What is your recommended way of marking your design for hand embroidery. The washable pens? Pencil? I'm not very experienced with embroidery and am doing an embroidered BOM and so have lots to transfer. The fabric I'm embroidering on is a light gray.

Thanks for your help!

Haven't hand embroidered in a while but when I did I always used pencil and marked lightly. When you mark lightly the thread covers the marks better so it can't be seen. I also used the fine line pens. The other washable pens made my lines too thick and the thread doesn't cover it as well which can pose a problem if you can't wash your project.

I use a "pigma Micron 05" from the stamping/scrap booking department. Color of your choice.
Joan

Um. Pigma pens are permanent ink aren't they? I'd choose something that will wash out. Plain old pencil works for me.

With the very fine pen you do not see the ink after the embroidery is done.

There are pens that disappear with spritz of water? Not sure if emb thread would run. I've always used preprinted or freehand. Let us know what works! Now I'm curious! Good luck!

I use either a pencil and draw lightly or a disappearing pen. There is also a red heat pencil for it but I have never tried it. I like the plain pencil best.

I use a product called Transfer Eze You can run it through you copy machine to copy the pattern, then peel off the paper backing to reveal the tacking on one side web like product with the pattern copied onto it, just finger press this on, stitch, and tear away as much a you can without disturbing your stitches and wash the rest away. It is wonderful for those intricate patterns or the fabrics you cannot easily see through to hand copy patterns.

#2 pencil on a light box.

I use a .5 mm drafting pen that my hubby brought home. I believe its permanant;however once you start your embroidery you cannot see the marks at all. The Chaulk pencil is good but I find that it smuges easy and that makes it hard for me to follow the patten some times.

Happy Stitching

Tammy