Tools and materials

A comprehensive guide to all the items you’ll need to get going, from fabric and needles to pens and lightboxes

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 embroidery stitches are worked on this kind of fabric. It’s available in many different weights, which range from fine voile to heavy tweed and denim. Other plain weave fabrics include cotton, linen, silk and calico.

YOUR BASIC KIT.

Gather some plain cotton fabric 1 , embroidery needles ( in size 7 and 9) 2 a handful of stranded cotton colours 3 , a wooden , embroidery hoop 4 and a pencil 5 Add in some small scissors 6 . and that really is all you need to start your first embroidery project. You may have some of these items already but if you do need to start from scratch, you can get going for under £ 12.

EVENWEAVE FABRIC

This fabric is made with an equal number of warp and weft threads that create regularly spaced holes between them. The fabrics are usually labelled with a number of holes per inch ( HPI), although the higher count fabrics are sometimes described by the number of threads per inch ( TPI). You’ll often find expensive bedlinen described in this way.

Evenweave fabrics come in a wide range of sizes – some of the finer linens have 36HPI, while the coarser binca fabrics have only 6HPI. ( You might remember the latter chunky fabric if you stitched at school.) The type of evenweave produced is governed by the way the fabrics are woven.

A single evenweave fabric, such as linen, is made from single strands of warp and weft threads, while aida and binca, the most common evenweave fabrics for counted thread embroidery, are woven with several warp and weft threads in groups, so that the holes between are clearly visible. You’ll know these fabrics already if you’ve tried cross stitch. They are also perfect for hardanger and blackwork.

PATTERN FABRIC

This group includes fabric which has a pattern already visible on the surface. The pattern can be printed or woven in to provide a useful grid for your embroidery to follow.

Gingham fabric has uniform checks that are particularly useful for cross stitch, while spotted fabric gives you a regular guide for repeating embroidery stitches at intervals. ‘ Ticking’ or striped fabrics are also useful as the printed lines can help keep

your stitches even.

KNOW YOUR THREADS

There are a lot of different embroidery threads out there. In most cases you won’t need anything fussier than good old stranded cotton – two of the biggest manufacturers are DMC and Anchor. It’s easily available in over 400 colours, and it’s all you’ll need for most of the projects in this book. Once you’ve had a go at embroidery, we guarantee you’ll want to try lots more. So here is our guide to the main thread types and what you might like to use them for.

When you choose your thread, you should always think about how your finished embroidery will be used. If it will receive a lot of wear and tear, you should use hard- wearing threads such as stranded cotton. However, if it’s going to be a more decorative piece, you can use finer threads such as metallic and silk threads that can’t be cleaned. Check the label of the threads you intend to buy to make sure that you know how they should be cared for.

Another thing to bear in mind when choosing threads is how they will cover the lines of your embroidery transfer, or the background fabric in the case of counted thread work. You may need to experiment to get the thickness that you require, but luckily there are a lot of threads to choose from.

STRANDED COTTON

This is a loosely twisted, six- strand thread ( shown above). The strands can be separated so you can obtain different thicknesses by varying the number of strands in your needle. One strand forms a fine line which is good for small details or outlines, while six strands used together produce a bold, heavy line. Alternatively you can combine colours in the needle for a subtle shading or variegated effect. Stranded cotton is available in a wide variety of colours, which makes it a versatile choice.

COTON PERLÉ

This is a twisted two- ply thread which cannot be separated. Made from cotton, it has a slight sheen which can add interest to your work if used alongside other, more matt embroidery threads. It’s available in three sizes – 3 ( heavy), 5 ( medium) and 8 ( fine) – and it can be bought in a wide variety of colours.

COTON À BRODER

Similar in weight to coton perlé, this is a lightly twisted single- strand thread. It doesn’t give a shiny effect but is available in many colours.

It’s been used to stitch all the demonstration stitches in this book.

SILK

Available in twisted or stranded varieties, this luxury thread is ideal for stitching on fine fabrics where extra quality is important. Some companies create amazing ranges of hand- dyed silks which are a real treat if you are working on a heirloom piece for a special occasion.

SOFT COTTON

This is a tightly- twisted five- ply thread that cannot be separated. It has a matt finish and is best for embroidering on heavier weight fabrics. It gives a lovely chunky look to the finished stitches.

METALLIC THREADS

Available in many weights and textures, these threads are best reserved for special effects as they are not very hard wearing and can be a little unruly to work with. Some threads, such as blending filaments ( shown below), can be combined in the needle with other kinds of thread to give a slight sheen or sparkle to your embroidery. DMC does a range of metallics called Light Effects, and Kreinik makes blending filaments.

PICKING THE RIGHT NEEDLE

There are three different types of needles most commonly used for embroidery – crewel, chenille and tapestry. Beyond these basics, you might find it useful to have beading needles and possibly treat yourself to a gold- plated set of needles for your workbox. All needles come in numbered sizes and we’ve indicated the best choices below. As a general rule, the higher the number, the finer the needle.

