I'm not a huge embroidery person--but my sis is the embroidery queen! She uses whatever she can get her hands on but tries to get a very nice quality muslin and doubles it so the threads don't show through. She likes DMC, sometimes uses Perl Cotton, and can't help with needle. She doesn't use a hoop--ever--and just works to keep her fabric flat and pucker free. Her stitches are Very tiny and many mistake for machine embroidery.