How To Embroider Faster By Hand

Embroidery is a slow craft, one that teaches you a lot of patience and mindfulness. Its slowness can be really beneficial; talk to anyone who stitches, and they’ll tell you it’s a tedious but rewarding process. But if you’ve landed on this post, you’ve probably got a project that’s taking quite a bit of time to finish. If you’re searching for a way to embroider faster, you’re in the right place!

While I can’t guarantee that you’ll stitch at lightning speed, the tips I’m sharing today will help you embroider faster by hand. I mostly do thread painting embroidery, an intricate style of embroidery that involves layering a single strand of thread. This process takes a lot of time, so I’ve naturally figured out the most efficient systems for me. I hope some of these tips apply to you and help you in your stitching journey!

Have A Plan In Place Before You Start

The first and most important tip is to have a good plan of action before you start. I always like to start my embroidery with the following things:

• A finalized design to trace over to the fabric
• A color palette, or better yet, a color mockup
• A general idea of what stitches I plan to use and where

Having all of this planned will save you from being indecisive and having to pause and problem-solve mid-stitch. Chances are, you’ll be happier with the finished result of your artwork. You’ll also avoid a lot of mistakes, which can take even more time to fix!

Tack Up Your Thread

You’d be surprised how much time you waste threading a needle only to use it for a couple of stitches. Instead of securing the thread and trashing the rest, consider having multiple pre-threaded embroidery needles on hand and then tack up thread colors for later use.

An easy way to do this is to use a needle minder, a magnetic tool you can place needles on. When you’re ready to move on to the next color, set the threaded needle on the needle minder until you’re ready to use that color again. Just be mindful that you keep the thread on the back away from where you’re stitching so it doesn’t get tangled!

An alternative method for doing this is to pull the thread through to the front of the fabric away from where you’re working. You won’t be able to keep the needle threaded, but it will save you from cutting and starting with a new piece of thread.

Stab vs Sewing Technique

There are generally two methods for embroidering, which are called stabbing and sewing.

There isn’t a right or wrong way, but both techniques have some unique benefits.

You can read an in-depth explanation of these techniques here, but here is a quick overview:

Stabbing is an embroidery method in which you place the needle through the fabric and pull the thread all the way through to the back of the fabric. Then, you place the needle up through the fabric and pull the needle and thread through.

I embroider using the stabbing technique for most stitches because it allows me to have finer control over where my needle is placed.

Sewing is a technique where the needle essentially grabs the fabric. The needle stays on the fabric’s surface, meaning you can work your stitches mostly from the front of the fabric.

The sewing technique can speed up certain embroidery stitches because you do not have to move your hands from the front and back of your work. It’s not ideal for all kinds of stitches, but here are a few that it works well for:

• chain stitch
• lazy daisy
• stem stitch
• bullion knots
• fly stitch

Use More Strands Of Thread

Using more strands of floss will allow you to cover more of the fabric surface quicker. If you’re not concerned about adding many small details and have a large area to cover, try using more strands of floss at once. You could also choose a thicker fiber to use, such as crewel or tapestry yarn.

Choose Stitches That Cover An Area More Efficiently

Some stitches take longer to cover an area. If you’re looking to fill in a large area, be thoughtful about the embroidery stitches you choose. For example, French knots and turkey work both look great when used as fill stitches, but they take a lot of time to complete.

A few stitches that fill in areas faster are:

• long and short stitch
• couching stitch – especially using thicker thread or yarn
• herringbone stitch
• satin stitch

Use Both Hands

Most people start embroidering with their dominant hand, but embroidering with both hands is possible and relatively easy. It sounds like the difference would be insignificant, but every time you have to switch between the front and back of the work one-handed, it takes a few moments to orient yourself, especially along the back of the embroidery.

To free up your hands, you’ll need to use an embroidery stand or a slate frame.

Try keeping one hand along the back of the work and one hand along the surface of the work. (I find it easiest to place my dominant hand underneath. It requires a bit more dexterity to find the perfect place to come up in the fabric; I’m not as quick and effective with my non-dominant hand.)

This technique will feel unnatural at first and may slow you down a bit. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll notice how much faster you can stitch!

Avoid Multitasking

You’ll probably hate to hear this one, but watching TV while stitching will slow you down. There is nothing wrong with relaxing and enjoying yourself, but if you’re serious about getting a project done and you’re on a time crunch, try without it to see if it makes a difference.

When you can keep your eyes on your work, you’ll be more focused and efficient with your time. And if you’re like me and you hate being unable to do two things simultaneously, try listening to an embroidery podcast or audiobook instead!

Enjoy The Process Even If It Takes Awhile

I really hope these tips help you to speed up your stitching. But remember: don’t forget to enjoy the process of stitching! While it takes a lot of time, it’s a great way to decompress and relieve stress. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, and certainly don’t try to rush. (Your work won’t be as neat, you’ll make mistakes, and ultimately become more frustrated.)

While it can be tedious sometimes, I remind myself that it can be a meditative process if you focus on what you’re doing stitch by stitch. The result of all your hard work is oh-so rewarding. Happy stitching!

Keep Reading

If you’re looking for more ways to sharpen your embroidery skills, I think you’ll love these tutorials:

• Learn how to match colors to embroidery threads
• These tips will make your embroidery neater