This section will introduce you to the different traditional embroideries and give a step-by-step guide to those embroideries. Every culture around the world had developed the art of needlework unique to themselves and laden with historical information. There had also been an exchange of the art of embroidery between cultures and countries over the ages and every time, it evolved into something newer!
The art with thread and needle has been an ongoing and evolving process. While many hand embroidery forms must already be extinct, many others have managed to pull through. Hand embroidery is now evolving with modern expressions. In short, hand embroidery has moved from being a mere necessity to being a form of art as well.
If you are absolutely new to the art of Hand Embroidery, then I recommend you to check the For Hand Embroidery Beginners section first.
Which traditional hand embroidery would you like to explore today?
Sarah has been researching and sharing hand embroidery lessons for over 17 years, making it accessible to everyone around the globe.
Dear Sarah…..
I’m a housewife who’s been very keen in doing the the embroidery…i’ve learnt it during my childhood…..n over the years along with my earlier job…kids n family….i never got chance to practice it or do which i used to enjoy a lot….recently i got a chance of finding out abt ur website accidently….nd guess wt ur work is exactly wt i was looking for…..
hats off to ur effort n patience….i really appreciate ur work…its a really good website…..its helping me a lot to recollect my memory n my lng lost passion.thank u so much….god bless u n ur family…….
Dear Preetha,
We are happy to read you. Thanks. Your appreciation and interest in this art makes all our hard work and effort behind each picture worthwhile. 🙂
I know how family responsibilities can rob you off your hobbies and passions easily. We are only glad that our pages are helping you to get back to what you loved doing once. Best wishes.
it will be helpful if you can mention at the end of each stitch for what designs these stitches can be used.
Dear Parimala,
That is a good suggestion. In many stitches, I usually tell what kind of embroidery that particular stitch is used for, at the beginning. Sometimes, it is in the stitch family description. 🙂
Hej! Thank you for all your detailed lovely photos! I found you trew Pinterest.com. I just bought a pretty litle blouse for a friends newborn baby and now I will make an embrodery on it with this terriffic help. Thanks!
Spring greetings from a sunny Stockholm, Sweden.
Mia
Hey Mia,
🙂 It is nice to have happy learners from lovely places like Sweden too!
We are glad that you are able to stitch for you friends little baby with lessons from our pages. Wishes and greetings to you and your friend.
dear sarah hi
i m interested in kasuti work .pls send me any information if y r having abt the same.
Mrinal,
You can find information on Kasuti in the Kasuti tutorial section.
Hai,
I came across ur website just few days back its quite usefull and the pictures are so clear that it creates interest on seeing. I referred yuor website to my friends who are interested in emby. Thanks a lotttttt
Dear Selvi,
Frequent travels kept me away from giving a quick response. I am glad that you enjoy going through and learnign frmo our pages. 🙂
he sarah i love ur tips i m mini frm. india . i want some video of basic stich can u send me as soon as possible
thanks n u r gr8 designer
ur loving
mini
Thanks Mini. 🙂
Sadly, I do not have any video tutorials at the moment.
please send all types of mirror work embroidery ideas,
sara your work is very super,please give some mirror,and indian embroidery methods
Hello Mahes India,
Thank you. 🙂
I will posting different indian and non indian embroideries. Right now, I am posting a very traditional and old indian embrodiery called Kasuti.
Please check the links on right hand side or click this link:
https://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/hand-embroidery/kasuti
Hi Sarah,
Just found your tutorial on the Fishbone stitch. Thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! I finally get it!!! I appreciate the help.
Elaine
🙂 Thanks Elaine. Happy to know it helped.
Hi Sarah,
A great work ya. Proud to see an Indian and much more a Malayali helping others learn embroidery. Off late I am very much wanting to learn embroidery. I believe your tutorials will help me learn it.
Thankyou once again Sarah.
Regards,
Leema
Thanks Leema 🙂 .
Hope you enjoy learning from our pages.
Dear Sarah,You have done a wonderful job ,I really appreciate your patience and ability.Please let me know if you have it in book form ,if so the name of the book.the language is simple and understandable and the pictures just right please find time to reply I am eighty still embroider and knit
janaki
Dear Janaki ji,
I am totally inspired and happy to know your enthusiasm in hand embroidery, and that too at a grand age like yours. 🙂 It is very rare to see women like you still keeping up with such interests. Hats off to you! I can suppose that you are in good health and wish you the same always.
