Embroidery Starter Kit — 3 Stitch Practice Designs: Rainbow, Flowers and Basket

A rainbow arching over French knots and woven-wheel roses. A spray of lavender, daisies and a starfish-shaped flower. Rows of fern, herringbone and feather stitch next to a tiny woven basket. This embroidery starter kit turns stitch practice into three cheerful little hoops you'll want to hang up.

Each printed fabric labels every stitch, 30 in all, so you learn as you go and keep a stitch reference you can glance back at. Everything comes in the bag: the fabrics, a 20 cm hoop, a pre-sorted thread card for each design, needles, a threader, a seam ripper and small scissors.

What's in the bag

• 3 pre-printed stitch practice fabrics: rainbow, flowers and basket
• 1 embroidery hoop, 20 cm (about 8 in), with a screw-tightened outer ring
• 3 thread cards, one per design, each pre-sorted in the colours that design uses
• 1 pack of hand embroidery needles
• 1 needle threader
• 1 seam ripper
• 1 pair of small embroidery scissors
• 3 illustrated English instruction sheets, one for each design

Choose 1 Kit for one complete set, or 2 Kits for two complete sets.

The 30 stitches you'll practise

Rainbow: stem stitch, split stitch, couching, back stitch, running stitch, chain stitch, French knot, whipped wheel, woven wheel, satin stitch, buttonhole stitch, buttonhole wheel.

Basket: straight stitch, whipped back stitch, whipped running stitch, twisted chain stitch, Palestrina stitch, fern stitch, herringbone stitch, feather stitch, weaving stitch.

Flowers: long and short stitch, fishbone stitch, fly stitch, woven picot, cast-on stitch, bullion knot, turkey work, pistil stitch, lazy daisy, and satin stitch again for practice.

How it works

• Hoop it. Loosen the screw, lay one fabric over the inner ring, press the outer ring down and tighten until the fabric is drum-firm.
• Follow the printed guide. Every stitch is printed in blue with its name beside it.
• Stitch with the matching card. Each design has its own thread card, so the colours are already sorted.
• Rinse when you're done. The blue printed lines wash away with water. Stitch first, then rinse the finished piece so any lines still showing disappear.

If a diagram doesn't click, the stitch name printed on the fabric is all you need to look up a video demonstration of that exact stitch.

Who it's for

• First-time stitchers who want a cheerful, colourful way to practise
• Anyone decorating a craft room or nursery corner with handmade hoops
• Gifts for a friend who has been meaning to start embroidery

How this compares

Against a plain stitch sampler: classic samplers practise stitches as straight rows. Two of these three designs work them into a rainbow and a bouquet, so the practice pieces are ones you'll want to display.

Against a single-picture kit: one picture uses a handful of stitches. These three fabrics cover 30, so you're ready for whatever pattern you choose next.

Against buying supplies one by one: hoop, needles, threader, scissors, seam ripper and pre-sorted threads arrive together.

Care and finishing

• Don't wash the fabric before you stitch. The printed guide lines are water-soluble and would rinse away.
• After stitching, rinse the piece in water to remove any visible lines, then let it dry flat.
• Display the finished pieces in the hoop or frame them.

Frequently asked questions

Is embroidery hard for beginners?
No. Each stitch is printed and labelled on the fabric, and the basket design is mostly straight-line stitches, an easy place to start before the rainbow and flowers.

What embroidery supplies do I need as a beginner?
Fabric, a hoop, embroidery thread, needles and small scissors, plus a needle threader and a seam ripper. All of these are included in this starter kit.

How can a beginner start embroidery?
Practise a range of stitches on printed fabric first. This kit gives you 30 of them across three designs, so you build skill and end up with three finished hoops.

What size is the hoop?
20 cm, about 8 inches across. One hoop is included, and you move it from fabric to fabric.

(The first three questions come from Google's "People also ask" for beginner embroidery kits. The last one is the question buyers ask most about this kit.)