10 Embroidery Tips for Intermediate Stitchers ✨

Are ya wondering how to improve your embroidery and level up your skills with confidence? You’re in the right place, friend!

Lemme guess: You’ve stitched your way through beginner embroidery patterns. You’ve got a solid grip on the basics. You might even be teaching your friends how to embroider at this point 🤭

So… now what?

If you’re feeling ready to take things to the next level - to go from confident beginner stitcher to a full-blown embroidery artist - you’re exactly where you need to be! These 10 embroidery tips for intermediate stitchers will show you exactly how to improve embroidery skills, build confidence, and create finished pieces that look so professional, friends say to you: “Woah.. You made that?!”

Heck yea you did!!

Let’s get into it! 👇🏼🌸

1. Make Embroidery Practice a Habit

Embroidery isn’t necessarily just about finishing pretty hoops - it’s about developing skill, technique, and confidence with every stitch you make. And just like learning an instrument or a new language, or any other new skill for that matter, the key to progress is regular, low-pressure practice.

That’s why one of the best ways to improve embroidery is to have a simple, no-stress “practice hoop”. This hoop can be your stitching playground - a space to explore new stitches, techniques and colours, but without the pressure of making something perfect!

In art class back in school, I was way too much of a perfectionist to go straight into my sketchbook with a new blob of paint! I would have a scrap piece of paper to my side at all times, so that I could test it out, stress-free, first. Having a ‘practice hoop’ is no different, and is the perfect way to encourage more creativity with your stitching!

You can:

➡️ Try unfamiliar stitches

➡️ Test out colour combinations

➡️ Practice tricky techniques over and over (hello, french knots + smooth satin stitch!)

Some of the most important advice I give to my members is to set aside 10–15 minutes a few times a week to just play with your stitching. No pattern, no instructions or directions, just free-style practice. You’ll start to see your muscle memory improve, your stitch tension even out, and your creativity come alive!

(FYI - This isn’t just for beginners! Intermediate stitchers benefit so much from intentional repetition and experimentation. Whether you're refining old favorites or trying out new embroidery techniques, consistent practice is how you move from “me, it’s pretty good I guess” to “whoa, I made that?!”)

Need some help to finally make sure you dedicate time to practice? Inside my online embroidery membership, Bloom Embroidery Academy, you’ll find monthly stitch challenges, themed prompts, and practice-focused mini-projects to keep your growth focused and fun - no overwhelm, just progress! 🪡✨

2. Start Each Project with a Clear Goal

If you’ve ever gotten to the end of stitching a pattern and thought, “that was fun… but I think I could stitch better” - this tip is for you!

One of the simplest (and most powerful) ways to get better at embroidery is to set a clear, skill-focused intention before you start each project.

Instead of stitching on autopilot, try approaching your next embroidery pattern with a goal like:

“I want to master satin stitch embroidery with this project”
“This time I’ll focus on keeping my outlines consistent and smooth”
“I want to practice how to do a french knot, thread-painting or a new stitch technique”
“I’m going to experiment with how I transfer patterns to get neater, crisper lines”

When you choose a goal for a project, it becomes a gentle mindset shift instead - it turns every embroidery project into a personalised lesson, one where you get to choose the outcome! Plus, it encourages you to make small steps of progress, pushing you slightly outside of your comfort zone each time.

Even when you’re working on beginner or intermediate embroidery patterns, setting a focus will help you grow much faster than just following steps for the sake of finishing.

And for the real piece of magic? Over time, these small teeny goals add up. You’ll begin stitching way more confidently, choosing techniques with intention, and seeing real improvements in the quality of your work - all while still having fun and experiencing the calming joy from embroidery!

If you need help knowing what to focus on next, Bloom Embroidery Academy gives you step-by-step guidance, skill-building projects, and stitch technique lessons so you always know what to practice next!

3. Upgrade Your Tools and Materials 🪡

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: even expert embroiderers will struggle with cheap tools and low-quality materials🤭 Sorry, not sorry! If you're ready to level up your embroidery, it's time to take a look at what you’re stitching with, not just what you're stitching on.

