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Whether you’re a beginner just starting your embroidery journey or an experienced stitcher looking to expand your toolkit, having the right supplies, tools, and materials will make your time stitching more fun, successful, and satisfying.
In this embroidery toolbox guide, I’ve curated the items that make up a well-stocked embroidery kit, from beginner-friendly options to luxury supplies.
I’ve linked to my favorite sources and options to help you find what you need.
We also put together a video on the YouTube channel, doing a show and telling of some items on the list.
Essential embroidery supplies
Fabric
Of course, you will need something to embroider on, so fabric is our first stop.
Choosing the right fabric for your embroidery project is important for achieving the best results. Different fabrics have different properties that can affect the appearance and durability of your stitches.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Cotton:
Cotton is popular for embroidery because it’s easy to work with, affordable, and available in various colors and weights. - Linen:
Linen is another excellent choice for embroidery, as it has a beautiful texture and drape. It’s slightly more expensive than cotton but is durable and can create stunning results. - Evenweave fabrics:
Fabrics like Aida and Lugana are perfect for counted thread techniques like cross-stitch, as their even weave makes it easy to count stitches and create precise designs.
Design Works Aida Cloth from Blick Art Supply
Pro Tip: We used IKEA linen curtain panels on the first floor of our last house. I saved the chunks left after hemming and have used them in dozens of embroidery projects this year. If you can access an IKEA, look around the curtain department and compare the prices per yard for linen and cotton panels.
Embroidery hoops
Embroidery hoops are necessary for keeping your fabric taut and stitches even. They come in various sizes and materials to suit different projects and preferences.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Plastic hoops:
Lightweight, inexpensive, and easy to use, plastic hoops are an excellent choice for beginners. They come in a range of sizes and are perfect for small to medium-sized projects.
My favorite are Nurge Embroidery Frames – they come in many shapes and colors
- Bamboo hoops:
Bamboo hoops are eco-friendly and lightweight. They provide a sturdy grip on your fabric and are suitable for most embroidery projects. Bamboo hoops are easy to find at thrift stores.
Bamboo Embroidery Hoop from Blick Art Supply
Needles
Choosing the right needle for your project helps you create even, beautiful stitches and prevents damage to your fabric and thread. You want a sharp needle to prevent drag and snagging.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Tapestry needles:
With a blunt tip and a large eye, tapestry needles are perfect for beginners and those working with thicker threads or yarns. They’re also great for counted thread techniques like cross-stitch and needlepoint.
Tapestry Needles by Blick Art Supply
- Embroidery needles:
Also known as crewel needles, they have a sharp tip and a medium-sized eye, making them suitable for most embroidery threads and techniques.
Embroidery Needles by Dritz
- Chenille needles:
These needles have a sharp tip and a large eye, making them ideal for working with thicker threads, ribbons, or multiple strands of floss.
Chenille Needles from Blick Art Supply
Embroidery floss
Stranded cotton (Floss)
Stranded cotton, also known as embroidery floss, is the most common type of thread used in embroidery. It consists of six strands that can be separated and used in various combinations to create different thicknesses and textures.
Beginner-friendly options:
- DMC stranded cotton:
Known for its high quality and wide range of colors, DMC is a favorite among embroiderers of all skill levels.
DMC Embroidery Floss from Blick Art Supply
- Anchor stranded cotton:
Another trusted brand, Anchor offers a beautiful array of colors and is known for its smooth, easy-to-work-with floss.
Embroidery scissors
A good pair of embroidery scissors helps cut threads, trim fabric, and create precise details in your embroidery.
Really, any pair of small, sharp scissors will do to get you started. The key is SHARP. If you have to saw through the floss, it will make it that much harder to thread the needle.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Small, sharp scissors:
Look for scissors with sharp, pointed blades that can easily cut through threads and fabric. Smaller sizes (3-4 inches) are perfect for most embroidery tasks.
Embroidery Scissors from Blick Art Supply
- Folding scissors:
These compact scissors are perfect for on-the-go stitching and can easily fit in your embroidery kit or travel bag.
Folding Scissors for embroidery on Etsy
Transfer tools
Transferring your embroidery design onto the fabric is a necessary step in the embroidery process.
There are several tools and techniques to make this task easier and more accurate.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Water-soluble pens or pencils:
These pens create fine, blue lines that easily wash away with water, making them perfect for transferring designs onto light-colored fabrics.
