What Embroidery Is
What hand embroidery is, how it differs from cross-stitch, and which stitches do which jobs.
Decorating fabric with thread
Hand embroidery is decorative stitching worked on fabric with a needle and thread. You draw or transfer a design onto the fabric, then cover the lines and fill the shapes with stitches. The stitches can go in any direction and be any length, so the same flower can be stitched a dozen ways.
You need very little to start: a hoop, a needle, a skein of floss, a piece of cotton and a pair of small scissors.
Embroidery and cross-stitch are different crafts
| Hand embroidery | Cross-stitch | |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric | Any plain fabric, usually cotton or linen | Gridded fabric: Aida cloth or evenweave |
| Design | Drawn or traced onto the fabric | Counted from a chart, square by square |
| Stitches | Many: outlines, fills, knots, loops | Mostly one: the X-shaped cross-stitch |
| Needle | Sharp point (embroidery or crewel needle) | Blunt point (tapestry needle) |
Both use the same six-strand floss, and many people enjoy both. Cross-stitch has its own section on this site.
Which stitch for which job
| Job | Good stitches |
|---|---|
| Outlines | Backstitch, stem stitch, split stitch, chain stitch |
| Lettering | Backstitch, stem stitch, split stitch, whipped backstitch |
| Flowers | Lazy daisy, woven wheel, French knot, satin stitch |
| Leaves | Satin stitch, fly stitch, lazy daisy, feather stitch |
| Texture | Seed stitch, French knot, colonial knot |
| Filled shapes | Satin stitch, rows of chain stitch or split stitch, seed stitch |
| Decorative edges | Blanket stitch, feather stitch, couching |
The Stitch Library lets you filter embroidery stitches by these jobs.