This week I began an ambitious project, as I not only tried to create my very first embroidery piece but also tried to do it solely using TikTok. I chose to use TikTok because I wanted to learn how to transfer my own designs as well as some other smaller issues I had, like tying off my string. TikTok is a platform I am very familiar with and I felt the short format would be beneficial for learning these smaller skills.

I started by trying to find information on transferring designs onto the fabric. I found out there are a few different ways of doing this, most of which depend on my access to a printer (I have 0 access) and the availability of special ink or pens (I also have 0 access to this). Some of the ways I learned you could transfer designs is by getting a special printer paper that will print right onto your fabric. Another way is by tracing a design with a heat or water erasable pencil. You can also get dissolvable paper that you can print on and stick right to your fabric. I didn’t have a heat erasable pencil so I just drew my design on a piece of paper and traced it using a regular pencil on a window as they suggested.

One issue I did have with using TikTok as a learning source was that the short format made it difficult to find help with creating patterns or patterns to follow. I tried to find someone with a beginner pattern but I had to resort to just drawing my own based on inspiration from others. Another issue I had was that since I was looking for very specific things, I sometimes couldn’t find them or they would give a more vague solution.

After tracing my design I began working. This project took me about 7 hours, which I was pleasantly surprised by, as I thought it might take multiple days. As I began working I found videos on how to tie off the string so that the back of the piece would remain neat. I found skills like this or refreshers on certain stitches were very easy to learn from TikTok.

After many hours of tv and trying not to prick my finger 100 times, I finally finished my first piece! I decided to showcase my work by making a TikTok, which may or may not have been more difficult than the actual embroidery (I accidentally deleted it 3 times).

Overall I found TikTok was a good learning source for what I attempted to use it for. I think it can be a great platform for dealing with specific issues but it’s not something I would use to learn something completely. I found it impossible to go through an entire piece solely depending on TikTok, but it did teach me skills I needed to be able to do it on my own!