10 Creative Embroidery Online Courses for Beginners

Discover some fascinating hand embroidery techniques with our excellent specialists and turn your passion into a profession

Over the last ten years, embroidery has become very popular and has gained new artistic, social, and political meaning. Nowadays, it means getting in touch with thousand-year-old artisanal techniques and establishing new connections with our objects and garments. Furthermore, embroidery allows us to create truly unique pieces.

To accompany you in a fascinating embroidering adventure, we have selected several courses that will teach you basic embroidery principles while showing you the infinite possibilities of this technique using materials like wood, paper, and fabric.

Nine experts share the secrets of their creative processes so that you can also become a professional embroiderer and achieve fantastic designs.

Character Illustration with Needle and Thread, a course by Flora Te

Sometimes, innovation comes from experimenting and mixing materials and techniques. Embroiderer and illustrator Florencia Toyos (@holaflorate), better known as Flora Te, combines traditional disciplines that have nothing to do with each other, such as embroidery and illustration, to create fun and unusual pieces. Her Diburdaditos, embroidered pins of illustrated characters, are an example of her style.

In her course, Flora explains her creative processes to help you get inspired and transform your ideas into a sketch first and later into a final piece. She also demonstrates various embroidery stitches that will help bring your characters to life.

Photo Embroidery on Fabric, a course by Studio Variopinto

Photographer and embroiderer Minia Banet (@minhoca), founder of Studio Variopinto, develops decorative pieces and highly creative accessories. Using lines and pixels, she explores new ways to create by fusing photography and embroidery techniques. Among her clients are brands such as DMC, We Are Knitters, and various Spanish magazines.

In her course, she teaches how to transfer images to your canvas and create embroidered images with colorful textures. You will learn plain embroidery stitches: backstitch, overlock, fly, half knot, feather stitch, flat, split stitch, and chain stitch. You will also learn relief stitches, such as picot, knot, and rope stitch.

Painting with Thread: Textile Illustration Techniques, a course by Gimena Romero

Gimena Romero (@gimenaromero) is an award-winning textile artist who has been creating dazzling highly-detailed realistic embroidery. In her course, she will teach you to create embroidered realistic images from scratch, using only a needle and thread.

Gimena will guide you, step by step, in creating an embroidered piece full of color and volume and will give you valuable tips for creating a personalized color palette.

Needle Painting for Beginners, a course by Valentina Castillo

Have you ever thought of applying embroidery as paint to create original portraits? Valentina Castillo (@insanitynice), embroiderer and graphic designer, teaches you to create portraits of animals using the needle painting technique. As a child, Valentina enjoyed creating with her hands, drawing, taking photographs, etc. Later on, she found a way to combine all of these arts into one: embroidery.

Her specialty is needle painting. In her course, you will learn to use every stitch to apply light and shadows, create textures, and choose your color palette. You will be able to transform your creations into decorative objects.

Introduction to Botanical Embroidery, a course by Coricrafts

Layla Ortiz, founder of Coricrafts (@coricrafts), specializes in botanical embroidery and turns her love for plants into joyful compositions. Layla aims to portray her passion for plants through her designs and disconnect from daily stress. Capturing nature's beauty and transferring her colors, forms, and textures into a hand-embroidered piece is an art as well as a way to relax and meditate.

In her course, you will learn to embroider different types of plants, combine colors, and add elements to create a unique piece using simple methods.

Experimental Embroidery Techniques on Paper, a course by Gimena Romero

In this course, you will learn to embroider on paper using simple and effective techniques to create delicate pieces in various textures, images, lines, and stitches.

Award-winning textile artist Gimena Romero (@gimenaromero), whose work has been exhibited at New York's MoMA, will teach you to use innovative support material in your art projects.

Hair Embroidery Stitching Techniques, a course by Señorita Lylo

When it comes to creativity, the possibilities never cease to amaze. For Loly Ghirardi, also known as Señorita Lylo (@srtalylo), experimentation is the best strategy to achieve amazing embroidery. This brought her to achieve a unique embroidery style, in which she transformed thread into fantastic hairstyles.

In her course, she teaches stitches that will give a new dimension to your embroidery. You'll create hairstyles in 3D by mixing effects, colors and textures.

Embroidery on Wood, a course by L'ABU studio

Have you ever thought one could embroider onto wood? Designer Estela Botello (@labustudio), founder of L'ABU Studio, is a craft artist working principally with needle and thread on wood. Working for companies such as Inditex, Estela aims to revisit a traditional embroidery technique to create objects with soul, heart, and conscience.

In her course, you will learn different embroidery techniques and how to apply them to wooden mediums. You'll also learn about the different stitch styles and how to achieve them.

Embroidered Linear Portrait, a course by Koral Antolín Maillo

Do you want to learn to create alternative portraits full of personality? Designer and embroiderer Koral Antolín (@koralantolin) will teach you to capture someone's essence and represent it in a unique and personal way in an embroidered linear portrait.

In her course, she will teach you to design and simplify a linear portrait, step by step, and then embroider it with a traditional needle and a Kantan needle. You will also learn how to embellish the embroidery with various textures by combining different stitches and applying beads and sequins.

Embroidery Techniques: Illustrating with Needle and Thread, a course by Yolanda Andrés

Artistic embroiderer Yolanda Andrés (@yolandandres), who has worked for large companies and brands such as Hermès, Museo Thyssen, and Carolina Herrera, teaches you how to interpret and portray embroidered images on canvas.

You will learn about the basic stitches, necessary materials, and image transfer techniques.

Realistic embroidery techniques, a course by Emillie Ferris

Embroidery is the art of painting with needles. Learn how to embroider realistic pieces using the long and short stitch technique with embroidery artist Emillie Ferris (@emillieferris).

In this course, you will learn how to embroider realistic images, even if you have never used a needle before. Gain more confidence in your embroidery techniques through a pattern and apply them in creating your next needlepainted designs.

Embroidery and textile painting for beginners, a course by Polina Oshu

Transform your home decor and garments into colorful works of art with volume and texture. Artist and surface pattern designer Polina Oshu (@polinaoshu) specializes in creating floral illustrations for textiles, decorative paper, packaging and more.

In this online course, Polina will teach you how to express yourself through sewing and painting on fabric.

Embroidered portraits of pets: paint with thread, a course by Michelle Staub

Create memories with realistic portraits that capture the essence of an animal thanks to hand embroidery. Hand embroidery artist Michelle Staub (@stitchingsabbatical) specializes in this type of pieces using creative techniques, which she shares with more than 187 thousand followers on Instagram, and has published a book about it.

In this online course, she will teach you how to hand embroider a realistic portrait of your pet using the thread painting technique.

Sewing machine embroidery, a course by Amanda McCavour

Amanda McCavour (@amandamccavour) will teach you the art of embroidering collars with a sewing machine. You will master setting up your sewing machine for free motion embroidery and explore essential stitch patterns.
You will discover techniques for shading, accenting, filling and outlining your designs, bringing them to life with vibrant colors and textures.

Embroidery design with negative lettering, a course by Theresa Wensing

Embroidery can also be modern and progressive. The embroidery artist Theresa Wensing (@getstitchdone) combines provocative lettering with cheerful pastels and floral motifs to create art.

In this Domestika course she will teach you how to create embroidery lettering in different ways.

English version by @acesarato

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