There are so many stitches out there in the embroidery world! And there are so many opportunities to use them to write with embroidery!

Favorite sayings, personalization, motivational aspirations – or the comical reverse – can all be said with embroidery. Embroidered words, phrases, names, places, dates – these can all be added to larger projects like quilts, blankets, samplers, decorative towels, pillows and pillowcases, wall hangings, and more. There’s no end to what you can do with embroidery and words.

What stitches work best for embroidering words? Well, it really depends on several factors: the size of your project, the design layout, the words you want to emphasize, the use your project will be put to, or simply the look you like. You have to take into account many factors when you consider what stitches to use.

What’s the best way to know how to determine what stitches to use where? Trial and error, really. Practice over time, experience – these things will help to teach you what works, stitch-wise, in different scenarios.

One of the best ways to get in that kind of practice is simply to stitch. A lettering / text sampler can help, and that’s what I was doing when I put together these lessons for hand embroidered lettering and text some umpteen million years ago.