As an intermediate to advanced embroiderer, you’ve already mastered the basics and know a good range of stitches and techniques. If you’re looking to take your embroidery to the next level, you can take a look at fine-tuning your techniques to improve your precision and consistency in your stitching.

Whether you’re working with intricate designs or not, fine-tuning your technique will elevate the quality of your work!

 So, let’s dive in!

 Mastering your tension

One of the main factors in achieving precise stitches is to ensure you have the correct tension.

When you use the correct tension, the thread lies flat and even on top of the fabric – it isn’t too tight to cause puckering! Having the correct tension is one way that you can fine-tune your technique. Essentially, if you are consistent with your thread tension, your stitches begin to look more consistent.

Related Post: How to Improve Stitch Consistency in Hand Embroidery

Be precise with your stitches!

Another way to fine-tune your technique is to improve your precision with your stitches.

Essentially, if you’re considerate with your needle placement, you can achieve much neater and precise work! For example, taking the extra time to ensure that you place the needle in exactly the right place allows your embroidery to have a more professional edge. Uneven or imprecise stitches are more noticeable when doing stitches like the satin stitch, so taking that extra few seconds to be precise with your stitching can really elevate your project!

Also, paying attention to the length, angle and spacing of your stitches is key when it comes to precision – the more consistent the better!

To improve your stitch consistency, you can experiment with different lengths of stitches to see what feels more natural for you. You’ll find that the more you practice, the more likely you are to fall into a natural rhythm with your stitches. To read more about improving stitch consistency, you can read my last blog post, How to Improve Stitch Consistency in Hand Embroidery.

Using the right tools

Embroidery often involves intricate details – it is renowned for its’ fiddly patterns and detailed projects. When working with these finer details, it is important to use the right tools so that you can embroider with ease. After all, embroidery is supposed to be fun and relaxing, not stressful!

There are 3 main things I would suggest when you are embroidering that can help to fine-tune your technique, especially when you’re embroidering something teeny and detailed:

1. Use the right embroidery needles. I often see people use the same needle for an entire project. Who am I kidding, this was me a few years ago!! Now I know better, so I see it as my duty to educate you, too! Use. More. Than. One. Needle. If you’re embroidering something fiddly or need to be extra precise with your stitching, make sure you’re using a finer needle with a smaller eye. Trust me, it makes alllll the difference with your precision!
2. Next, use the correct number of strands of thread. If you’re following a pattern, then the hard part is already done for you, but if you’re not, take care when choosing how many strands to use. If you’re embroidering something small, be sure to use less strands of thread so that you can capture the detail.
3. Lastly, make sure you work in good lighting conditions! I’m not so great at following this one. I don’t know about you, but before now I’ve embroidered a TONNE in the evening, using the TV light as my light source.. only to find the next morning that what I’d embroidered was TERRIBLE! It was all wonky, imprecise, and in totally the wrong colour (lol!). Make sure to use an appropriate light source so that you can properly see where you’re stitching!

Practice.. and then practice some more!

Let’s be real.. the only way you’re going to improve and fine-tune your technique is if you keep on embroidering! Keep practicing with your tension, your stitch placement and precision, and your technique will improve in turn.

Do you want to receive a little extra guidance with improving your embroidery? Well, you’re in good hands. I’m launching a brand new embroidery Academy for experienced stitchers like you and me! We’ll learn new stitches, new techniques, advanced tips and tricks, a private community of fellow embroiderers, and SO much more.

If that sounds like a bit of you, then pop your email below to sign up for the waitlist and be the first to know when the doors open!

I hope to see you in the Academy!