"Relaxing activity", pshht.

July 15, 2020 2:41 PM

I'm having trouble starting an embroidery project. Does my kit suck or am I doing something wrong?

So, I bought a cheap embroidery kit at Walmart to pass time during quarantine and to relearn stitch types, etc. However, I can barely start it - it's really, really hard to get the needle through the fabric! Puncturing it goes okay, but I really have to tug to get the eye through, and often the needle just slips through my fingers halfway through the fabric, and I end up messing up the tension of the hoop. It's super frustrating!

The fabric appears to be a tight woven cotton or something. Is that the issue? Do I just need to develop better gripping strength/build up some finger calluses?

posted by Paper rabies to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (20 answers total)

I can't tell about the kit, but try wearing a rubber glove or similar on your needle-pulling hand
posted by runincircles at 2:46 PM on July 15, 2020

Does the needle possibly have an eye that's too large? If you could share a photo of the fiber and the needle, that might shed some light.
posted by Lexica at 2:49 PM on July 15, 2020

Yeah, change the needle; with tight cotton, you'll need a smaller or sharper one.
posted by Melismata at 2:52 PM on July 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

The needle might be too big for the weave. If you can try a finer-gauge needle it might help. But you should not have to yank anything through the fabric—that way lies madness and repetitive stress injuries.
posted by corey flood at 2:53 PM on July 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

There might also be too many strands of embroidery thread on the needle. Unless the pattern specifies otherwise, I usually use two or maybe three strands of the six.
posted by corey flood at 2:54 PM on July 15, 2020 [12 favorites]

Looking closely, it looks like you are using all six strands of the embroidery thread.
posted by mochapickle at 2:58 PM on July 15, 2020

Yep, you're using too many strands. Easy peasy to switch that out now. Good luck!
posted by BlahLaLa at 3:23 PM on July 15, 2020

Two strands of thread only!
posted by gryphonlover at 3:27 PM on July 15, 2020

Response by poster: Okay, it sounds like there may be a few problems going on!
- I'm using the needle that came with the kit, but it seems really big for the fabric weave (photo attempt)
- You may notice in the previous photo that I'm using 6 threads; I ,was just following the directions on this. I'll ignore that and use fewer.
posted by Paper rabies at 3:46 PM on July 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

That also looks like a very dull needle. It would work with needlepoint when you are stitching in a mesh but not fabric.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:05 PM on July 15, 2020

If the pattern calls for 6 strands, you should probably use 6 strands.

Something that occurs to me is that in cross stitching and embroidery it's usually necessary to separate the strands of floss then recombine them, regardless of how many strands the pattern calls for using. Here's a short video showing how to separate floss strands.

Separating the strands lets them move more freely against each other and lie more smoothly. In this case, it might also help get them through the fabric.

Another thought is to play around with how you're moving the needle through the fabric. It's hard to describe in words, but I find that moving the needle smoothly until just before the eye gets to the surface, then giving it a swift tug for that last millimeter/fraction of an inch, can help it move through the taut fabric (with a kind of *poink!* feeling).
posted by Lexica at 4:24 PM on July 15, 2020 [4 favorites]

Upon looking at the kit photo, you need a needle that is sharp but that also has a very large eye to handle 6 strands of floss because I don't see that design working out using fewer strands. I'm not sure this kit is tenable. A slender "sewing" needle with a large clump of floss at the end is still going to be tough to punch through tightly woven fabric and doing so will stress the floss. I mean, you could pull the needle through from underneath with a pair of pliers.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:31 PM on July 15, 2020 [1 favorite]

A thimble could help push the needle through. I like to wear thimbles on my thumb, ymmv. Looking at the kit photo, you probably do need the tight weave and all the strands of thread to get the puffy effect.
posted by momus_window at 6:08 PM on July 15, 2020

I think the floss looks a lot like perle cotton rather than embroidery floss to me. If you can't easily separate it into six strands, then you have perle. Regardless, I think you need a tapestry needle- they have bigger eyes for pulling the thread through.
posted by dogmom at 6:09 PM on July 15, 2020

Try using a thimple to push the needle through.
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 6:10 PM on July 15, 2020

Yeah, I never understood thimbles when I assumed they were to protect the finger from the pointy end of the needle. Then I was taught that you use them to push the needle on the eye end and it made all the difference!
posted by soelo at 9:18 PM on July 15, 2020 [2 favorites]

It looks like the needle that came with the kit will be helpful when you’re working the woven wheel stitches. For those, you’ll want a blunt/dull-tipped needle because you’re weaving through the spokes, staying on top of (not going through) the fabric. For the rest of the stitches in the instructions, you’ll need an actual embroidery needle, which is sharp (a better explanation can be found here: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/needles-for-embroidery-1177599). Do try separating the strands of floss, though, and I would say that stitching with no more than 4 strands when the kit calls for 6 should be just fine. I’m a pretty dedicated embroiderer, and I personally find stitching with all 6 strands just...unpleasant. Hard on the fingers, and the end result is often really wonky, with stitches not laying as flat as I would like. You can get a nice, thick line with 4 strands.
posted by 2or3things at 9:26 PM on July 15, 2020 [6 favorites]

For the roses could six strands (doubled) mean three strands pulled evenly through the needle so six strands get embroidered, but you only need to get six strands through the fabric instead of 12?
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 7:36 AM on July 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

I embroider with six strands all the time, no problem.

Get a better needle, and get a thimble. This is literally why thimbles were invented.
posted by bile and syntax at 10:10 AM on July 16, 2020

Response by poster: Alright, it looks like this craft won't be completed during quarantine after all! But at least I'll know what I'm doing once my thimble and needles arrive :) thanks everyone!
posted by Paper rabies at 9:24 AM on July 17, 2020