I have an entire blog post dedicated to high-quality embroidery supplies, but let’s go into it a little bit here, too.

Embroidery Thread:

Let’s start with thread. Bargain-brand thread (and sorry but yes, this includes the stuff you find on Amazon) can be fuzzy, uneven, mismatched in colour, and prone to tangling. Ultimately, using it is making your stitches look messy, no matter how careful you are and how many tips you implement to improve your stitching.

Investing in high-quality embroidery thread (like DMC, and also Anchor) can make a huge difference in how smooth and vibrant your work looks, and how professional the finish is.

Embroidery Hoops:

Then there’s your hoop. If it is warped (i.e. not-quite-circular), snaps, slips, or doesn’t hold tension, it’s absolutely time for an upgrade. FYI - this is common with bamboo embroidery hoops - they’re poor quality and rarely hold your fabric at the right tension! A good-quality wooden hoop, however, helps keep your fabric drum-tight, which is pretty much essential for neater, more precise stitching. Well actually, it’s pretty essential for any stitching.

Other materials to consider:

Fabric: Swap stretchy, cheap fabrics for a more embroidery-friendly alternative like cotton, linen or cotton-linen blends.
Needles: Sharper, smoother embroidery needles = fewer needle-snaps, more precise stitching, and way less frustration. I will always recommend branded embroidery needles rather than non-brand alternatives, because even my favourites like DMC, John James or Clover are super inexpensive.
Scissors: Tiny, sharp embroidery scissors make cleaner cuts and tidier thread ends, and also prevent fraying/breakages of the thread, too.

Even upgrading just one part of your toolkit can instantly help you make your embroidery look neater and feel easier to control. Plus, embroidery is just sooo much more fun when you’re using the proper tools!

Not sure where to begin? Read this blog post, where I break down my favourite tools, what’s actually worth investing in, and how to use your materials to get more professional-looking results. And P.S. - all my fave tools are included in our Mindful Mantra Embroidery Supplies Kits!

(OR click here for my 10 Favourite Embroidery Tools!)

4. Master the Satin Stitch

Let’s be honest: satin stitch looks easy… until you actually try to fill in a large leaf or petal and suddenly it’s lumpy, gappy, or not-at-all-like-the-picture 😅

And if you’re wondering why satin stitch in particular? Well, because it’s one of those stitches that appears in almost every pattern, and I know for a fact that it’s a stitch that many stitchers try their best to avoid!

If you’re determined to master satin stitch embroidery, the key is consistency - in direction, spacing, and most importantly, thread behaviour!

Here are a few game-changing tips to improve your satin stitch:

Untwist your thread as you go. Seriously! Embroidery thread naturally twists while you stitch, and if you don’t pause to let it unwind every few stitches, your satin stitch will start to look uneven, bumpy and bulky. Give your needle a gentle dangle every so often and let it spin back right on around.
Use shorter lengths of thread. Long strands tend to lose tension and fray more easily due to the friction from being pulled through the fabric so many times. With each pull through, it can make your stitches look fuzzy or loose by the time you reach the end of the thread.
Start small. Practice satin stitching in smaller shapes (like petals or leaves) before moving on to large blocks of colour in a project. Smaller spaces are much easier to control and perfect, and truthfully, if it’s a really large shape, you’re probably best to use a different embroidery stitch, like the long and short stitch.
Keep your stitches direction straight. Stitch direction is a huge one for improving embroidery skills, and satin stitch is no exception! Stitches that shift in direction mid-way through a shape can break the illusion of smoothness and the flow of the stitching, so try to stick to a consistent angle across the entire shape.

With a little patience (and a lot of thread untwisting 😂), your satin stitch can go from frustrating to fabulous, and something you don’t dread in an embroidery pattern!

Inside the Bloom Embroidery Academy, we’ve got an entire workshop dedicated to satin stitch - breaking it down step-by-step so you can finally stitch silky-smooth satin stitch fills like a pro 🪡✨

➡️ (Or you can buy the workshop separately by clicking here!)

5. Learn From Your Mistakes (Don’t Hide From Them!)

We all have that one hoop we keep facing backwards on the shelf so we don’t have to look at the wobbly stitching or puckered fabric 😂

And yes, that’s me included!!

