... Read more

21 Websites with cute and free hand embroidery patterns. More than 21 free embroidery patterns to download and make today! Easy, beginner friendly hand embroidery designs to learn new stitches and make beautiful hoop art. DIY embroidery pattern freebies for beginners. Floral hand embroidery designs for hoops and decor. 21 Beautiful embroidery patterns to download for free.

Also known as: Hungarian Braided Chain Stitch The braided chain stitch is worked almost the same way as the heavy chain stitch. There is only…

This early book is packed full of over 100 embroidery patterns, it was first published in the 1730, this classic book shows just embroidery patteerns no words.  If you are looking for design inspiration, then the Embroidery Patterns From the 18th Century is definitely worth a look. This book contains  49 pages and is delivered instantly in PDF format.  For you to enjoy.

Hand embroidery is a very delicate art form, and by taking into account the details that can go into one piece, the possibility of creating an exact duplicate is nearly impossible. Tod…

If you're a beginner at stitching, you might get confused why some artists use less number of strands, and the others more. What is the big deal? What is the difference at all? Can I work a pattern designed for using 6 strands, with 1 strand? And can I work a pattern design for 1-2 strands of thread, using 6 strands? Let's take it one step at a time :) Related posts: 10 tips for hand embroidery beginners Top 10 beginner mistakes in hand embroidery How many strands should I use? There is no correct answer for that because it depends purely on your taste. Take a look at the little chart below. Here I stitched short lines in stem stitch using from 1 to 6 strands of thread. As you can see, the difference between the first line and the last line is quite striking. In short, the more strands you use, the bolder and more raised and dimensional your stitching is. You also will need less time to work an element. And the lesser the number of strands, the more delicate and “flat” your stitching is. However, you will need more time to work the same element. It is also important to mention, that the thread consumption will be lower if you use a lesser number of strands. If you stitch with 6 strands all the time, be prepared that your skeins of thread will finish quickly. Speaking of time, stitching the same element with 1 strand of thread will take more time than with 6 strands. That's why, if you want to make some cash by selling your needlework, adjust your resources and time wisely. Stitching a larger scale artwork with 1 strand will take quite a lot of time and effort and you will need to charge quite a lot for it. If you want to charge moderately, it would be reasonable to increase the number of threads – it will speed up the process but it will increase expenses. Or you can stitch smaller works with 1 strand of thread – either simple, minimalistic designs, or something of a brooch scale. Yeah, it is tough maths! However, I hope that you choose what you ENJOY first! That is our priority, since making art that you are not enjoying is very sad :( Now, as for embroidery patterns, most of them are designed with a specific number of strands in mind. If you use a bigger/lesser number of strands, you will definitely get a different result than intended. Will it be better/worse - no idea. In the best-case scenario, it will be just as pretty but either bolder or more delicate. Sometimes switching up number of strands is not even possible. Because, let's say, a pattern designed for 1-2 strands may have tiny elements that will be very inconvenient to work with a bigger number of strands. In the end, it all boils down to your preference!

Looking for beautiful embroidery wreath designs for diy vintage inspired crafts. These beautiful patterns feature flowers and are perfect for beginners.

Here are the best types of embroidery fabrics and some things to keep in mind when choosing materials to embroider on.

Also known as: bullion stitch, caterpillar stitch, coil stitch, knot stitch, post stitch, worm stitch, Puerto Rico rose, grub knot This is an interesting stitch used to make simple motifs. I would say that this is an ‘elongated’ knot which can be...

Here are 7 essential hand embroidery knots you should know.

Step by step guide on how to embroider a hat by hand plus get some free embroidery designs you can download and use for your own hat!

Hand embroidery is a very delicate art form, and by taking into account the details that can go into one piece, the possibility of creating an exact duplicate is nearly impossible. Tod…

November is coming to an end, so it's time for a lil freebie to make this month a bit more exciting ^^. This time it's the Grace embroidery design that you might already be familiar with from my previous posts. I'm excited to share not only the pattern and stitches I used but also a bit of guidance and tips. Hopefully, it will make the stitching process easier for you! This design features 3 key elements: Rope-looking lines and outlines for the leaves Filling of the leaves Lettering Lines All of the lines are worked in stem stitch. You can see some additional tips on stem stitch in the following posts: Changing direction of stem stitch and the 6 faces of stem stitch. Long story short, as you are stem stitching, keep bringing your needle up to the left of your stitches. This will help you achieve the “rope” appearance of your stem stitch. Given that the direction of lines keeps changing throughout the whole pattern, be careful to not mix up the sides of where the needle should come up. If you are confused, rotate the hoop or embroidery frame so that the line faces upwards and make sure the needle comes up to the left of the line. When I stitched I worked the outline in portions. Let's say I completed 25% of outline first, then filled in some of the leaves, then worked the next 25% of outline and so forth. It helped me to keep a steady path. But, of course, it might be more convenient for you to work it in another way. Maybe you'd like to complete all of the outlines first and only then fill in the leaves. It's completely fine! Decide for yourself the order of working this embroidery pattern and work it in the way that makes you comfortable! I used two strands of floss for the box around the word GRACE, and one strand of floss for the rest of the lines. It made the plant motif look finer and helped the box to stand out. Leaves All of the leaves are filled with the fishbone stitch after the outline is already complete. The leaves are not always conveniently “straight” and with even edges. Their form changes here and there and sometimes they are not complete or cross with other leaves. So, yes, although the fishbone stitch itself is quite easy to pick up on, this design might still present a challenge. As a result, it will be an excellent practice of fishbone stitch for you ;) The order of working the leaves can be whatever you want. Just like with outlining I did it in portions, but it is possible to fill all the leaves with one shade of floss first, and then another and so on. I used two strands of floss when I embroidered the leaves in this pattern. Also, in some places leaves “fold”. These small areas are worked by satin stitch using one strand of floss in the needle. I didn't do any padding here. Just stitched the outline the same way as the areas of the plant motif and covered the “foldings” with parallel satin stitches. Lettering I used an easy and quick approach to lettering for this design. Take two strands of floss and outline a letter in back stitch first. Then “wrap” the letters in satin stitch. Because the letters are not that big and we use two strands of floss, there is no need for any padding. The letters look dimensional enough and pop out of the fabric surface. That's pretty much it. In case you have any questions left, you're always welcome to leave them in the comments below or send me a DM through the contact form :) DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN HERE Have a nice stitching!

Today is my final embroidery tutorial, and as previously mentioned it is on couching. Couching is basically using one thread the sew anot...