Water Soluble Pencils from Blick Art Supply
- Disappearing ink pens:
Similar to water-soluble pens, these pens create lines that fade away over time, usually within 24-72 hours, depending on the brand. If you sew, you may have one of these already. Just be sure you’re going to finish the project quickly.
Disappearing Marking Pen from Blick Art Supply
- Transfer paper:
This special paper has a coating on one side that transfers your design onto the fabric when you trace over it with a pen, pencil, or stylus.
Wax Free Transfer Paper from Blick Art Supply (comes in many colors)
Nice to have embroidery supplies
Needle threaders
Needle threaders are handy tools that make embroidery more comfortable and efficient.
Beginner-friendly options:
- Wire needle threaders:
These simple tools consist of a thin wire loop that helps guide your thread through the eye of the needle, making threading quick and easy.
Needle Threader from Blick Art Supply
Thimbles
A thimble protects your fingers from an embroidery needle’s (very) sharp end.
There are two cases when a thimble is especially helpful.
- You’re working on a tightly woven fabric, and it takes some oomph to get the needle through.
- You’re working on very fine, delicate, or expensive fabric (think wedding dress). The last thing you want is a pricked finger. Blood is not a fashion accessory.
Thimbles come in plastic, leather, and metal.
It’s personal preference, you will probably have to try a few to decide which is right for you.
In my experience, using a thimble with poise takes a little practice, so don’t give up too soon.
Dritze Comfort Thimble from Blick Art Supply
Tweezers
A pair of fine-tipped scissors will come in handy to pick out bits of thread, pull stitches or untangle ends.
Thread conditioner
Thread conditioner is applied to embroidery threads before stitching.
It comes in silicone-based and beeswax-based versions.
Thread conditioner is not necessary, but it can help make stitching easier and smoother.
It may reduce tangling and knotted threads.
If you’re having trouble with a particular combination of fabric and thread, you might try using thread conditioner to see if it helps.
Thread Conditioner (Beeswax) on Etsy
Pinking shears
Pinking shears create a zigzag pattern on the edge of the fabric and prevent fraying.
These are nice for preparing the edges of your embroidery cloth.
As you handle and move your project around, the edges of the fabric can start to get a little tattered, but a pinked edge will go a long way to keep things neat.
Pro Tip: Guard your pinking shears and only use them on fabric. Cutting anything else, including paper, dulls the scissors, making it “eat” the fabric. The opposite effect you’re going for.
Protect your pinking shears and get them professionally sharpened at your local fabric store when they start to dull. They will last for many years.
Pinking Shears from Blick Art Supply (Fiskars brand)
Variety of hoop sizes
Once the embroidery bug bites, one hoop size, much less one hoop will probably not suffice.
I keep multiple projects going at one time and keep collecting more sizes, shapes, and colors.
My favorite brand is the Nurge graduated hoops in bright colors. These hoops hold projects without slipping and sagging. They also look fun and inspiring when displayed in your craft area.
More transfer options
Transfer techniques depend a lot on the type of fabric you are working with, combined with the intricacy of the pattern.
If the transfer basics suggested above aren’t doing the trick, consider adding these tools to your arsenal:
- Frixion pens:
These unique pens create lines that disappear when exposed to heat, such as from an iron. - Specialty transfer pens:
There are many specialty transfer pens available, such as white or metallic pens for transferring designs onto dark fabrics, or pens with extra-fine tips for detailed work.
White Heat Erasable Pen from Etsy
- Wash away stabilizer:
Transfer the design onto the stabilizer paper with any pen, iron or pin the stabilizer to your fabric, and stitch through the paper. When you’re done, the paper dissolves and washes away from the finished piece.
Wash Away Embroidery Paper from Blick Art Supply
- Tear away stabilizer:
It works similarly to washing away, except when you’re done, you’ll gently tear the paper from the finished piece. You will probably have to gently pick bits that get caught under the thread—that’s where a tweezer comes in handy.
Tear-away stabilizer is perfect for very delicate fabrics that can’t get wet.
Tear Away Stabilizer from Etsy
Needle minder
Over time, you will collect needles.
A needle organizer/minder is handy to keep them visible and keep others safe.
Embroidery tools to upgrade your experience
Embroidery hoop stand
I recently graduated to an embroidery stand.