But here’s the thing, and friend, this is a motto I live by in life just as much as in embroidery: mistakes aren’t failures - they’re feedback.

If you’re asking yourself or Googling “how to get better at embroidery”, one of the best things you can do is slow down and reflect on why something didn’t turn out quite right beforehand.

Common ‘oopsies’ to look for:

Puckering fabric? Your thread might have been pulled too tight, or maybe your fabric was too loose in the hoop and not pulled to the correct tension.
Uneven stitches? Check if your stitch length is consistent - or if your thread is twisting mid-way. Is the stitch direction going the right way?
Messy backs? It could be time to work on how you start and finish your threads (yes, it can make a difference!)
Fraying floss or tangling? You might be using lengths that are too long or stitching with dull needles.

Rather than ripping out stitches in frustration, try this instead: grab a sticky note, jot down what you think happened, and what you’ll try differently next time. Then move on. That’s it. That’s the learning process!

Inside Bloom Embroidery Academy, we actually teach you how to spot these common embroidery mistakes - and fix them with confidence. Because when you know how to troubleshoot, every hoop becomes learning curve, and an opportunity to improve your embroidery skills! 🪡💫

6. Slow It Down 🐢

We know the feeling - you’re halfway through a hoop, the threads are flowing, you’re in the zone… and suddenly you’ve rushed through a section, pulled too tight, or stitched completely off-course without really noticing 🫠

If you’re serious about building confidence with embroidery and making your work cleaner and more polished + professional, one of the easiest (and most overlooked) ways to do that is this:

✨ Slow. Down.

Slowing down your stitching pace gives you more control over your thread, more awareness of your tension and placement, and more time to correct little things before they become big things.

Plus, mindful stitching isn't just about technique - it's part of what makes embroidery such a soothing, meditative hobby in the first place. When you're not rushing to finish, you’re free to actually enjoy the process, notice your progress, and appreciate the textures and colours forming with every stitch you add.

Here are a few quick ways to invite more intention into your stitching:

Breathe with your needle - one stitch, one breath.
Check your fabric tension every few minutes, just to be sure.
Pause to untwist your thread or assess your spacing every couple of stitches.
Remind yourself: you’re not in a race 🐢🫶🏼

Inside Bloom Embro idery Academy , we give you gentle stitching routines and skill-building exercises that are designed to be slow, steady, and confidence-boosting - because growth should feel good, not rushed! Some of our members make real, meaningful progress in as little as 10-15 minutes a pop, so you don’t need hours of time, and you don’t need to rush!

7. Try Intermediate Embroidery Patterns

If you’re still stitching beginner-friendly hoops over and over, chances are you’re not challenging yourself enough to keep improving. And while there's nothing wrong with simple projects (sometimes we just want comfort stitching, I totally have those days!!), growth often lives just outside your comfort zone.

So if you’re wondering how to improve your embroidery, it might be time to level up your embroidery patterns.

Intermediate embroidery patterns introduce new skills like:

Layering multiple stitch types in one element of the pattern
Blending thread colours together for shading or depth
Tackling larger or more detailed compositions
Using decorative stitches like the bullion knot, cast on rose, or other stitches you might not even know the name of!
Working with textured elements like raised stitches or 3D stumpwork.

Sound exciting? Well trust me friend, it is!

The key is choosing patterns that stretch you - not stress you. You want a pattern that introduces something new, but still feels doable and within reach.

That’s exactly what I’ve created inside Bloom Embroidery Academy. You’ll find a growing library of intermediate stitches, tutorials and projects, purposefully designed to help you build your skills one technique at a time - without ever feeling overwhelmed or alone in the process.

