Reddit mentions: The best embroidery books

Check Craftster.com Such a GREAT website! I frequently just go to look at stuff people have made, and always find new and motivating things there. The people there are really nice!

A good sewing machine is always appreciated, and a serger is expensive and has a steep learning curve, but is a really great tool for anyone who sews a LOT.

Check with local sewing machine repair shops. They usually have good older machines for fairly little. Also check yard sales and Craigslist, etc. A lot of machines are sold with VERY low mileage, I got a NICE Singer 99K for about $75. It only goes forward and backward, but it sews through multiple layers of heavy fabrics without a stutter, which is useful for my needs. I also have a newer Singer that does zigzag stitch. Most people who do "standard" sewing or very little don't usually need the fancy expensive machines with programs and embroidery.

Sewing machines are pretty easy to use, once you know how to run the thread on and load and insert the bobbin. Then you set the stitch size and make sure the tension is ok, and then press the accelerator! I started using a machine when I was 12, it's fairly easy! I rarely change the settings for what I do on my machine, mostly hemming pants...

Gift cards to fabric stores, or maybe a class in pattern reading and drafting, tailoring, basic clothes making are great ways to help her. I know Joanne's (a major chain store for crafts and sewing) give lessons for ALL levels of sewing.

Wearing what she makes you and being willing to stand while she pins you up are both GREAT ways to show appreciation and support for ANY seamstress, as well as being truthful and supportive of clothes she makes for herself!

Some good books are http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Beyond-Fashion-Transform-T-shirt/dp/0761154108/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260261792&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Sew-Subversive-Dirty-Fabulous-Fashionista/dp/1561588091/ref=pd_sim_b_6

http://www.amazon.com/Rip-Deconstruct-Reconstruct-Clothes-Dreams/dp/B00150GHRY/ref=pd_sim_b_7

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Yourself-Clothes-Patternmaking-Simplified/dp/0307451399/ref=pd_sim_b_14

Books in a similar vein are of course listed on those pages, you might find more titles that appeal to her. AlterNation books are good, as well as a basic sewing book like these.

An adjustable sewing dummy is VERY helpful. I found one for plus sizes (14 and up) as well as ones for "regular sized" gals.

If she lives with you, or has/wants a craft room, making her a storage area or buying shelves or cabinets for the supplies she'll need is a gift that will pay off for a LONG time!

Once she's up and running, you might offer her a trip to the closest garment district to where you live. New York and Los Angeles both have great garment districts, where fabric and supplies can be purchased for cheap cheap!

I did get a design-related degree, so I do consider myself an artsy person, but I never learned about textiles formally. I'm Korean-American and I've always loved traditional clothing, so it's just a hobby for me, haha. And wow, I'll be honest, I wasn't sure anybody would be willing to drop that kind of money on my recommendation XD ! I'm sure you'll love it.

Yes, that book is VERY expensive, and I have yet to get it myself, but it's high on my wishlist. I actually bought one of the author's first books on East Asian embroidery to get a taste of what her other books might offer, and I thought it was really good information for the price. It's from 1980 though, so the age does show.

http://www.amazon.com/Oriental-Embroidery-Young-Yang-Chung/dp/0684162482/ref=la_B001JXS6HQ_1_3s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419142855&sr=1-3

It's mostly black and white, and the unhappy reviewer in right in saying that many of the black and white photographs can be difficult to make out details. But the color pages in the middle are good, and the text had enough detailed information on the history, symbolism, and context of embroidery that it was easily worth the less than $10 with shipping. I loved that it had a visual appendix in the back of common groups of motifs used in embroidery and their meanings. The book uses specific famous examples from each culture to give the reader an idea of the culture's unique embroidery: Chinese dragon robe, the Japanese kimono, and the Korean bridal dress. They also have chapters on home accessories, clothing accessories, and screens and banners. The book does a lot of walking you through how the things were made and the techniques used, almost like step-by-step tutorials. It's not an exhaustive book, but it's a great start if you don't mind the unflattering black-and-white photographs and heavy reliance on the text.

http://www.amazon.com/Painting-Needle-Learning-Embroidery-Young/dp/0810945703/ref=asap_B001JXS6HQ?ie=UTF8

This is another, much more modern book from her (2003) that's also very affordable, but I believe this book is also more focused on the actual crafting of embroidery for embroiderers who wish to try it themselves. I have yet to get this book, but it's also on my list.

I'm glad to see other people who are interested in these topics like me =) . I'm hoping to go to Korea very soon with the EPIK program, and I'm looking forward to being able to see all these things in person at their museums and market. Good luck!

Mine aren't 92 year old grandma quality, but this might give you some idea.

• First you start with a center core. This can be many things, but mine tend to be fabric scraps stuffed in a bit of nylon pantyhose. I don't have a picture of this step.
  
• Then you wrap the whole thing tightly in yarn making sure to keep it nice and round.
  