CREWEL

Sometimes called an ‘ embroidery needle’, this is a medium- length, sharp pointed needle, most suitable for fine and medium weight embroidery on plain weave fabrics. The sizes you’ll need to use most are 7 and 9. They have quite a large eye, which is helpful if you want to work with a number of strands in the needle at once.

CHENILLE

Used for heavier weight work, this sharp pointed needle has a larger eye than a crewel needle so that it can take the thicker threads needed for heavier work. It’s also good for embroidering with ribbon.

TAPESTRY

This is a blunt- ended, large- eyed needle. It’s used for counted thread work such as cross stitch or blackwork, or for weaving threads through other stitches. Sizes 24 and 26 are the most popular.

BEADING

A long fine needle with a long thin eye, this is great to have to hand if you are attaching beads to your stitching. The eye is narrow enough to let seed beads slip over it easily. Look for shorter ones in a size 10 or 12.

GOLD PLATED

Not just for showing off, these needles have a very fine layer of gold plate, which enables them to slip more easily through the fabric. They are also useful for stitchers who have a nickel allergy.

CHOOSING AN EMBROIDERY HOOP OR FRAME

There are many different types of hoops and frames available for embroidery, so you should be guided by the size of the project you’re stitching. It’s good to have a few sizes to hand so that you can choose which fits best. You don’t need to be able to fit the entire design into the hoop in one go, as you can move it to different parts of the fabric as you work each area of the design. You’ll be able to complete most of our projects with a simple wooden 15cm ( 6in) hoop, and you can also choose to frame them in this as well.

It’s a good idea to use a hoop or frame for almost every kind of embroidery. You’ll find it much easier to produce work with a neat, even finish. Working in this way also helps prevent the fabric from distorting. This is particularly important with evenweaves that are far more flexible than plain weaves.

Frames are available as either hand held ( below) or standing models ( see above left), and come in a wide variety of sizes.

HOOPS

Hoops work by holding a section of the fabric taut between two rings. Wooden hoops have two rings, the outer one with an adjustable metal screw, which is tightened once the fabric is trapped between the rings. Metal and plastic combinations are also available. These are often

‘ spring’ hoops, where a plastic ring fits over a circle of metal which is slightly spring loaded to keep the fabric in place.

FRAMES

Frames are designed to keep an entire piece of fabric taut rather than just one section. They can be floor standing so can make it much easier to work on a big, ambitious piece of embroidery. A ‘ slate frame’ stretches the fabric between top and bottom rollers which are then tightened. The sides of the fabric are laced on to the side of the frame. A ‘ stretcher frame’ consists of four wooden slats joined together to form a rectangle. The fabric is stretched around the slats then stapled into position.

TOOLS FOR TRANSFERRING YOUR DESIGNS

There are several methods for getting the outline of your design onto your fabric ready to stitch. These are some of the most popular and effective tools – you don’t need all of them. Over the page we will go into the various methods in more detail, so you can choose the one that’s right for your project.

TRANSFER PENS & PENCILS

These look like ordinary stationery but have embroidery super powers. The main choices are permanent markers, which mean you will have to cover their marks with your embroidery, or temporary pens that will either fade over the course of a couple of days or can be washed away with water. Different colours are available to suit dark and light fabrics. We’ve recommended using an air or water soluble pen for most of the projects in this book.

IRON ON TRANSFERS

Once hugely popular and given away with every women’s magazine, these pattern sheets just need to be placed on your fabric and an iron applied on top to transfer the lines to your fabric. You’ll find designs available online ( try Etsy shops) and with some embroidery books. Some can be used more than once, making them a handy resource. Always keep an eye out for vintage ones at boot sales.

PENCIL

A standard soft pencil, used for tracing a design onto fabric.

DRESSMAKER’S CARBON PAPER

Sheets of coloured carbon paper function in just the way they were designed to do with old- school typewriters. Sandwiched between your paper design and fabric, pressure from the top transfers the carbon to the fabric. These sheets are available in packs

of different colours.

LIGHT BOX

A window is the most basic, if slightly awkward form of light box. Hold the pattern against the glass and your fabric on top and you’ll be able to trace the lines. The more sophisticated version looks like a large lit tablet to make your pattern visible through fabric for tracing. It’s worth the investment if you plan to do lots of embroidery.

TRACING PAPER

Combine this with a pencil and you have a very simple, very old tracing method. Trace the design on to the paper, turn it over and scribble on the back where you can see the lines. Turn it back over and place it on your fabric, retrace the lines and you should have an impression of the design on the fabric. It’s basically DIY carbon paper.

WATER SOLUBLE STABILISER PAPER

Computer print your design on to this paper, attach to your fabric and stitch through it. Soak it in water when the embroidery is finished and it will dissolve, leaving no trace.