Data embroidery is a form of data art that is growing in popularity within and outside the scientific community. This paper formalizes some aspects of data embroidery that are applied intuitively by those outside the scientific community. After an introduction to data embroidery, the paper describes best-practice guidelines for data embroidery adapted from best-practice guidelines for print and digital data visualization. Next there are notes on embroidery-specific practices to consider when creating data embroidery. Finally, there are instructions for an introductory level data embroidery project that has been classroom tested.