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where the wild things are embroidery Max 4

I had an email from a really sweet gal called Lisa, asking for some recommendations on Embroidery How-Tos. So I thought I would do a run-down of embroidery on this very blog. Just in case it's what you're in to. Or what you might want to be in to. Or something.

What You Will Need For Best Results :
An air-fading marker : these allow you to trace a design on to some fabric, knowing that the pen marks will magically fade away in a day or two. (See below for a link to details on other ways of marking or drawing on your fabric.)
An embroidery hoop : some people don't use them, I think they are awesome and help you to keep your work neat and stop your stitching from puckering
Fabric : if you are tracing a design, then I would recommend calico as it's a little bit transparent and will make tracing easier. If you are just drawing directly onto fabric, or ironing a design on you could use linen or cotton too. Make sure your fabric is not too weighty (like upholstery fabric) if you are embroidering a more detailed design. If you are are just stitching lines or free hand you could use heavy weight fabric, though
Embroidery Floss : this is the little skeins of thread that you use for embroidery. Each strand of the embroidery floss is made up of 6 teensy strands all wound together : you can easily separate the strands out to create finer details and vary the thickness of line, or indeed the texture of your work.
A needle : you need a good sharp needle with a fairly big eye. If your needle has a tiny eye it will be really hard to get the floss threaded through it. If your needle is FAT it will make holes in your fabric. So a fine needle with a big eye is best.
Scissors : for snipping and clipping
Where to buy supplies? Your local craft store will have all these things : or you can buy online from good sewing or patchwork stores.