Embroidery is a fun and relaxing activity that goes back centuries. With the skill of embroidery, you can add a personalized touch to many common items, making embroidery a perfect hobby for custom gift giving.
So, what are some great embroidery gift ideas? Some embroidery gift ideas include hair clips, pillow cases, wall decorations, blankets, towels, and more. You can even buy your crafty embroidery friend some more thread or hoops, if that’s who you’re shopping for!
It’s a great feeling to gift a loved one something you’ve made for them by hand. That little personal touch can mean a lot and show your friends and family that they’re not only worth your money, but your time and thoughts.
Embroidery Gift Ideas For Others
We’ll start with the embroidery gifts you can make for others. These are for all you crafty embroiderers out there looking to make a special, custom gift.
1. Hair Clips
The first one may seem random to some people, but hair clips are great for embroidery!
The fabric would need to be put on the hoop first, and then you need to take the base hair clips you’re using and trace the shape onto the hoop.
You will likely be able to make more than one clip on one hoop, since hair clips tend to be small.
Embroider some nice small floral or greenery inside the shape of the clip, then cut it out with enough extra fabric around the edges of the design. You’ll fold the extra around the clip and glue it down on the bottom!
This is an easy and fun gift because you can make so many on one piece of fabric, and it can add a small, beautiful accessory to your loved ones’ outfits.
2. Hats
Hats also make great embroidery gifts! You can work with baseball caps or beanies, as these are two commonly worn hats that have flexible enough fabric for embroidery.
The great thing about hats is that they’re so versatile! You can embroidery your friend’s name, monogram, or a favorite saying or image that reminds you of them.
Baseball hats would be great for people who live in the South and need the extra facial protection from the sun, while beanies are great for those who live in the North and need the warmth around their ears in the winter.
Depending on the fabric, hats would most likely need to be embroidered with a machine than by hand. They can be tricky to work with by hand, though it can certainly be done with a good stabilizer.
3. Pillow Cases
For people looking to spruce up their home with personalized décor, a throw pillow case is perfect!
Throw pillows are generally smaller, and since no one is sleeping on them, it’s okay to add a chunky design thread with embroidery.
It’s common to find throw pillows with monograms or custom sayings, so why not make one yourself with something unique only to your loved ones?
You can even put together a seasonal throw pillow with embroidery. Instead of just adding a cute autumn saying like “Pumpkin spice and everything nice,” try adding a little pumpkin in the corner!
Throw pillows are limitless in what you can add to make them personal. The fabric for throw pillows is generally thin and soft too, which lends itself well to sliding in a hoop for some embroidery.
4. Wall Decorations
Wall decorations are probably the easiest embroidery gift you can give.
All you have to do is choose your embroidery pattern, put the fabric in the hoop, and embroider! When you’re done, simply trim most of the excess fabric and glue it down on the back of the hoop.
Embroidered designs often look best when left to display in their hoops, and the hoops are easy to hang on a nail in the wall.
Wall decorations don’t require any extra work on your part, like sewing a pillowcase or fashioning a hair clip.
It’s as easy as embroidering like you normally would, on fabrics you typically use, without any fuss! A perfect easy, quick gift if you put off buying a little too long.
5. Blankets
Blankets are another easy embroidery gift idea.
If you’re crafty with a sewing machine too, you can make the blanket yourself. Otherwise, you can simply buy a blanket from the store and hoop just the corner.
Embroidered blankets typically just have a monogram or name in the corner, which you can decorate with some nice floral or seasonal designs.
If your gift recipient was born in the winter, why not add a few snowflakes? If it’s for a summer wedding, why not add a sun or some beach waves?
The great thing about blankets is that they’ll come with their own pattern. The fabric for blankets is typically already full of a color or pattern, so your embroidery decoration doesn’t need to be too intricate.
The fabric may end up looking warped at the corner when you unhoop it, so make sure you wash and dry the blanket and maybe steam the corner a bit before packing it up in the gift bag.
6. Towels
Just like blankets, towels are another easy gift that you can hoop, embroider, and gift.
Towels are a more common gift for weddings, but many people will appreciate a customized towel no matter what the occasion. You can never have too many!
As with the blankets, towels are typically decorated with a monogram or name, but you can also add a little seasonal embroidery for friends or family who like to decorate with the seasons.
Towels may be hard to embroider because the fabric is so thick, so be sure to use a good stabilizer, if needed. You can decide whether it needs to be a removable stabilizer, or one that stays there forever.
7. Clothing
An easy way to create a custom gift is to take a plain clothing item and add a little embroidery pizzazz to it.
You can do this with any type of clothing: sweaters, jackets, blouses, skirts, shorts, and more. When embroidering clothing, keep in mind the target audience, as well as the fabric you’ll be working with.
A teenager likely won’t want their name in cutesy font on their sweater, but they might appreciate a cool design on the pockets. Jeans may require a stabilizer to embroider well, but other fabrics like cotton may not.
It’s also good to consider how the embroidery might wear over time. Clothing lends itself well to smaller designs. If you bog down a thin fabric with a big, ornate embroidery design, it will pull at the fabric over time and destroy the shape.
The best thing with embroidered clothing gifts is to just be mindful. While not everyone wants their name on their clothes, they might like a special symbol or image from their favorite book or TV show!