Think of it like your very own embroidery group coaching, wrapped up in beautiful hoops, the most wonderful community + endless progress 🥰

8. Start Designing Your Own Embroidery Patterns

One of the most exciting ways to improve your embroidery is to move from following instructions to making creative choices of your own! And no - you don’t need to be a “real” artist to start designing (whatever that actually means🤭) All you need is just a bit of curiosity, and a little courage 🤭

Drawing floral embroidery patterns on an iPad

Creating your own embroidery designs doesn’t mean sketching masterpieces from scratch (unless you want to!). It genuinely can be as simple as:

Tracing real leaves or florals onto fabric
Combining doodles from things you already love
Rearranging motifs you’ve sketched to fit a different hoop size
Playing with negative space and layout

When you begin making those creative decisions, you naturally build up your understanding of stitching composition, stitch selection, colour palettes and flow - all crucial skills if you're asking how to get better at embroidery.

That’s why inside Bloom Embroidery Academy, we run monthly Outline Challenges: I give you members a black and white design outline, and you get to bring it to life using any stitches, threads, colours or techniques you’ve been learning with us in the Community!

It’s a safe, supportive space to play, experiment, and push your creativity - and it’s one of the best ways to turn knowledge into confidence!✨

(It’s also one of our members favourite parts of the membership!!👇🏼)

9. Take an Online Embroidery Course

Let’s be real: you can absolutely learn embroidery from free content online. But, if you’ve ever spent hours and hours hopping between YouTube videos, Pinterest tutorials, or Instagram reels trying to figure out a stitch - and still felt confused - you’re totally not alone 😵💫

At a certain point, piecing a bunch of free things together becomes more frustrating than fun. It is way more time-consuming, way more overwhelming, and can leave you giving up before you truly get to the bottom of what you were trying to learn.

That’s when a structured embroidery online course (or, ahem, an online embroidery membership) becomes a total game-changer!

A good course doesn’t just show you how to embroider - it walks you through the how and the why to improve embroidery step-by-step, in a way that builds your confidence, technique, and creative voice. It saves you time, fills in the gaps, and helps you grow with intention - not guesswork.

In Bloom Embroidery Academy, you’ll find exactly that: organized lessons that teach real skills, stitch tutorials that go beyond the basics and explain the ‘why’ behind the stitch, and a community of supportive stitchers learning right alongside you, all in one cosy place, that you can ask questions + get feedback.

Think of it as your cosy, encouraging stitching school - no stress, just steady progress (and lots of “OMG I finally nailed it!” moments in the community!)

(And P.S. if you’re a total beginner, our ‘Introduction to Embroidery’ Online Course for Beginners might be well suited, too!)

10. Celebrate Your Progress - Every Stitch Counts 🎉

In the world of embroidery (and as a total perfectionist at heart), it’s easy to focus on what’s not perfect - a slightly wonky stitch, a messy back, that one leaf you swear you’ll redo (but never will 😅).

But here’s the truth: every single stitch is progress.

You’re not just making pretty hoops. You’re building hand-eye coordination, learning to problem-solve creatively, and developing a skill that takes time, patience, and heart to get real good at.

Whether you’re mastering satin stitch, finally figuring out how to pick out colour palettes, or simply finishing a piece you started months (or maybe even years) ago - it all counts.

If you want to keep improving, one of the most powerful things you can do is practice in small, bitesize steps, and document your journey:

Take photos of your work (even the messy ones!)
Flip back through old hoops and notice what’s changed
Keep a stitching journal or progress tracker
Share your wins with fellow stitchers (we love a good progress pic inside Bloom 🥹)

Inside the Bloom Embroidery Academy, we celebrate all of it - the small wins, the stitchy breakthroughs, and the quiet moments where it finally clicks. And of course, when members achieve certain milestones? They unlock exclusive free gifts, vouchers for the Mindful Mantra Embroidery shop, and other bonus content! Because, embroidery is about more than just stitches + technique. It’s also about showing up, trying again, and being proud of what your hands can do!

Ready to Take the Next Step? You can, inside Bloom Embroidery Academy!🌸🪡

If you’ve been wondering how to improve embroidery, how to make your work look neater, or how to finally feel confident in your stitching - you’re absolutely ready for the next chapter - and I can help you get there 🫶🏼

🌿 Join Bloom Embroidery Academy and get access to video lessons, stitch practice prompts, intermediate patterns, week-long workshops and the warmest stitchy community you can find online.

I can’t wait to start cheering you on, too!🪡🎉