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Hand Embroidery for Beginners - Embroidering a NameIf you are looking for hand embroidery for beginners then a good place to start is by embroidering a name on a baby's blanket or bib, or a loved ones initials on the corner of a handkerchief. Embroidering names and monograms is not a new idea, however, household linen often had the owners initials embroidered on them in days gone by.
Note: Before we get started I would like to mention that it is not wise to stitch their name on a young child's shirt or sweater, as it is then visible to people who you would rather your child not meet. If someone they don't know talks to them, and mentions the child's name, the little one may not realise the danger!
Enough of the scary stuff, lets get started with our hand embroidery for beginners lesson.
Creating and Transferring your textThe easiest way to create text with a handwritten look is to write it on scrap paper. You can lay the letters/words on the garment to check the size, and rewrite if necessary. If you are worried about your handwriting not being neat enough you could either ask someone else to write it for you, or trace the letters from a book or newspaper.If you are wanting to stitch larger letters you might like to type it up on your computer and then print it out. You could then cut the letters apart and rearrange until you are happy with their placement on your project.
The method of transferring the pattern or name, will depend on what type of fabric you are planning to stitch on. For a smooth cotton or poly/cotton cloth you could use iron on transfers, either commercial or home made ones (using a transfer pen or pencil). Keep in mind that these are normally permanent and will not wash out, so you will need to completely cover the marks with your stitching. If you are wanting to stitch on terry towelling bibs, or a soft baby's blanket a transfer is not the best method due to the way the fabric is made. It has depth or "pile" which does not lie flat and the transfer would not lie on the tops of these raised fibres and would therefore be distorted. For this type of fabric a better way to handle getting the name onto the cloth would be to write it on a piece of tissue paper and then using a piece of scrap thread just tacking (basting) it to the fabric along the lines you have written. The tissue can then be torn away leaving the stitches to guide your path when doing the embroidery. If you are more confident you can write the name on paper and then use that as a guide to stitch the name directly onto the fabric.
Hand embroidery stitches to use for letteringWhen choosing which stitch to use, consideration needs to be given to the size of the letters. If you are stitching a whole name, especially if it has lots of letters, you may wish to stick to a simple outline stitch, whereas someone's initials might look nice worked in a wider, filling stitch.
Back stitch and stem stitchThe simplest option for small embroidered lettering is perhaps back stitch. This gives a very narrow line. In the sample below I have embroidered a name on a baby blanket and I used back stitch for the lower case letters.
Split StitchAnother option would be to use split stitch, which can also be used in rows, close together, to form a filling stitch. This is especially handy if you require an area to be wider than the rest, such as in the letter C below, where the thicker section is worked with three additional rows of split stitch. It is a great introduction to hand embroidery for beginners.
I like to work split stitch with an even number of floss strands so that I can have the same number of strands on each side of the stitch when I pierce it.
Satin stitchesIf you are looking for a smoother finish, then the satin stitches are worth considering. These can be worked flat or padded.I like to outline the letter first, using either back or split stitch before starting the satin stitch. Although it seems simple satin stitch needs practice to perfect. Maybe not the ideal project to take on when looking for hand embroidery for beginners, but before you know it you will be tackling satin stitch designs without worrying.
For the letter in the photograph above I chose to work the stitches in a slanted direction across the width of the letter. Please note that in my defense the photographs were taken from VERY close and therefore every imperfection shows. If you want to pad the letter, so that it stands out proud from the fabric surface, you can first work the stitches at right angles. The second layer is then laid over the top, in the direction you eventually want to have the stitches showing. More hand embroidery for beginnersI have covered some simple (and not so simple) stitches here, but you can find many more in the index of basic embroidery stitches.There are also some free designs on this site to get you started. For example if you find that you like stem stitch you might like to have a go at my free redwork embroidery pattern of a hen on eggs, or the lazy daisy stitch strawberry.
Return to How to Embroider Return to needlework tips and techniques
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