This section will take you through various projects that will help you learn hand embroidery, print patterns, and experiment with modern embroidery. Just select what you want and have fun!
About Sarah
Sarah has been researching and sharing hand embroidery lessons for over 17 years, making it accessible to everyone around the globe. She was also an external guide and expert to the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) students. Sarah has authored 7 hand embroidery eBooks for learners of various levels.
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Learn hand embroidery stitches through step-by-step photo illustrations with tips, techniques, projects, and patterns.
Check out our embroidery book store for more books on hand embroidery.
Inspiring wreath video
Recent Articles
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About the Fairy Lights Stitch The Fairy Lights Stitch…
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I have been a fan for some time now. I would like to purchase your embroidery book for left handers. However it is difficult for a person of my age to pay for the ink required to download the e-books. With inflation the ink required to print the book even if I can find it is now $140.00 dollars. The book has many pages to down load. Until I can find it in my budget ….I can’t afford it now. Love your way of instructions. I did down load one e-book which took quite a lot of ink.
Hi juby……tried to do this by picking up ur design frm pinterest……just sharing it with u🙂
I have finished your portrait * Hope you like it. Thank you again for your wonderful tutorial site. It not only teaches multitudes of great stitches but also gives people the chance to make something beautiful.
Dear Sylvia,
I love the portrait. Thank you so much for spending your time to make it! It is beautiful!
Love,
Sarah
P.S: I will try to upload it for you.
Hi, I embroidered this piece as hoop art over a year ago and I’m thinking of re-doing it on a t-shirt but i cannot remember what stitch i used for the eye line. Could you help me out please or do you know of any other forums I could go to for help? Thank you for your assistance
Hi Rien!
I suppose you are asking me the stitches done in black thread.
There are two stitches used.
The one on the top…the thin straight one is the Back Stitch: https://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/back-stitch/back-stitch/
The other twisted one is the Rope Stitch: https://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/chain-stitch/rope-stitch/
I hope this helps. Best wishes.
Sarah
hi yes it was the rope stitch i was unsure about, thanks so much for your help!
Hope you like the house. My daughter, Jane wanted me to embroider a horse for her……….Hope the photo comes out OK. This one took a while to make…………………Thanks again, Sarah for your pictorial assistance. YOU ARE THE BEST! Again, the picture of my work would not take. I’ll send it to you in another way.
I totally love this horse, Sylvia. It is perfect! Love the texture created by the stitch.
Hope you like the house. My daughter, Jane wanted me to embroider a horse for her……….Hope the photo comes out OK. This one took a while to make…………………Thanks again, Sarah for your pictorial assistance. YOU ARE THE BEST!
Hello again. While I was waiting for new embroidery floss, I made these ear rings for my daughter-in-law. She has recently received a Mc Car, so I thought I would make her some Mc Caw ear rings. Yes! You can make embroidery earrings. Let me know if you like them.
Wow! absolutely beautiful! I love them! Thank you so much for sharing and inspiring!
Thought you may want to see my latest embroidery….. This one took a while. One note: I found that, if you are working with light colored yarn, like yellow, etc….may be best to put it in last. You will see in the picture…I did my French Knots first. They got a bit dirty looking. Anyway…….THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR BESUTIFUL EXAMPLES…………..GREAT! AGAIN………I TRIED TO PUT MY PHOTO IN BUT IT DID NOT WORK… SO, I WILL SEND IT TO YOU IN ANOTHER WAY.
Thank you, Sylvia, for sharing this beautiful work. I find it very neat. That is is a good tip- to use the light colors towards the end of the project. So happy to see your stitching every time! 🙂
I finished my Koi Fish. This is to go on the other side of the pillow with the Ming Tree that is pictured above. It took me a while to do this one as it is also on dark blue velvet with gold metallic thread. I tried to put the picture in her but it would not take so I’m sending you the photo of my Koi fish in another way. Hope you can add it to this note. In the short time I’ve been embroidering, I’ve found it to be fascinating…………no end to what one can do with thread – thanks to your pictorial images.
Dear Sylvia,
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful piece of work. Absolutely love it. It is easy to work with metallic threads and you have done this koi wonderfully!!
Thank you very much for putting my Koi fish in here. More than a lot – I appreciate your comments…..and your tutorials…. You are doing a GREAT job with your on line teaching………. I’ll always contribute. Oh! By the way. I have a scrap piece of material that I practice your stitches on…….That way I feel more comfortable when making what I make Thanks again.
!