Your appreciations will be treasured. Thank you. 🙂
As of now, I have no book published, though it is something we wish to do in the near future. We are planning to include some patterns on the website, but that too might take a couple of weeks or even months as some planning is required.
All the best wishes.
sarah,Iam sojourning in usa at present I used to do a lot of needle work but now i knit more and am collecting materials for my daughter who smocks very well and stitches them she is also good at needle craft.As a hobby i collect designs and have a lot of kasuti patterns .i plan to copy all of them and keep it for our personal use on cloth,ihave collected some stitches frosharon b”sdictionaryand there are demonstrations there too.Youtube as also demonstrated kutch work and other good stitches.My blessings to you and I pray that you may be a great lady one dayand your fame and name be spread everywhere.May you be succesful in printing it into a big book and the royalties be overwhelming. I live in chennai and keep a close watch on your success love
patti
Dear patti,
It is wonderful to hear back from you. I am once again happy to hear about all your needle interests. 🙂 I am working on kasuti lessons as of now and will be posting it by next week and the subsequent weeks as a four part lesson.
Would love to keep in touch with you. Your blessings just give us more interest and strength to go ahead with our book project.
sarah
lovely work sarah, I am really amazed at your work Do you have a book I would love to buy one if it is not very costly,wonderful job Itis an achievement surely. Do you have design books too reply
janaki E-mail ID janakipatti@gmail.com
Dear Sarah,
I want to learn kasuti. Which site of yours will help me to learn? Please send me a reply.
Thx,
R Sudha kumar
Dear Sudha,
I am happy about your interest in Kasuti. I am still working on the Kasuti tutorial and will take a month or so before I could put it up on the website. Hopefully, it won’t be too long a wait for you.
Dear Sarah,
Thx sarah for your immediate reply. Your tutorials are great,
I don’t mind waiting for a month or more.
Best Regards,
R Sudha Kumar
hai sarah……nice tutorials….could you pls snd me some embroidery designs to my mail id leji_harty@yahoo.co.in
Hello Liji,
I am planning to put up some patterns for practice on the website, hopefully, soon. You can refer to that. 🙂
Hai Sarah,
Awesome work. Its like a boon to beginners like me. though i have seen umpteen no of articles on embroidery yours is the best as it is extremely userfriendly.
Keep up ur good work.
Take care
Priyadarsini
Thanks Priyadarshini. A lot of stitches are yet to be uploaded…will do it as soon as I get some time off. 😀
You are amazing! =D I just picked up embroidery like a few hours ago on a whim because i had some floss lying around from previous weaving projects, and I LOVE IT! Your tutorials are extremely helpful and informative! You made embroidery very easy for me to learn in just a few minutes with your descriptive photos and everything, i thought i would not get into it if i could not find a way to learn it easy and effortless, but you really made it easy and fun! You are very appreciated! =]
Dear Jessy,
Thanks a lot for all your words. There are more stitch lessons to come up. We had been a bit inactive on teh website of late as we got tied up with having a baby, travelling, shifting our house, settling in etc… I am waiting to get back to posting more stitch lessons soon. 🙂
Thats great! =]
I would love to see you post little projects for us to do that incorporate types on stitches and knots to help become familiar with using them.
hi sarah,
i must thank u first bcoz for creating such a useful site for a housewife like me. i love to stitch, but i dint get a proper guideline. I searched for a long time but just now only i saw ur site. Ur tutorials are really very clear &understandable.
I had one question that did u publish any books on stitch? if so pls let me know, r can u suggest me any good new editions with author name? once again thank u
Dear Priya,
We are so glad that you liked the lessons and that you found it helpful.
As of now, I have not published any books…but maybe in near future. 😀
PS: Appologies for being late to reply, as we were on a long travel till now.
Happy Holidays Sarah… Enjoy the valuable days…..
Hey Jisha,
Thanks. We had a wonderful time. Back to India now…will be back online soon. 🙂
Dear Sarah,
I have one son and two daughters and I live in Negombo.
I have found your tutorials extremely useful and am really grateful to you. They are clear and easy to understand.
My daughter, Shazeenah, and I have learnt and successfully stitched many of the stitches.
I hope and am wishing you success in expanding your knowledge on embroidery.
Congratulations on ur lovely son.
Im thanking u again.
