Waffle weave, waffle knit, thermal fabric. Whatever you call it, these fabrics may (literally) have their ups and downs, but they've long been popular choices for lots of fabric items you may already have in your home. Fabric knit with a texture is good at trapping heat and keeping you warm on winter days, in items like shirts and long johns. Towels and linens can come in a waffle weave, too, which creates interesting texture and, the case of towels and cloths, makes the fabric good at gripping and drying.

FABRIC: Thermal long-sleeved shirts and dishtowels are just some of the fabrics you might find that have a waffle texture. Remember, whether the fabric is knit or woven - and how tightly or loosely - affects how you'll treat it. As always, make sure to pre-shrink the fabric or item before you embroider.

DESIGN: Avoid very light running-stitch designs, as they can disappear into a textured fabric. Other than that, anything that's suitable for the fabric in question is fair game!

NEEDLE: Use a 75/11 sharp needle - that's what we recommend for most embroidery jobs.

STABILIZER: Use a medium-weight cutaway stabilizer, attached to the back of your fabric with temporary spray adhesive. This will keep your stitches looking nice on fabrics that might not be very stable otherwise. Depending on how rough your waffle texture is, you may want to use a water-soluble topping as well. The towel we embroidered below had a rougher texture, so we used a layer of Sulky Solvy on top; the shirt was smoother, so we skipped the topping and it turned out fine.