• You wrap your yarn ball in thread. This gives a good base for the embroidery to be stitched to.
  
• Then you mark out your guidelines. This process can be tricky for complex designs. It involves a strip of paper with careful measurements and colored pins to help you know where to wrap your thread to next.
  
• Then you start your embroidery! For complex designs like this I also like to use colored pins to show me where I want what color. I didn't want two stars of the same color right next to each other on this one.
  
• Keep embroidering until your design is done. This one actually isn't finished, but it looks finished enough for purposes of step by step instructions. I'm adding some silver designs in between the stars though.
  
  Hope that helps! This website is a great resource and if you want to go further with it and would like to get a book I really liked this one.

This one is pre-printed in the fabric, but you can also use a transfer that irons on and washes out or a pen to draw on directly that washes out.

If you’re new I definitely recommend seeing what books your library offers on the subject, it helped me feel comfortable with the process before diving right in. I liked this book I borrowed from the library. It had great instructions and pictures which I found really helpful as a beginner as well as this.

I just started as well and for my first I just made a simple geometric design and did the whole thing with the satin stitch (just looping the floss in straight lines to fill it in.) It's the most basic stitch ever but embroidery is so fun and easy that it just looks great no matter how simple it is. Seriously: it's so much easier than it even looks. Anyone can do it. Other than satin stitch, chain stitch is a great one to know. Another tip is to not work with too long of floss at a time. Shorter is faster and easier to work with. Arms length is a good rule.


Also I highly recommend you get a needle threader like this (makes threading a needle SO much simpler):


https://www.embroidery.com/product.ec?productID=151811&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlIXfBRCpARIsAKvManypdM2D16hoTntOhDOklO4PNEHBQhwyaVM1VCya7THaoc7xm7uMKEEaAnHCEALw_wcB&productID=151811&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlIXfBRCpARIsAKvManypdM2D16hoTntOhDOklO4PNEHBQhwyaVM1VCya7THaoc7xm7uMKEEaAnHCEALw_wcB


And I like to keep this thimble handy in case I have trouble poking the needle through or if my finger gets sore:


Clover 614C Leather Coin Thimble https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YZ8PE4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_APB4BbFMSRFM1


This book has a handy section of stitches with names I flip through sometimes that you can mostly figure out from looking at them, but otherwise you can just Google them for more info. Other than that it had some tips on mounting, framing, other little things you wouldnt think of like how to prevent fraying of fabric edges and even some starter ideas in the back. I like it just for the section of pictured stitches with names alone that I bookmarked for my future convenience:


Stitch-opedia: The Only Embroidery Reference You'll Ever Need https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312611595/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_h0B4BbBE49BDQ


Other than that just buy a cheap embroidery starter kit off of Amazon and draw your design straight on your fabric (they make temporary markers that can be rinsed off with water when done.) You can also use a light board to trace a drawing onto fabric after fleshing it out on paper, or even just buy transfer patterns to set onto your fabric if you don't like to draw.

Selected Poems: With Parallel German Text to help me learn German. I love poetry and having the English and German text side by side would help.

Or The Stitch Bible because I really really want to learn how to do embroidery (not like I don't have enough hobbies) because it's just so cool what you can make with it. I'm a huge fan of fibre arts, needle work, anything artsy done with fabric and fibre, really. This would help me expand on that.

I thought this book provided great information on what is needed to digitize a design. Talks all about planning out the design & standards for choosing underlay to support the design http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0896894924/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Go on facebook & look up "Machine Embroidery Free designs" group - they post lots of freebies from a variety of online embroidery shops.

There is also a facebook group called "Brother PE Embroidery" that can help her thru software or machine questions...

If you search for machine embroidery - there are tons of groups on facebook. All are pretty helpful.

Not OP but I recently got into embroidery, as well, and I really love this book! It goes through a lot of the most common stitches and gives cute and sassy pattern examples for each one. I recommend it!

Oh I have the book this pattern came from! It's on my list of things to stitch! Yours came out super pretty, nice work! The book is called Embroidered Mandalas - 25 Iron-On Mandala Designs to Stitch, Color, and Share, I found it on Amazon, here is the link for anyone who wants it, some very nice designs in there! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Embroidered-Mandalas-Iron-Mandala-Designs/dp/1454710411

Adding “botanical” or “botanical print” may help.

For gardener friends I typically gift a Véronique Enginger design. The French Needle has several kits available.

LoLaLotta Shop has similar designs to Véronique Enginger on Etsy.

If you want to recreate the herb pattern you found with flowers, your best bet may be to check, likely older, cross stitch books. You can add text to label each plant. Your library may be a good source of books. Some examples from Amazon are here, here, and here.

>Do you think it's possible for me to learn hand stitching online, though?