Too often, I wished I had a third hand, and that’s exactly what a hoop stand is.
Plus, I like to work while watching TV. The stand is easy to move but doesn’t get lost in my pile of couch quilts and pillows.
Another bonus of using a hoop stand is that I’m not touching the edges of my design nearly as much, reducing the oils that transfer from my hands no matter how clean they are.
I decided on the Nurge floor stand. I love, love, love the Nurge embroidery hoops and figured anything they make would be awesome. And it is!
Nurge Adjustable Embroidery Stand on Etsy
Storage solutions
There are infinite ways to organize and store embroidery supplies.
Check out our post dedicated to all things embroidery storage:
Embroidery Floss Organization – Tips, Tricks and Must-Have Supplies
Lighting and magnifiers
Good lighting is obviously not a luxury item when it comes to needlework. You’ll need some source of bright light – be it a window or a good table lamp.
What I’m talking about here is a dedicated needleworker lamp with or without a magnifier attached.
Some embroidery hoops include a built-in light source and magnifier, or you can purchase a separate unit.
If you are a fiber arts dabbler, this is a worthwhile investment. You will wonder how you ever lived without.
The ultimate is to purchase a full-color spectrum light, which helps a lot when your craft involves accurate color work.
The most popular full-spectrum craft lights come from OttLight. If you want to splurge, I suggest you shop the sales at one of the big box craft stores or try using the 40% off coupon they all offer.
Magnifying Lamp from Blick Art Supply
Lightbox
This is defiantly not a must-have, a sunny window will accomplish the same thing.
But, if you do a lot of transfer work, stitch intricate designs, or work after dark (making the window method useless), you will be well served by a lightbox.
Like an excellent light, once you have a lightbox at your disposal, you’ll wonder how you lived your crafty life without it.
LightTracer Light Box from Blick Art Supply
More scissors
Like needles and hoops, I haven’t found my saturation point for ‘too many scissors’.
You can add different types of scissors to your toolbox.
Curved scissors can be very handy.
Specialty Curved Scissors from Etsy
I like to keep a pair of tiny scissors with each project. I’m never hunting when I want to be stitching.
These little scissors are inexpensive and come in many fun colors and motifs.
Specialty threads
I imagine most embroidery stitchers begin with cotton floss and traditional embroidery or cross-stitch style projects.
But that’s just the beginning. There are many specialty forms of embroidery and many unique threads.
Here are some examples—even if you don’t practice a specific style of embroidery, such as goldwork, you might want to try incorporating specialty threads into your design.
- Specialty pearl cotton:
There are many unique types of pearl cotton available, such as twisted or metallic varieties, which can add extra interest and texture to your embroidery. - Crewel wool:
This soft, lightly twisted wool thread is perfect for creating textured, dimensional stitches and is a great choice for beginners. - Silk threads:
Silk threads have a beautiful sheen and are available in a wide range of colors. They’re perfect for adding a touch of luxury to your embroidery. - Ribbon embroidery threads:
These beautiful ribbons, which come in various widths and materials, such as silk or organza, can be used to create stunning, dimensional embroidery. - Novelty threads:
Many unique novelty threads, such as fuzzy, bouclé, or even glow-in-the-dark threads, are available, which can add extra interest and texture to your projects.
Specialty Embroidery Threads – the best place to search for unique threads is Etsy. You’ll find natural dyed, silk, ribbon, and wool threads galore.
Speciality needles
Similar to specialty threads, as you expand your repertoire of embroidery techniques and disciplines, you might want to try specialty needles.
- Beading needles:
With a very thin shaft and a small eye, beading needles are perfect for attaching beads, sequins, and other small embellishments to your embroidery.
Beading Needles from Blick Art Supply
- Curved needles:
These needles have a unique curved shape that allows you to create precise stitches in hard-to-reach areas or on curved surfaces. - Specialty needles:
Many specialty needles are designed for specific techniques, such as ribbon embroidery needles (with a large eye and a sharp tip).
A well-stocked embroidery toolbox is the secret sauce for creating beautiful, high-quality embroidery.
Experiment with different tools and materials to find what works best for you. Everyone has their own preferences and techniques, and part of the joy of embroidery is discovering your own unique style.
With the right supplies, tools, and materials, you’ll be well on your way to creating stunning embroidery that you can be proud of.
So gather your tools, choose your project, and start stitching – the world of embroidery awaits!