“Ground Fabric” sounds funny. If you’ve been around embroidery for a while, you probably know what it means, but for newbies, when they hear the term “ground fabric,” it raises questions.

I don’t mean ground, as in the past tense of grind – we aren’t putting the fabric in the coffee grinder (well, not today, anyway). And I don’t mean ground, as in dirt. By all means, keep your fabric out of the dirt! By “ground,” I mean the foundation upon which embroidery is worked. So, “ground fabric” is your embroidery fabric – it’s the foundation of your embroidery.

Right now, I’m in a Ground Fabric Quandary. I have a few projects in the Test Run phase. They’re ready to be worked out, but I’m oscillating over choices for ground fabrics. So let’s chat a bit about ground fabrics!