Supplies for hand embroidery

Embroidery hoop - size is usually specified in the pattern, or it’s up to you to choose. Get a hoop with a tightening screw (wooden or plastic). It's better to buy wooden hoops offline to examine and check quality. Outer and inner rings should fit tightly. There shouldn't be any holes or bumps. Plastic hoops don't have these problems. They usually fit tightly and have a lot of different colors.

Brands: Darice (wooden), Loops and Threads (bamboo), DMC (plastic, bamboo), Prym (wooden), Nurge (wooden). Where to buy: your local store, Etsy.com, Walmart, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon.com, dmc.com, sublimestitching.com. Good 6-inch hoops on Amazon: https://amzn.to/39qEpvj

Scissors - to cut fabric. When you’re starting, any sharp and good working scissors would be fine Professional Scissors by Prym: https://amzn.to/3rxVdXe Embroidery scissors Stork, gold-plated https://amzn.to/31sr01j

Needle - needles for embroidery are different. They have a large eyelet, and you can insert thicker threads, more strands at once. I usually use tapestry needles DMC size (Nr) 26 or 28, which have a round end. The common choice is also embroidery/crewel needles size(Nr) 5. They have sharp ends and a smaller eyelet, but sometimes they are necessary - if you’re making small details or embroidering on a thick fabric.

Brands: DMC, John James, Bohin, Thomas & Sons, Prym Where to buy: your local store, Etsy.com, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, dmc.com, sublimestitching.com, Amazon.com Tapestry needles by Prym with a round end Nr. 24-26: https://amzn.to/3dduCtu Embroidery Needles by Bohin No. 3 – 9: https://amzn.to/3u3Xqvq

Fabric - cotton, cotton for patchwork, Kona cotton, linen, old linens. Better if it's dense and not stretchy. Keywords for cotton search: quilting cotton, cotton for patchwork. One more way to check if it’s a good choice - the weight of the fabric. 140-200g/sqm for cotton and cotton+linen blends is great. Kona is the name of a brand, and this cotton is available almost everywhere. Linen is good for not very detailed embroideries because of the smaller thread count. I included the common choice of fabric in this list. Of course, there are many more options, but these are the safest for beginners

Where to buy: your local store, Etsy.com, Walmart, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon.com. Linen in 4 colors, 50cm: https://amzn.to/3gHzH0z 50 pieces of multicolored cotton 25x25cm: https://amzn.to/3gLSl7t

Thread for embroidery - cotton mouline 6 stranded floss

Brands: DMC (color tables in my patterns made for DMC palette), Anchor, Sublime Stitching, Cosmos, Gamma, Madeira and more Where to buy: your local store, Etsy.com, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon.com, dmc.com, sublimestitching.com. The same about thread: you can use yarn, metallic thread and lot’s of other options. I’m including thread for beginners in this list

Transfer devices: Pilot (brand) heat-erasable frixion pen or water-soluble pen. They are used to transfer designs on fabric or to draw designs before embroidery. And then you can erase the lines. A water-soluble pen allows to rinse the markings out with cold water at the end. Or use heat erasable pilot frixion pen. It erases with an iron or hairdryer. Be careful, lines may reappear in cold weather (below 0 degree celsius or under direct light) Check out how it works in my Instagram

The regular pencil or carbon paper would work fine, but there’s a chance you won't be able to wash them off. So you'll need to draw carefully and cover lines with thread. At first, try how it works on a little piece of fabric - maybe your pencil or lines from carbon paper will wash off. Where to buy: your local craft or stationery store, Etsy.com, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon.com, Sublime Stitching. PILOT FriXion Point pen: https://amzn.to/3m4Mqej Prym air erasable marker: https://amzn.to/3u6iQrw Prym water soluble marker: https://amzn.to/3fmSLAt The places for the rest of the supplies will be the same.

Glue for fabric or glue gun - for finishing embroidery. I love to leave the back open, so it’s my favourite way to finish. I use a glue gun Where to buy: your local craft store, Etsy.com, Joann's, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Amazon.com, Sublime Stitching. Craft glue gun: https://amzn.to/34Ld5VT Transparent textile glue: https://amzn.to/3vSCCIl

Seam reaper - in case you’ve made a mistake. You can remove stitches as they were never there. Also, snips are handy for cutting threads in case you don’t want to look for any fancy scissors Prym Ergonomics Seam Ripper: https://amzn.to/39kE259

Scissors for fabric, but use it only for fabric to keep them sharp

Pin cushion to store needles Magnetic pin cushion by Prym: https://amzn.to/3ijtUPp

Bobbins and boxes for thread storage. I find it more comfortable to wind thread on the bobbins; it's easier to store. In the boxes, I can see the colors. My threads are organised by color in the DMC color chart. When I take out the color, I place a paper with its number in its place. So I could place the color back when I embroidered everything I needed Boxes and bobbins for thread: https://amzn.to/3vRFYLL

Color chart with thread samples - great help for choosing colors for the projects Color chart for DMC thread with thread samples: https://bit.ly/3cjY6Gp Color chart for DMC thread with printed colors: https://amzn.to/2RlbH9a