How To Practice Embroidery

If you’ve landed on this page, chances are that you’re learning how to embroider and wondering how to practice embroidery stitches and all the new skills you’ve learned. You want to get even better at embroidery! So it’s super important to practice stitching a ton until it becomes muscle memory! Here are a couple of the best ways to practice and get yourself up to speed.

If you haven’t already, check out this beginner embroidery guide to start learning everything!

Fabric To Practice Embroidery

You’ll want to find a cheap fabric that’s easy to stitch on because chances are, you’re going to go through a lot of fabric and mess up from time to time…and that’s ok! This is how you learn anything.

A fabric that is great for practicing is muslin. This cotton fabric is some of the cheapest fabric you can find online and at the fabric store.

Here’s why it’s great to embroider on:

the fabric is tightly woven without large holes
the weight of it will hold up under the tension embroidery stitches
the weave of the fibers is even, which will help to keep stitches neat

Do you have some extra fabric already and you’re wondering if it’s ok to use? Check out how to determine the best fabric to use for embroidery.

Practice Embroidery Stitches

The very first thing you’ll want to practice is basic embroidery stitches. Don’t overwhelm yourself, though. Select a handful of stitches you’d like to perfect and keep working on them until you feel super comfortable.

Embroidery Sampler Pattern

This sampler embroidery pattern is a fun practice pattern that helps you to learn several beginner friendly embroidery stitches. Sampler patterns are an amazing way to start practicing. There isn’t as much pressure to make the piece look perfect but you’ll still have a nice looking design when you’re finished.

Sometimes figuring out what to stitch is the hardest part. This E-book features 50+ modern embroidery designs that you can download, print out, and trace. Put your own spin on each design with your choice of stitches and colors. Get your creative juices flowing and get started stitching!

Purchase

Beginner Kits

The last way that you can practice embroidering is simply through making something! There are so many beginner embroidery kits out there to choose from. Most will come with instructions for getting started, which colors to use where, and instructions for each embroidery stitch.

Check out this post that has a roundup of some of the best modern embroidery kits, most of which are beginner friendly!

These are just a few ideas that will help you out. If you’re looking for even more, check out this article: The 9 Most Effective Ways To Teach Yourself Embroidery

Amanda

Amanda is a hand embroidery artist and teacher. With over 15 years of experience in the craft industry and embroidery, she owns and runs Crewel Ghoul, sharing tutorials and patterns to help inspire fellow crafters to get inspired and creative. In addition to running this website, she teaches on Skillshare and Youtube.