Beginner’s Guide to Embroidery: Part 3

Beginner’s Guide to Embroidery: Part 3

Your First Stitches

Now that your hoop is prepped and your thread is ready, it's time for the exciting part — your first stitches. These four beginner-friendly techniques will unlock almost everything you’ll ever want to create with embroidery.

Sampler showing four basic embroidery stitches on cotton
This sampler shows the four beginner stitches we’ll learn: back stitch, satin stitch, French knot, and lazy daisy.

1. Back Stitch

Great for: outlines, lettering, and straight or curved lines.

Bring the needle up at Point A. Insert it down at Point B. Then bring the needle up a stitch ahead at Point C, and stitch back into Point A. Repeat to create a continuous, solid line.

Close-up of a back stitch line in progress
The back stitch is your go-to for smooth outlines and clean text.

2. Satin Stitch

Great for: filling in shapes like leaves, petals, and blocks of colour.

Start on one edge of the shape. Bring your needle up, then go down directly across. Come back up next to the first stitch and repeat, working tightly side-by-side to fill the area smoothly.

Filled leaf shape using satin stitch
Use short, tight lines to fill a space cleanly with satin stitch.

3. French Knot

Great for: eyes, flower centres, textured dots, and decorative accents.

Bring your needle up. Wrap the thread around the needle twice. While holding the tension tight with your other hand, insert the needle just beside the original point and pull gently through.

Close-up of French knot stitch in embroidery
French knots add texture and charm — practice makes perfect!

4. Lazy Daisy

Great for: creating flower petals, teardrop shapes, or loops.

Bring the needle up, then go back down in the same hole without pulling tight — this creates a loop. Come up just outside the loop and secure it with a tiny stitch across the tip.

Petals made using lazy daisy stitch
Lazy daisy stitches are perfect for simple floral motifs.
Pro Tip: Don’t worry if your first stitches aren’t perfect — they never are. Take it slow, relax your grip, and enjoy the rhythm. Every stitch teaches you something.

🧵 Stitching Confidence

These four stitches will serve you in hundreds of patterns to come. Practice them on the edge of your fabric, create a little sampler, or try them directly on your kit. There’s no wrong way to start — only your way.

Finished your first stitches? Let’s make them last!

Read Part 4 →
Back to blog