As someone who fully enjoys teaching, it’s my joy when a stitcher graduates from embroidery kits to digital patterns. You’ve gained the skill and knowledge of how to stitch, you know what your supplies look like, and now you just need to go out and buy the supplies yourself!
Let me walk you through a few of my favorite things to buy at local craft stores (and some of the things I avoid at each store)!
*Note: Some of my advice will overlap because, while I have each of these stores locally, you may not. Also, some stores might have different products from location to location.
Let me walk you through a few of my favorite things to buy at local craft stores (and some of the things I avoid at each store)!
*Note: Some of my advice will overlap because, while I have each of these stores locally, you may not. Also, some stores might have different products from location to location.
Hobby Lobby is probably one of my favorite spots to gather supplies. I can trust things will be in stock and their embroidery section is always clean and organized. (Side note: if anything is ever out of stock, just ask them and they’ll often order the items for you and have it shipped to the store for free.)
One of my favorite things about Hobby Lobby are their hoops. They’re inexpensive but create great tension which is crucial to embroidery. I also love their large selection of Kona fabric.
Something you may want to avoid are their brand-name needles. I personally prefer the DMC brand because of the strong build of them, though I do know many people who use the Hobby Lobby brand without issue. Scissors can also be a hit or miss; some are great, but others are sometimes not sharp enough. Dull scissors will create frayed embroidery floss, making it difficult to thread needles.
Jo-Ann Fabric is a great place to shop to find a good sale or to find a large variety of DMC products. They almost always have coupon codes that can help you cut costs. When DMC floss is a “door buster” deal then—gasp!—you should drop everything you’re doing and run to grab as much floss as possible. I’ve seen it as low as 46 cents!
Kona fabric is always a good deal and, with a coupon, it’s even better! And thankfully one of the best things about Jo-Ann is that they offer almost all of the DMC needle varieties, making it easy to get the right needle you need for your project. And if you're wanting to experiment with unique thread types, Jo-Ann has you covered.
If I were to avoid something, it would be Jo-Ann’s bamboo hoops. The material does not allow for great tension so you’ll be re-tightening your fabric over and over again.
While I only go to Michaels if items are out of stock elsewhere, I do appreciate that they often have the DMC metallic thread in stock and they offer a quick curb-side pickup.
There isn’t much to avoid at Michaels. They offer a lot of DMC products, but they do sell the same bamboo hoops that are sold at Jo-Ann’s that I’d recommend you avoid. One other downside (at least to my local store) is they don't sell fabric.
Does this one surprise you? Walmart actually has a small embroidery craft section where you can grab a few supplies. You can’t get much (so there isn’t too much to avoid), but one thing that you can grab here that you can’t get anywhere else are Pilot Frixion Pens which are my #1 recommended tool for transferring your patterns. It’s worth swinging by there just to get those pens—though you can also find these at Target, Amazon, or any other office supply store).
I hope this helps you in your embroidery journey! Want to see an Abide Guide on a specific topic? Send me an email at contact@abideembroidery.com—I'
6 comments
Thank you for all of your do and don’t. I am a novice to embroidery and your advice is really helpful