Hand Embroidery Starter Kit

It is divisible — you stitch with the number of strands that suits the detail (1-2 for fine, 3-6 for bold). A non-divisible thread is one thickness; the divisible floss is the whole range from hairline to bold. It is the embroidery standard and the reason you can match the stitch weight to the design.

It holds the fabric drum-taut, which is the only way to stitch evenly — loose fabric puckers and distorts the design. A wood hoop with a brass screw (tighten as you go) is the standard; the fabric must sound like a drum when tapped. Skip the hoop and the embroidery puckers; the hoop is non-negotiable.

Draw or print the design, transfer it to the fabric with a water-soluble or heat-erasable pen (or carbon paper), stitch over the lines, then wash or iron the marks away. A permanent pen would show through the stitching; the erasable transfer pen is the embroiderer's pencil. Transfer precisely; the lines guide every stitch.

Back stitch is the outline stitch (lines and edges — stem stitch is its variant for curves); satin stitch is the fill (parallel stitches covering an area solidly). Learn the outline first (it frames the design), then the fills. The French knot (a wrapped, raised dot) is the texture stitch — the eye of the bird, the center of the flower.