#because for some reason the beginner kit I bought that had the whole rainbow had like 3 pinks and many oranges but had ONE (1) purple and

[blurred-honey]

I’ve started learning embroidery and had to do my good pal the skull

[unicyclehippo]

hey! my mom recently expressed an interest in possibly starting embroidery and i figured i'd get her some stuff for hanukkah. what kind of special stuff would be good for a "starter kit"? thanks!

hello! I only just started so I’m certainly not an expert but very happy to share what I have googled & bought for myself & I hope that helps!

If you’re in Australia (& maybe other places with Kmart?), Kmart has embroidery starter kits that are just 5 bucks which is what started me on this whole thing because it was really simply laid out all the steps & came with thread and a hoop and all of that good stuff. Try looking in stores of a similar nature or in hobby craft stores that might have an embroidery beginners kit! I Highly recommend that route because it’s pretty inexpensive but has all the tools to try it out & she can see if she enjoys it or not!

If you don’t want to go that route, the tools for embroidery are: fabric, needle, (threader) & thread, all of which can be sourced from craft or fabric stores.

The thread is also called “floss”, embroidery floss is comprised of six individual strands twisted together into a single thread. There’s heaps of colours so you can pick whatever you like, whether it be her favourite colour or a selection of one each colour of the rainbow. Thread can be a bit pricey if you’re buying a lot, so don’t go all out for a starting gift—pick maybe three or four colours to start.

Needles are … I have no knowledge of what the different kinds of needles are, I just bought a pack that had the words “embroidery needles” on it. But you’ll want to get a needle threader because it’s damn hard to thread the eye of the needle. A threader aids in threading a needle, as the name suggests. It’s a thin flexible length of wire (at least, the one I have is) & is the single greatest invention of all time. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get the end of a piece of thread through the tiniest hole you’ve ever seen in your life & if there is even a SUGGESTION that the thread is frayed it will be repelled like a magnet from the eye… So. A threader. Technically not necessary but INVALUABLE. The threader I use came with the starter kit but I think sewing/fabric stores would have them. I have a cheapo thing & I haven’t used a fancy tool so I can’t say if they’re better or easier to use but I haven’t had any problems with, quite literally, a piece of wire folded back & taped at the end (it broke so I taped it back together)

Hoops are optional, I suppose, but extremely useful & I don’t like to work without one. They come in many sizes & in wood or plastic! I’ve only used bamboo hoops so i can’t speak for the quality of others. A reasonable size for a beginner hoop is probably 12.5cm—big enough to complete a decent little project, small enough that it wouldn’t be overwhelming.

Fabric confused me because there are so many names for different kinds. The benefit of a good starter kit is that you don’t have to worry about any of this shit, it should all be included so you can make a design right out of the box. But if you decide to buy from a craft store, you can get fabric cut into lengths at most fabric stores, which is very cool & fun. Fabrics I have personally used are calico, poplin, & something called homespun, which is cotton. I like the homespun cotton because I got it in all these different colours (very cute) but it’s a bit harder to work with because the fabric feels like it has more give than the calico. I don’t think I’ve tried the poplin yet. Fabric can be expensive so I recommend getting whatever is on sale, it won’t matter to a beginner. Specifically, you would be looking for fabrics that have... I think it’s called an “even weave”? Look for linen, calico (unbleached, coarser cotton), cotton. the calico I got was about 2 dollars for a metre of it so you can immediately get plenty of fabric.

I hope this helped! Please let me know if you want any more information ☀️