Remember that gift giving is all about the recipient and not the giver. With that in mind, you’ll be sure to make great embroidered clothing for your loved ones.
8. Bags
Along with clothing, bags are another gift that have nearly limitless possibilities. You can embroider something special onto a tote bag, a duffel bag, or even a smaller bag like a makeup bag or coin purse.
Some of these fabrics will be easier to work with than others, as we’ve mentioned with other items on this list.
Heavier duffel bags are made with canvas, which can be hard for an embroidery needle to go through. Keep this in mind when choosing the type of bag you want to customize as a gift.
You might want to go with an easier fabric, like a softer canvas, or even take advantage of layering. You can embroider the design on an outside cotton fabric and sew it to the inner lining, which can be thicker and sturdier.
Makeup bags will need a vinyl-like lining to prevent any makeup spills from ruining the rest of the bag.
Other than those few considerations, let your imagination run wild! Customize any bag for your loved one with whatever design you think they may appreciate.
This gift works especially well for small children, since you can embroider their name or monogram on a backpack, or even a diaper bag for younger children.
9. Pot Holders/Oven Mitts
Although a more uncommon gift, potholders and oven mitts are very easy to embroider, which make them great gifts! You can add a nice personal touch to something most people don’t give a second thought about.
Giving your loved one a personalized potholder or oven mitt will help give them a special accent to their kitchen décor that isn’t just cute, but functional!
Every time they pull hot pans out of the oven, they’ll be able to see your gift and remember the thought and care you put into it.
While it may seem like a small, unimportant, and random thing to give, these often make the best presents. They likely won’t have anyone else gifting a personally embroidered oven mitt, so you’ll stand out among the crowd!
10. Wedding Gift
Embroidery makes the perfect personalization for a wedding gift.
Wedding gifts are typically tailored for the couple, such as monogrammed towels or a wall decoration with their names and wedding year.
Rather than buying those from the store, you can make a personal impact by embroidering it yourself!
The possibilities vary widely with wedding gifts. Many of the items we already listed here, such as towels, blankets, or wall decorations, would make perfect wedding gifts.
Many women would appreciate even a piece of clothing or a new bag with their new last name or last initial embroidered on it!
There are tons of embroidery patterns for incorporating two initials or names with some nice, classic greenery and a wedding date. You can use one of those patterns to make a simple wall hang, or even a throw pillowcase.
11. Baby Keepsake
Baby showers are another top place to give an embroidered gift.
Rather than the some of those traditional wedding gifts like blankets and towels, you can expand the options when it comes to baby gifts!
Embroidery looks great on a burp cloth, onesie, or even a bib. Many of these items are cloth and can be easily hooped for embroidering a fun design, saying, or the child’s name.
Of course, you can always stick with a classic and embroider the child’s name on a baby blanket, too. Personalized baby blankets make great long-term keepsakes for the family, so your time and efforts will create a special memory for them.
You could also give them the diaper bag they wanted, but embroider the baby’s monogram on it before wrapping it up!
Many cloth baby items can be easily embroidered to add a nice, custom touch and show the recipient you care about them and their new child.
Gift Ideas For Embroiderers
If you’re looking for an embroidery gift idea for the embroiderer in your life, rather than someone who practices embroidery making handmade items, then we’ve got some great ideas for you, too!
There are several items that embroiderers always need to have in supply, so any of them would make great gifts.
1. Hoops
Every person who does embroidery needs hoops.
Whether you buy many different kinds of hoops, but we’re certain they’ll be able to put any one of them to good use.
Because so many embroidery designs look best when left in the hoop, many embroiderers will go through hoops pretty consistently without reusing them.
This means that they’re always in need of a new set of hoops.
Embroidery hoops range in size, with the average being anywhere between 5” and 11”. You can get your friend or family a set of varied size hoops for a fair price and make their day in the process!
2. Thread
Embroidery floss, or the thread used to create embroidery designs, is also a top need for embroiderers.
If you’ve had a chance to get a good look at their stash, then you might have a good idea of some colors they might be running low on.
Otherwise, you can simply choose a big variety pack, or choose individual floss bundles at your local craft store!
Embroidery floss generally sells for less than a dollar per color, so you’ll be able to grab several new colors for your embroidering friend without breaking the bank.
3. Patterns
Although most patterns are online these days, you can still find books or bundles of paper embroidery patterns, too.
Embroidery patterns are a huge help to embroiderers. It can give them direction and help them gauge the spacing of a design.
With lettering, some people who do embroidery may not be great at free handing pretty script. Having a pattern can help the words look nicer and create a more beautiful final product.
You can find embroidery patterns ranging from phrases, to intricate floral designs, to small little symbols that can be used to create larger designs.
4. Storage Bag
Another great gift idea for the embroiderer in your life is an embroidery supplies storage bag!
Many people who practice embroidery tend to get more tools than they have room for. Whether it’s floss, needles, fabric, or hoops, they’ll need somewhere to store it all.
They may have some storage boxes or bins, but you can never go wrong with expanding their storage space.
The great thing about a storage bag is that they can even use it to grab just the tools they need for their current work in progress and use them on the go!
Related Articles
Embroidery Hoop Sizes (Ultimate Guide With Chart)
