French knots are part of the knotted stitches family and often used to accentuate parts of embroidery. They form a very textured surface if clouded together but look great scattered around, too.
Here is how it works
1 // Wrap your thread around the needle twice.
2 // Stick the needle into the fabric right behind the position where your thread comes out. Pull the thread a little bit tighter if your knot is wonky. With your thumb hold the thread in place, with index and middle finger secure the place where the needle comes through the fabric.
3 // Now gently pull the needle through the fabric. Your two fingers under the fabric are there to prevent the knot......
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Satin stitch is widely used as a fill stitch. The name comes from the smooth surface similar to the surface of the fabric called satin. The satin stitch consists of parallel usually quite long stitches. There are two possibilities to make the satin stitch. For the first method, you simply mark the shape of your area to stitch and embroidery it following the marks. For the second method, you pre-stitch your shape with a line stitch like back stitch or split stitch and embroider over this. The second method produces a neater appearance and for a beginner is easier to do. The stitched shape is more textured and risen than with the first method.
If you plan to do stand alone shape like the triangle in the picture I would always use the pre-stitching technique while if you want to embroider something with many small......
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The herringbone stitch is a crossed stitch. It's commonly used to fill areas with a low amount of waste yarn in the back.
Here is how it's done
1 // Before making the stitch you can mark 2 parallel lines on the fabric to make it easier to keep the right spacing. Then imagine a triangle between the 2 lines with the point where the thread comes out as the left bottom corner. So now when you stick the needle in the upper line you do it just a little bit on the right of the upper corner of the triangle. Then come up just a little bit left of the upper corner of the triangle.
2 // Repeat the step above, but upside down. The triangle has it's......
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Number 3 in this series of 7 basic embroidery stitches is the CHAIN STITCH. This stitch can be used as a line stitch or to fill whole areas with embroidery. You can substitute back stitch with chain stitch in most line stitching patterns easily.
Here is how it works
1 // Stick the needle in the same hole where the thread comes out and pull it up at one stitch length. Wrap the thread around the point of the needle and pull the needle out.
2 // Repeat sticking the needle in where your thread comes out, pulling through the fabric from underneath, wrapping the yarn around the needle and pulling the needle out. To secure the last stitch stick the needle behind the loop of the last stitch.
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On to stitch 3 of the 7 days of stitches series: the STEM STITCH. Stem stitch is an elegant line stitch that resembles a rope. The slanting segments make this stitch blend the single stitches into a smoother line than the more distinct segments of back stitch or chain stitch.
This is how it's done
1 // Stick the needle into the fabric at one stitch length and pull it up at half the length of the same stitch.
2 // Repeat to stick the needle into the fabric at one stitches length and pull it up where your last stitch ends.
// The stem stitch looks like backstitch on the backside.
Stem stitch is often used to support other stitches which makes it......
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It's day 2 of the 7 days of stitches and it's going to be a back and forth. Yeah, I know, bad joke. Of course it's about the BACK STITCH. Back stitch is probably the most popular stitch with folks new to embroidery. It's neat and versatile and you can stitch your way through all the outline embroidery patterns out there.
This is how it goes
1 // Stick the needle in the fabric one stitch length on the right where the thread comes out of the fabric. Then pull the needle through the fabric one stitch length on the left where the thread comes out of the fabric.
2 // Repeat stitching in the hole on the right already made by the stitch before and......
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Let's start with the first of basic stitches for this week! The RUNNING STITCH probably is the most simple and basic embroidery stitch. Yet you can achieve the most intriguing patterns or minimalistic line stitchings.
Here is how it works
// For the running stitch, you go over and under the fabric in one line.
Embroidery techniques using running stitches as their basic stitch are Sashiko and pattern darning.
Sashiko is a technique from Japan traditionally using indigo blue and white for thread and fabric. Geometric patterns are embroidered with running stitch following some basic rules for edging and center. Sashiko is often reversible. Pattern darning is a technique used all over the world. The pattern is created with running stitches over the whole length of the pattern row for row. You can see an example in the top......
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When I first started embroidery I wanted to try it all out. There were so many stitches to learn and soon a found myself in a situation where it was just to much to remember. After all what is the purpose of learning a new skill when you forget about it instantly? Back then it helped me to focus on the basic embroidery stitches and actually use them a couple of times before jumping to the next stitch.
I know it is hard to pick a starting point, but I have pinpointed the 7 most basic embroidery stitches for you. I selected them out of hundreds of stitches and they are the most versatile ones that will help you get started with embroidery. Originally, I wanted to narrow it down to 5 stitches first, but the sheer amount of great stitches made it so difficult to choose!
I use all 7 stitches......
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