Dear Mrs. Jinnah and Shazeenah,
We are extremely happy to know that you both have learnt to stitch from our tutorials. Like I always say, your words of appreciation makes it all the more worthwhile and inspiring to work more on this tutorial. 🙂
We are, at the moment, a little busy with travels and packing up to go back to india. Will take 4-5 weeks to settle back in. If possible I will be posting a couple of stitches, but it will take me some time before I start posting them on a regular basis.
Thanks a lot for your compliments and wishes. 🙂 I find myself blessed to have a huband like Roxy an an adorable son like Pratya.
PS: It is nice to receive a word from mother and daughter! 😀 I wrote this as a reply to both of you since I realised that you are sharing the same email id.
Dear Sarah,
I am a Sri Lankan.
I find it impossible to express my gratitude fr ur wnderful embroidery wrk and fr ur generosity in spending ur invaluable time to help others.
I hav been searchin online tutorials fr a long time bt was unable to find any. This tutorial is way more helpful than most books becoz it has da color photos of da actual stitch made on fabric by thread in steps as opposed to the black and white diagrams present on most books.
I have some knwledge of some the stitches bt I hav been motivated to stitch much more since I saw the simple and methodical steps that u have shown.
My mom and I find ur wrk very useful.
I saw da photos of ur baby boy. Hes so cute and rosy. Mubarak fr da both of u for ur cute cute baby boy.
Thx to Roxy too fr being supportive and helpful in wat Sarah does coz dats wat any grl wud wish fr.
Once again Shabash aur shukria. Shazeena frm Negombo.
thanks alot dear 🙂 i feel u like a teacher or friend sitting just near by n teaching 🙂 u r simply great 🙂
hi sarah,
how do you start the embroidery – do you knot the thread at the end of one strand of thread?????
Hello Sandra,
To begin any embroidery or stitch, you need to knot the thread at one end. This knot will secure the thread to the fabric when the needle is pulled out. There are very few exceptions to this- when the embroidery is of a ‘reversible’ kind and the knots need to be avoided to keep the reverse side neat. Hope this helps.
hey :-),
how many strands of thread we use for embroidery??
Hello Siji,
For my illustrations, I have used 3 strands of anchor threads. There in no hard and fast rule on how many strands need to be used…it all depends on the fabric, the stitch and how you want the embroidery to look like. The general suggestion is to keep the threads in coordination with the fabric. So, if you have a thin or light fabric, you can use lesser strands. As the fabric gets thicker, your strands also increase. Hope this helps.
hi, sarah
i am naaz from india and doing a business in hand embroidery and need of a importer in related field i shall be higly thankfull to you for your help
naaz
Dear Sarah,
I love your website. I have just started a quilting project that includes hand embroidery. Your tutorials are great….just like having a teacher in the room with me. I am left-handed so I appreciate seeing the stitches so clearly.
Thank you, Teacher. Roseanna
Dear Roseanna,
It is words from enthusiasts like you that make us feel our work more worthwhile. 🙂 I was a little worried if a left handed student could understand and cope with our tutorials. So, your words makes us happy.
Best wishes!
hi sarah,
i hav never seen such a website 4 embroidery. really u hav a big helping mind. thanx. wow 31 stitches under 1 chain stitch. very eger to know where n how u learned this all. ur photos also nice. u got such a nice husband. jealous on u:-)
Hey Ramya,
Thanks for all the good words. I do a lot of research before sitting to work on a stitch…research in many ways. But with a baby now, it is not possible for me to spend a lot of time on embroidery as such. Hopefully, I will get back to it like before soon. 🙂
You being jealous of me for having a nice husband. That is a complement too! 😉 He is a wonderful being.
Thank you for this wonderful hand embroidery tutorials. i am just a beginner, but the tutorial is very clear for me too…
Once again thank you sarah. i loved your works.
Hey Eswari,
I am glad to hear that the tutorials are clear from a beginner like you. Even though I try to make them as clear as possible, I still doubt, at times, if they are good enough! Enjoy the stitching. 🙂
Thank you for all the hard work that you put into this … you are so amazing!!
Dear Cleo,
Thank you very much. Hope all is well there. 🙂
Hello Sarah I can not say enough to thank you for your hand embroidery tutorials…and the work you put into them.
I know that they are going to help me understand how to do the stitches greatly. I can see how they will help me with creativity also. Thank You so much for your generosity. Linda from Indiana…
Hey Linda,
Your appreciation helps us to keep on with these pages. Hope you enjoy learning from our tutorial.
I was in Carmel, Indiana for a couple of months, a few years back. Where are you located in Indiana?