I think so and every decent beginner or reference sewing book illustrates stitches. Here's a guide from a tailoring forum on how to practice. Here'sanother book you might like. But it's always better to have someone experienced look at your work. For example, I took a class that had some hand sewing exercises and was convinced that I'd followed the instructions to the letter. I was very careful and slow. The teacher told me that they were too tight. There are things that you simply won't pick up on if it's just you and a computer monitor.

I wasn't sure if one of my items would count so that is why there are two items. If it does count I'll let you pick which one you like the best.

Dog Jersey for $19.99

Doodle Stitching: The Holiday Collection for $13.56 it is a preorder comes out September 2. I really enjoy this author and her designs. I have her other 3 Doodle Stitching books. :)

I’m so happy your date went well! She sounds so sweet. 😊 If she likes crafts in addition to comics this could be a really cute gift:


https://www.amazon.de/Marvel-Universe-Felt-Kits/dp/1626868352

I highly recommend this book! It has tons of relatively true to life flower patterns (several with labels). I made one of these for a gardener friend and she loved it!

This book is an excellent resource, if you want to use an actual book. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/1863514260/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Colour Confidence in Embroidery by Trish Burr


Also, DMC makes a color card that has actual thread in it. I love being able to consult it so I can see if I have something similar enough already in my stash.

i like a lot of old/antique/primitive patterns but big samplers and ornate works aren't really my style so i like to pull smaller motifs and stitch them by themselves; i feel like it gives them a fresh, modern twist that fits my aesthetic. i've done a number of them but these are the first to be ironed and framed. eventually i plan to hang them along with some other very simple works as a gallery wall.

the small bird i found as a chart on pinterest. the other two came from books of charted designs i found on amazon; either this one or that one:)

all are stitched on 28 count linen with 2 strands of floss.

Books!

Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Needlework

Embroidery Techniques and Patterns

A-Z of Embroidery Stitches

A-Z of Embroidery Stitches 2

Color Confidence in Embroidery

Needle Painting Embroidery: Fresh Ideas for Beginners

This is nothing close to an exhaustive list of all my needlework books, but I think these are the relevant ones for you. =)

Definitely look into her work. She’s a true genius. I recommend these books the most, https://www.amazon.com/Needle-Painting-Embroidery-Beginners-Milner/dp/1863514201/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?keywords=trish+burr+embroidery+books&qid=1565936902&s=gateway&sprefix=trish+bu&sr=8-2

https://www.amazon.com/Colour-Confidence-Embroidery-Milner-Craft/dp/1863514260/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=trish+burr+embroidery+books&qid=1565936918&s=gateway&sprefix=trish+bu&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Short-Stitch-Embroidery-Collection/dp/1863513523/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=trish+burr+embroidery+books&qid=1565936918&s=gateway&sprefix=trish+bu&sr=8-5

Here’s her website, https://trishbembroidery.com

Consider ordering a kit such as this one. I really like this reference book. It's great for beginners and I still consult it!

Everyone already suggested backstitching the outline so i will say that i bought this book and find it very helpful. It has a section with a ton of different stitches and how to do them as well as some basic techniques.

Edit: looking again I would say that for satin stitching, if you get gaps between the threads it’s ok to go back and fill in more.

The Stitch Bible by Haxell is my go-to book. The pictures are clear and in color. The only downside is it isn't spiral bound, so that sucks.

I also use the Mary Thomas Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches [Amazon link] (http://www.amazon.com/Mary-Thomass-Dictionary-Embroidery-Stitches/dp/1570761183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420482775&sr=8-1&keywords=embroidery+book), as well as The Stich-O-Pedia other Amazon link. The Stitch-O-Pedia is spiral bound and is fantastic, if terribly organized.

My real recommendation is to go to your local library. Check online for a book you're thinking of getting, then see if your library has it. Get the book first from the library to see if it's worth spending the money on. I've saved myself several disappointments by doing this (the Doodle Stitching books for example).

I have this edition. It is fantastic.

Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570761183/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UH2JDbC9Q85PP

Also check out your library. I've always found that no matter where I live, there are always lots of good embroidery books to peruse when you are getting started.

There is a book I bought on Amazon to help me with stitches. It taught me alot and I created a piece just on types of stitches.

Embroidery: A Step-by-Step Guide to More than 200 Stitches https://www.amazon.com/dp/1465436030/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_fcQ4Cb41S201C

I have this kind of general embroidery book, she might like something like it if she's just starting out.

I have this book and I really like it.

Hi, the pattern is from the book called: Embroidered Mandalas: 25 Iron-On Mandala Designs to Stitch, Color, and Share

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1454710411/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_PaOQCbZTWAAC9

Edgy Embroidery! Here is the Amazon Link

Book: Edgy Embroidery

Una roba tipo: subversive cross stitching oppure not your mama's stitching
o ancora anticraft

I don't, sorry. Amazon has a "Look Inside" for the Thomas book, though, so you can check it out a little:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1570761183/ref=rdr_ext_tmb