What is Embroidery?
Embroidery is an umbrella term to describe any stitching that is intended to be decorative, not functional. There are many different types or styles of embroidery including: cross stitch, darning, sashiko, needlepoint, redwork, blackwork, Hallandsöm, chicken scratch, crewel, and much more.
Needles
Embroidery needles are different from other types of needles - the Eye is longer and more narrow. For example, "Sharps" (basic sewing needles) usually have a round, circular shaped eye. Embroidery needles have a long, oval-shaped eye. This oval shape helps accommodate heavier threads and yarns without making a larger hole in the fabric.
Our kits use pearl cotton yarns size 10/2 or 5/2 depending on the design. We recommend using embroidery needles sized between 1 - 5 to fit these yarns.
We sell needle packages that include 2 differently sized needles. The smaller needle is an embroidery needle sized between #3 - #5 and works best with the 10/2 pearl cotton threads that are included in most of our DIY kits. The larger needle is an embroidery needle size #1 or #2 and works best with the 5/2 pearl cotton threads that are included in several of our DIY kits.
You can find our needle packages here.