Best wishes!
Thanks Nala and Swati 🙂
Such a lovely site! Thank you so much.
Could you please share information about how to transfer a pattern onto fabric in a way that does not pemanently mark the fabric. I find little information in the local sewing/craft shops about this.
Dear Evalyn,
I find the use of carbon paper good. The tracing from this paper does not leave any permanent mark on the fabric and is easily washable. You get these carbon papers in various shades. So, the lighter shades can be used to trace on dark fabrics and vice versa.
First, get your design done on a tracing paper, or for that matter any paper. Place the carbon paper between the design paper and the fabric (the carbon side facing down on the fabric).Now, using a saftey pin or any pin of your convenience, fasten down all the three on the corners. Then, using a blunt pencil trace over the design on the paper. The trace of the design will fall on the farbic.
Note that a new carbon paper might leave smudges on the fabric, but it can be easily washed off. Be careful not apply too much pressure with your hands on the new carbon paper to minimise the smudges. Hope this helped. 🙂
Wow a wonderful website for hand embroidery
HI Sara,
its really nice site, quite amazing at last i found this, coz frm past 3 yr in ma education was searchin like this one.. any way keep it up..
Hello Ann,
Thanks! It is encouraging to know that you like our pages. Enjoy stitching. 🙂
Hi Shara,
It is very simple to learn because u have explained very stitches very quot I saw very stitches and very nice and we can stitch on chudidar give me suggestion please and more pattern show us and u r simply super
Dear Sudha,
I am happy that you found our pages good for your embroidery interest 🙂
While making these lessons, I had kept in mind the needs of a beginner, like you. But in case you have doubts, you can certainly contact me. I won’t mind an email, but would suggest you to use the comment section of that particular stitch page…this is because your queries and my response will help many others who will be learning as beginners. In case we need more detailed clarifications, we can resort to emails.
I am sure your enthusiasm will help you to learn these stitches easily. 🙂 All best wishes.
Dear Madam,
I live in chennai. I am a begginner and do not have any knowledge about stitching. But I have got an interest to learn hand embroidery.
I was looking for a good website to learn hand embroidery and found your website. Thank you so much. As mentioned in your above note, the first step I should learn are the basic stitches you have given. Hope I will succeed in this. In case if I have doubts, can I send you a mail.
Thanks Sahrah for your wonderful work which will help so many people to learn.
Best Regards,
sudhaKumar
Hey Sarah,
you have such an amazing space dea..!!
I was in the look out for a good website to learn all hand embroideries..and here you are!!!!!!!
I cant wait to start practicing the stitches.
I find it difficult to get the right word to Thank you for this fabulous space…
God bless you!!!!
Will let you know abt my progress with the needle and thread…
(we have the same name btw)
TC from
Sarah Naveen
Dear Sarah 🙂
Great to hear from you and see yoru enthusiasm in hand embroidery. Thanks for visiting!
I will be posting some new stitches and embroidery soon…as and when I get time with the baby around. I hope you find them intersting as well. Yes, do keep us posted on the developments…we would love to know. All best wishes. 🙂
Have posted about your tutorials a few days back in my blog.
Check out :
http://deepashome.blogspot.com/
Dear Deepa,
Thanks for mentioning us in your blog. It is intersting going thru your tutorials. Really loved the chementhy work and kamal kadai especially. I had been on a maternity break for some weeks now. Slowly getting back and am truly refreshed to see your blog.:) Will keep refering for tips and suggestions.
Hi Sarah,
Beautiful work ….and i appreciate it….it’s going to be a good reference page for me and i’m going to add you to my blogroll, so that i can see when you update your page..
Have a nice time with your bundle of joy….take care
Hey Nima,
I hope you enjoy the stitches and embroidery techniques that has been adn will be posted. 🙂
hai sara
i would like to know how i can do this online class .pls reply to me
Dear Nisha, thanks for the interest shown. You can simply go through the family of stitches shown on the right hand side of this page, starting from the very top one, or in order of your preference.
Hope this helped! 🙂
So happy that I ran across your site. Your directions are clear and I can’t wait to practice on some muslin scraps. Congratulations on your new addition to the family!
Hey anne, hope you have a good time embroidering. 🙂
Hi Sarah n Roxy,
Congrats for the baby !! Hope both the mother n the baby r fine.
I m glad to come across ur website since this is the only one so far which explains the hand embroidery stitches in such a organised manner.. now i know what we mean by basic stitches and their families.. 🙂
Well Done !
