How to Embroider on Toilet Paper: Complete Tutorial & Tips

I’ve got to be honest; when I first heard of embroidering on toilet paper, I thought it was a crappy idea (yes, pun intended). It seemed like home embroiderers were grabbing random household items and stitching on them. I mean, what’s next? The carpet?

But after I realized all the potential regarding embroidering toilet paper, all of us here at the Embroidery Legacy decided to join in on the fun. So why would you want to embroider on toilet paper?

Embroidering on toilet paper is a great way to add a personal embroidered touch to your bathroom. Whether you’re decorating for the holidays or just giving your guests something to chuckle about while going about their business, it is just plain old embroidery fun.

Embroidered toilet paper can also make an excellent gift for someone hard to buy for, especially if it’s personalized. Who can say they have a personal roll of toilet paper? You can create a personalized roll for any occasion, from a new house owner to a birthday bash, you will never be without a gift!

The pandemic had previously left our grocery store  toilet paper shelves empty. We had a toilet paper crisis! We have shifted our thoughts regarding toilet paper and no longer take it for granted. Buying a toilet paper stash no longer means you need rolls for toilet use, but now for embroidery projects! 

Now before we get started, I want to point out that the way we’re going to show you how to embroider on toilet paper will be different from how you may have seen others do it in the past.

This is a new way we created that holds the toilet paper more securely to increase the likelihood that the toilet paper won’t break while being embroidered on. Let’s get started!

Here’s an easy to follow video tutorial we’ve created if you find watching an easier way to follow along and learn:

• • Toilet paper (of course)
  • No show mesh embroidery stabilizer
  • Embroidery hoop
  • Exacto knife
  • Binder clips
  • Felt pads
  • Embroidery designs –Tinkle All The Way was used for this project

If you want to give your embroidered toilet paper a different look, browse through our collection of machine-friendly toilet paper embroidery designs.

Tip: Use a higher ply of toilet paper to embroider on. Not only does it feel better to use, but it is also stronger, which decreases the likelihood that it will break while being embroidered on. Both ways, it’s less of a pain in your rear end (Ok, seriously, I’ll stop with these jokes now).

With the necessary items above, you’ll want to add a felt pad to one side of your binder clips (you’ll need 4 of these). This will allow the toilet paper to slide on the machine’s surface rather than catch on it.

Step 1: Hoop your stabilizer and run the placement stitch

• This is rather self-explanatory: hoop your stabilizer and then make sure it is as tight as it possibly can be.
• Although we never recommend using a screwdriver to tighten your hoop as it can create hoop burn on your fabric, in this case, it doesn’t matter as we will be cutting off the excess stabilizer afterward.
• If you’re unfamiliar with embroidery hooping, check out our hooping tips and tricks by clicking here.
• Once your stabilizer is hooped, place your hoop on the machine and start by embroidering the design placement stitches.

Stabilizer is a crucial component when creating embroidery, check out our complete guide to machine embroidery stabilizer to enhance the life and stitch of your next embroidery project by clicking here.

Step 2: Cut slits around the placement stitch to insert clips

• Here you will be using your exacto knife to cut four small slits around the placement stitches so that the clips can be inserted.
• See the image below for exact details on slit placement.

• After this is finished, you’ll take your toilet paper and line it up to the placement guide stitches.
• Next, you’re going to very carefully take the clips you created and slide the felt piece underneath the slit, leaving the top binder clamp on top.
• You’ll do this four times, once for each of four of the slits you cut.

• Your toilet paper should now be held securely in place.

Step 3: Embroider your design

• Place the hoop back on your machine while being mindful not to tear the toilet paper.
• Then start stitching your design!

Step 4: Remove the stabilizer and roll up your toilet paper

• Take the hoop off of your machine and carefully remove the clips holding the toilet paper in place.
• Next, remove the stabilizer from your hoop, once again being careful of the toilet paper.
• Once you remove the hoop, take a pair of scissors and cut away the excess no show mesh stabilizer from the back of your design.

• Once the excess stabilizer has been removed, we can roll up the toilet paper and carefully clean up any loose stitches that might be showing by cutting them away with scissors.
• Thats it. Congratulations, you’ve just embroidered on toilet paper!

Please keep in mind that not all embroidery designs were created (or digitized) to be embroidered on toilet paper!

Designs that are too dense or have too high of a stitch count will create too many needle penetrations and likely cause the toilet paper to tear.

Tip for Digitizers: If you’re looking to digitize designs for toilet paper, be sure to digitize them with leather stitch settings in mind for low density.

If you have an embroidery software program that allows you to select and adjust design properties for different fabric types, be sure to choose Leather or Suede to decrease your design’s density before attempting to embroider it on toilet paper. For example, Hatch has a fabric assist tool that will allow you to adjust design properties for different fabric types. 

Interested in digitizing your own embroidery designs? Try out our free digitizing challenge and we’ll show you how easy it is to create your own designs by clicking here. Don’t have digitizing software? We’ve got you covered, try out our free 30-day Hatch embroidery software trial here.

If you’re looking for cute designs to embroidery on your toilet paper that won’t cause it to tear, here are some festive designs we offer here at Embroidery Legacy that were digitized specially with toilet paper in mind.

All of the designs shown below, plus almost 30,000 other embroidery designs, are included within our Embroidery Legacy Design Club. If you want to save money on quality embroidery designs, click here to learn more. Stop imagining and start creating with the Embroidery Legacy Design Club.

Ok, you caught me. I had to make one more joke. I mean, come on, how often do I get to write about this stuff? 

In conclusion, if you follow our steps listed above, you shouldn’t run into any issues when embroidering on toilet paper especially when using our low density embroidery designs, as they’ve been specifically made for toilet paper projects.

Be sure to take it slow, get three-ply toilet paper, and use designs that were digitized with the proper low-density stitch settings in mind, so your embroidery machine doesn’t tear your toilet paper to shreds. 

P.S. If you want to give your embroidered projects a different look, browse through our giant collection of machine-friendly embroidery designs. Plus, check out our Embroidery Legacy Design Club to learn how to save on our entire database of close to 30,000 quality designs. Or if you’ve never tried our designs before, click here to download our Free Embroidery Legacy Design Kit.