There are many kits available where the design is pre-printed onto the fabric such as this one. But knowing how to transfer an embroidery design onto fabric gives many more options and isn’t as difficult as you think. Here are my top tips for transferring embroidery patterns:

Have the fabric super tight in the hoop. It’s really hard to trace accurately if the fabric in the hoop is a bit loose. The pen will catch on the warp and weft threads and the design will end up looking a little wonky. To read my tips about how to get fabric taut in the hoop, have a look here.
Use a erasable pen. You can use any pen or pencil for transferring a design onto fabric but knowing that you can erase any mistakes really helps when tracing. This blog post covers the different erasable pen options, and this post outlines why heat erasable pens are magic.
Trace just the crucial elements. Some patterns have a lot of detail and it isn’t always necessary to trace it all. For example a thin stem or branch, you might not need to trace both sides of the outline, instead trace one line in the centre.
Keep an eye on the position of the hoop. Whatever method used to trace the pattern, the hoop will move during the tracing process. I recommend checking the positioning after tracing each element to make sure the final traced design doesn’t end up wonky.
Don’t panic if you go wrong. The fabric has 2 sides to it and if you do go wrong then flip the fabric over and have a second attempt.

There are step by step instructions on how to trace from a digital embroidery pattern and how to trace from a paper embroidery pattern along with lots of other embroidery tips on my blog.

Enjoyed this blog post? I share embroidery tips and a free embroidery pattern in my monthly newsletter. Sign up here to receive the newsletter on the 1st of each the month.

When I was a kid I was very thrifty with obtaining craft materials because I didn’t have the money to spend on buying new. As an adult, I’m lucky that I have the disposable income to spend on any craft materials I want or need but that thriftiness learnt as a child is still there and there are some things I continue to do to this day. Here are my tips for making the most of your craft materials:

Embroidery hoops are probably the most expensive item of any embroidery project and although they may only cost a few pounds one way to make sure you can re-use them is in how you finish your embroidery project. If you are displaying your project in a hoop, finish the back in a way that means in the future if you don’t want that project on display any more you can take it out of the hoop and use the hoop for the next project. costs of an embroidery project finish your hoops so you can re-use them. This blog post outlines 4 ways to finish the back of an embroidery hoops - just avoid the gluing method if you want to use the hoop again in the future.
Embroidery projects need fabric to stitch on. I regularly use old fabrics such as sheets, curtains and shirts that aren’t good enough to go to the charity shop. I cut around any stains or tears and make use of as much of the fabric as possible.
Keep thread offcuts for use in future projects. There are two ways I keep thread offcuts, the first is if there is a long length of several strands left, I rewind this onto the thread bobbin I cut it from. For shorter lengths and single strands, I have a jar where I store these for when I need a tiny amount of a colour or for use in an abstract embroidery project.
Store things well. There is nothing more sad than opening a bag of yarn and finding its been nibbled by moths. This has happened to me and although I tried to rescue as much of the yarn as possible the grainy deposits the moths left meant much of it was unusable. I now store all my yarn in sealable bags and have moth balls dotted around the storage boxes.
Keep anything and everything! This is only a good tip if you have the space. That ribbon from around the Christmas cracker, a necklace that broke, buttons from a shirt that you had to send to the fabric recycling. They could all be used in future craft project.

Enjoyed this blog post? I share embroidery tips and a free embroidery pattern in my monthly newsletter. Sign up here to receive the newsletter on the 1st of each the month.

Tags

Latest Posts