Well if you're like me you've probably looked at embroidery and said "Wow that looks really neat I want to try that!" Then suddenly realized that there's a lot of sewing involved. But don't worry, even if your not slick with a needle and thread I can still teach you a quick and dirty method to embroidering.  

First piece of advice, always start simple! I'm terrible about this myself, I always want to rush ahead. But trust me, it makes such a difference if you start with simple things. 

Take an old pair of jeans and cut them up so that you have good pieces of material to work with. You will need three things start embroidering. Embroidery thread, and embroidery needle and an embroidery Hoop (one of those circle things that holds that material) you don't absolutely need a hoop but it makes life MUCH easier.  

 

Place the hoop around the part of material you want to embroider on. Since your just getting used to embroidering, thread your needle in a way you feel comfortable working.  I suggest the standard way as shown in the image to the right, but you can attach the ends of your thread if you find that it often slips out of the needle. 

 

 

Now we aren't going to sew anything too difficult, just some squares of color. Always start on the "wrong side" of your material. Make a line (not too long) with the thread and push the needle back down through the fabric. Now that you are back on the "wrong side" of that material. There are two things you can do now. The first would be to bring the thread back up directly beside the point where you last brought the needle through. The second would be to bring the thread back beside the original hole to make sort of a loop stitch. The second option will use more thread then the first but I find it to be easier, it also gives the picture a smoother almost bubbled out look. I suggest you make two squares trying both methods to see which one you like best. Do not switch methods in the same section.

After you have practiced making squares you can move on to some actual images. Remember not to jump into anything to difficult. You can draw what you want to embroider directly on the fabric using a fabric marker (or at least a water soluble Crayola marker). I prefer to use a dark, dull, dusty pencil because it comes of easily and if I make a mistake while drawing I can fix it easily. Using a pencil won't let you draw in details but if you learn to just play it by ear then this shouldn't be a problem.

Have fun!

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