I always love what you make! 🙂
I finished my Koi fish for the other side of my Ming Tree pillow. It took a while to finish thin one. For me….. gold metallic is hard to work with. Hope you like it. Learned it all from you……………. This is not taking the picture of my Koi fish so, I’ll send it to you in another way. In the short time that I’ve been enjoying embroidery; I’ve found there is a lot you can do with it Thank you again for your pictorial assistance…………….Wonderful.
A beautiful work by Sylvia!
Sylvia, your work is absolutely stunning. I love your ming tree and the colors are a feast to the eyes. Thank you for sharing the pictures on FB. I will upload it here since you are having trouble uploading from your end. THANK YOU for sharing. It will surely inspire many!
Warm regards,
Sarah
I finished my Ming Tree and thought you may want to see. I put it on dark blue velvet and it is done with gold metalic thread. Hope you like it. This is going to be a pillow and I am going to put the lotus flower and Koi fish on the other side. I really like Japanese embroidery and hope I’ve done it justice with my pillow………AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE. WITHOUT YOUR TUTORIALS AND HELP WITH THREAED, I could not have done this……………..
Dear Sylvia,
I absolutely LOVE what you have done!! Hardly looks hand stitched- so beautifully done!! Thank you so much for sharing. This is truly inspiring. The beaded necklace is so cool! I am so glad that you are enjoying hand embroidery. It is always a pleasure to be able to provide hand embroidery projects and be a part of your happiness. Thank YOU! Please keep stitching and keep sharing, and keep safe!
Warmly,
Sarah
Thank you very, very much for your comments. I’ve been looking at all kinds of embroidery an have found lots of inspiration. First, I found some Japanese embroidery and I’m going to try copy a ming tree. Second, I’ve found some antique quilting that has various types of embroidery. I can look at these, then look at what you do and am interested in making some pillows like that also. Thank you again for being here. I can look at these, then look at your stitching tutorials and see how to do them. In know you are an inspiration to a lot of people…………..
I did it! Hope you like my lazy frog king cap. I embroidered the frog and lily pads then made the little beaded necklace, then cut the fabric around it and then glued it onto my hat. I used decoupage to glue it on and it’s staying there very nicely. Sarah… Thanks again for being there for me and for others. The things people in this world are going through right now…. people need to have things to do that make them happy. What I create makes me happy and it also makes the people I send my creations to happy. HAV A GREAT DAY AND DO NOT BE AFRAID TO STEP OUT AND TRY NEW THINGS.
Hello….Below is the smaller peaock for the back of the pillow.. Hope you like it. I’ll also download them both together so you can see. THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR SITE AND FOR BEING HERE. I’VE NEVER HAD SO MUCH HELP IN DOING SOMETHING
Sorry I’m taking up so much room. I’ve learned a lot and hope someone an learn from me too I’m not afraid to start on something big….LOVE YOUR SITE. THANKS AGAIN.
Sylvia, I LOVE the peacock. And you have done such a beautiful job in taking the same peacock and making a smaller version of it! I love the way you have worked the tail. ❤️❤️ Thank you so much for sharing it here. I am so much inspired!
Love,
Sarah
Thank you so very much for putting my Peacock in here. I hope what I’ve done is an inspiration to go ahead and attempt what you think may not be probable. With your great tutorials, makes it easy and rewarding to attempt making things. Thank you, Sarah for being here…and for putting my peacock in your tutorial. I am now making this same peacock for the back of the pillow – only this one will be 4″ high, so I will be changing it a bit. You are great!
Thank YOU, Sylvia or taking the time to share this outstanding and beautiful work with us! I LOVE the way you have used the metallic threads – how exquisite! I am sure many others will be inspired to try this. I am!
We will wait to see the other peacock too!!
I finally finished my peacock – going to be a pillow. I learned a lot. First, I used regular carbon paper to copy the peacock – MISTAKE! I did not know it was not erasable. When you look at my peacock, you can see where I copied and did not embroider. Herrschners has wonderful thread, used perle cotton size 8 and Craftways metallic floss. Second mistake that I did work with – Remember I was waiting for the correct yarn to do my project – I did a lot of the peacock tail with Classic metallic thread…had nothing but trouble all the way through as the little metal threads kept breaking, so – for beginners, I would not recommend that. For the leaves, I wanted them to be dainty, so I used regular sewing machine green thread, cutting it into 4 pieces of the same length. They worked OK for the leaves. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR TUTARALS… looked at them all the way through. You have done a marvelous job with your site and I highly would recommend it to anyone. This being my second attempt at embroidery – hope you like it. YOU ARE THE BEST!…………hope my comments are helpful