I can hardly wait for ur further additions. But till then, can u pls let me know how do u classify fly, feather n satin etc?
Cheers !
Dear Ruii,
Baby and I are fine.
I am glad that you found our embroidery tutorial good. It is very encouraging.
So, answering your query, fly, satin and feather stitches are families in themselves. Each of these have various members under them. As we progress, you will see these three families and their respective members show up. There is a possible relation between some members of feather stitch and the buttonhole stitch family.
Hey Sarah… I just decided to learn embroidery and found your site luckily .. its simply superb the way you explained.. it will be even helpful if you can add some video tutorials if possible ..
Dear Phanikumari, nice to know from you. 🙂
Your suggestion for a video tutorial is good. But a video tutorial might take some time to show up on our website as we are now working exclusively on picture tutorial only. Yet, as a help I might ask you if you have found any stitches in the list that you might have felt a need for video tutorial. It will help us to plan for a video tutorial in future. 🙂
In the meanwhile if you feel any of the stitches require extra explanation, do let me know.
l excited see all you work in the hand embroidery , l can learnt stitching of embroidery , l am from pakistan in stitching of sindh
colour is red , he job is tailoring and stitch teacher for children of deaf person education, thank you all love
This is exquisite, the notes, and the craft. Thank you 🙂 It simply seems more than just a co incidence that I should be wanting to look at embroidery tips, and I should find a comment from you on my space, that made me want to look at your space too 🙂
Small world.
Thank you for the visit, and for sharing this marvellous treasure of tips and tricks and skills of embroidery 🙂
Dear Usha, small world indeed! 😀 So glad that you were able to find our site just when you needed. Hope you enjoy the lessons as much as the craft of embroidering.
Hi sarah….
i m working as a designer in bangalore.i was just searching for a hand emby tutorial website &came through urs .Actually my sister in law wanted to learn hand emby and i think i can give nice notes for her nw.Thanks sarah.
it ll be nice if you put some tutorials for Bullion knot and button hole stitches if possible.
Once again thanks for your tutorials
Best regards
Mini
Hey Mini, great to know that you find Sarah’s embroidery tutorials helpful. We’re expecting a baby in a few days, and she has been admitted to te hospital today. So she will reply in a few days/weeks. Bullion knots and button hole stitches are being prepared by her. They will be posted anytime in the coming days.
Cheers, Roxy
Hi Roxy ,
Hope Sarah had a safe delivery ..Congrates ..
I ll surf this page for new updates…
Thakns a Loot..
Mini
Hey mini, thanks for going thru our embroidery pages. 🙂 The baby and I are fine. I will be getting back to posting tutorials soon. I have the stitches you have asked for in line…just that it will take a little while more before I can post them.
thank you for providing such a comprehensive guide to embroidery. its great to have such a well-illustrated reference to all the various stitches. I’m just beginning embroidery, and im excited to try all the techniques on your site. im definitely bookmarking this page to refer to as i learn. i cant wait to go through each chapter and practice new stitches.
windsy, that is great! your comments are encouraging 🙂
sarah will reply in due time, shez on a short pregnancy leave 😉
Dear Windsy,
I am sorry for being to able to reply to you only now. With the baby around, it is not easy to steal time for any embroidery work. I hope our tutorials have helped you and you are enjoying stitching. Thanks for refering our pages. 🙂
I have just decided to learn embroidery and your site is just amazing. The two craft stores in my town had no books. I bought two flour sack towels to practice stitches on before I begin an actual project. I’m excited!
Thank you for all the hard work you have put in to this site.
Dear Kelly, thanks for the appreciation! We feel good that you will be refering our hand-embroidery tutorials for your lessons. 🙂
Do let me know in case you require more/ clearer instructions, and also if you have any suggestions to make the tutorial better.
I know that it is a little tough to get some nice books on hand embroidery and stitches …probably the one of the many reasons why I decided to research and make this tutorial!
Happy learning and am sure you will hand embroidery thoroughly!
hi sarah pls send me the complete list of hand and machine embroideries along with their complete method to my above said email id that will be a great help from you. pls do consider myrequest and oblige
sarammae, i am excited to see all your hard work on the hand embroidery coming up 🙂 great work! they are well done, in a simple, illustrative way!
chetta, 🙂
ente chetta, anta kastamon neeku telusa
!??? er…no I not telusa… I don’t understand telugu pretty much.