Embroidery Tips for Beginners

It was three o’clock, the church bell tolled as I passed under the belfry; the charm of the hour lay in its approaching dimness, in the low gliding and pale beaming sun. I was a mile from Thornfield, in a lane noted for wild roses in summer, for nuts and blackberries in autumn, and even now possessing a few coral treasures in hips and haws, but whose best winter delight lay in its utter solitude and leafless repose.

If a breath of air stirred, it made no sound here; for there was not a holly, not an evergreen to rustle, and the stripped hawthorn and hazel bushes were as still as the white, worn stones which causewayed the middle of the path. Far and wide, on each side, there were only fields, where no cattle now browsed; and the little brown birds, which stirred occasionally in the hedge, looked like single russet leaves that had forgotten to drop.

● When your work is finished press lightly on the reverse and hoop up again.

● Mark the points on the hoop where it’s touched by the dandelion stems.

● Remove fabric from hoop.

● Wrap green floss around the hoop where you’ve made the marks. You may wish to secure the ends with a dab of glue and then cut them short.

● Re-hoop your work.

● FINISHED!

For me, the joy of embroidery isn’t simply the finished article, but also the hours of pleasurable work involved in creating even the smallest piece. The dictionary describes embroidery as “inessential ornament” which seems a heartless description as it gladdens the heart and soul of the stitcher as well as the eye of the beholder.

Before printed textiles became widely available the only means to decorate fabric items was often embroidery. And when embroidering by hand it’s true to say that every stitcher is making a unique creation, even when working from a cross-stitch chart for example, no two pieces of work will ever be exactly the same, and that’s a wonderful thing I think, in this age of mass production.

Embroiderers are fortunate in that we don’t need any expensive or space-taking materials or pieces of equipment to enjoy our hobby. An added bonus is that everything we use - fabric, floss, needles and scissors are easy and portable, so it’s easy to take projects around with us - wonderful for those long journeys and to take on holiday too.

It’s very important to make sure that the materials and tools you select for your project are of good quality and appropriate for the work in hand. With the right items in your work box you will be able to achieve great results and have the satisfaction of knowing that your finished piece of work will give you pleasure for many years to come.

You don’t need a large work box as you only need a few tools for successful stitching. I have a collection of vintage tins in which I keep everything I need for different projects, so I can simply scoop one up and go!

The essential items you’ll need are:

These are small and sharp for snipping floss. They sometimes have curved blades so you can snip ends without risking cutting into the work itself.

As collecting, displaying and decorating with handwork and textiles becomes more important, "perfect" vintage textiles are becoming much more difficult to find. Chances are, when you are able to locate a perfect piece, it will be extremely expensive. Less than perfect pieces of vintage embroidery, clothing, doilies, quilts and coverlets are very easy to find, and are much less expensive than their "mint condition" counterparts.

Vintage pieces have also stood the test of time, and are very durable. Frequent laundering has made these pieces luxuriously soft, and fading and minor flaws only add to their charm. You can make a variety of new projects from these slightly flawed pieces.

Another attraction of using vintage linen is its historical interest. Women used to grow their own flax crop, harvest it, process it, spin it and weave it into the cloth that their families used. They commemorated events both public (coronations, centennials, world's fairs) and personal (births, marriages, friendships). A bride's trousseau furnished all the household linens that she anticipated using for the rest of her life and sometimes was part of her dowry.

Don't forget that repurposing antique pieces is a very "green" way of crafting as re-using and repurposing is always more environmentally friendly than buying new fabric. Vintage fabrics also connect us to stitchers of bygone years, giving us a sense of the person who originally created them so long ago.

The tradition of "waste not, want not" meant that items were repaired, remade and re-fashioned in order to reuse them. Clothing was remade to accommodate the latest fashions or as "hand-me-downs" for another person. Worn sheets, clothing and tablecloths were cut down to become napkins, pillowcases or towels. Smaller sections became quilt squares, patches and