The Best Embroidery Kit For Beginners

Buying Guide

Embroidery is the art of using a needle and thread to decorate material, most commonly textile fabric, by hand. While learning how to transform thread into raised ornamental designs using various stitches may seem intimidating, an embroidery kit can help. The packages often include everything you need to complete a project, and some even come with enough materials for multiple masterpieces, giving DIYers the opportunity to try multiple patterns and execute different themed designs.

The basic components of an embroidery kit include a hoop, needles, fabric, assorted thread, a pattern and instructions. The hoop (often made of wood or plastic) sandwiches the fabric between an inner and outer ring, creating a taut surface for you to generate neat stitches. The fabric is typically a tightly woven, even-weave variety made from cotton, linen, rayon and polyester blends, and the cotton thread (aka floss) is thicker and shinier than regular thread and comes in a rainbow of colors.

Is embroidery for you? Getting started in the craft may take some patience, but most patterns — particularly beginner ones — only require the knowledge of a few basic stitches. A beginner kit can help you master the essentials, arming you with the necessary know-how to tackle just about any project. Because embroidery requires gentle, repetitive hand motions, the needlework can also be very meditative and therapeutic.

• Many embroidery kits have the pattern stamped or printed on the fabric, making it easier to follow. Once you’re done with the project, the ink is easily washed off with water.
• Is cross-stitch the same thing as embroidery? Cross-stitch is a type of embroidery that entails using X-shaped stitches and tiled pattern to create an image. It is a type of counted needlework, meaning you must count the threads on the fabric to figure out where to stitch, and is one of the easiest forms of embroidery to learn.
• While there are hundreds of embroidery stitches out there, perfecting a dozen or so of the most common will enable you to complete tons of patterns and projects. Common stitches include the back stitch, stem stitch, chain stitch and the French knot.
• Can’t figure out a stitch? There are oodles of awesome instructional YouTube videos on the web that can help. Popular channels to follow include Jessica Long Embroidery, Mary Corbet’s Need N’ Thread and Cutesy Crafts.
• While all embroidery hoops generally have the same purpose — to hold fabric in place while you embroider — some differ in how the fabric’s tension is adjusted. Hoops that use a screw on the outer ring to increase and decrease the tension of the fabric are the most common, while flexi hoops are made from a pliable vinyl that fits tightly over an inner plastic round. The latter variety, which have the appearance of real wood, are often used to frame finished projects, since some find them harder to use for stitching.