Transferring your designs onto fabric

A quick guide to different transfer methods for beginner stitchers

One of the most confusing things about hand embroidery as a beginner is wondering how on earth you should transfer designs onto fabric. There are so many different ways of doing it, and although it’s good to try a few different methods at first it really comes down to personal preference. 

In this post, I want to take you through some of the different ways you can transfer your design onto fabric in an easy and accessible way. Most of these transfer methods can be used in other sewing projects and not just for embroidery, so you’ll probably be able to make use of them beyond the hoop!

The methods we’ll be looking at in this post are:

• Air erasable pen

• Water erasable pen

• Heat erasable pen (Frixion pens)

• Permanent pens (Sublime Stitching)

• Sulky Sticky-fabri solvy

The air, water and heat erasable pens can be used to draw straight onto the fabric. As with any stitching supplies, the cheap options are usually fine for beginners but you may want to invest in something that will be more reliable and will last longer. Brands like Prym make excellent pens that are really worth investing in (I don’t work for them, I have just used them for years and am a big fan!).