My sis is the embroidery queen--she always uses a nice fabric for background and just cheap muslin on the back to help hide the thread ends. She almost always uses an embroidery backstitch to outline--her's are teeny-tiny---but the key is to be consistent and tight with stitching (but no puckers). I have to use a hoop, but she never does. She likes perle cotton for outlining as it's less hassle to thread, etc--but also has and uses tons of embroidery thread (2 strands for more detailed designs). Here is an example. [ATTACH=CONFIG]566368[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]566369[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]566370[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]566371[/ATTACH]