Learn how to crochet the spider stitch with this step by step tutorial. You'll love using this warm stitch in all sorts of crochet projects!
Stitching on paper offers an element of surprise... after all, fabric is the expected background. Combine that with bold colors and geometri...
If you’re just joining us here on Needle ‘n Thread, we’ve been exploring five different ways to interpret wheat in hand embroidery. Last Friday, we looked at how to embroider wheat in two quick and simple ways, using daisy stitch and granitos on two different stalks. Before that, in Part 1, I posted the free ...
Stem stitch is a beautiful rope-like hand embroidery stitch that works great for writing with a needle and thread. There are two real difficulties with stem stitch: stitch direction and curves. I’ll try to eliminate both of those difficulties in this tutorial. Before venturing into the tutorial, you might want to take a look at ...
Also known as: crewel stitch, stalk stitch, point de cable Through my research, I found out that stem stitch is crewel stitch. It is one of the easiest to be done and perhaps even one of the first stitches to be taught to any beginner. But, many...
For the longest time I avoided satin stitch at all costs. What was the point? A machine was always going to do a better job than I could - why put myself through the painful process of trying to make perfect stitches when they will never truly be perfect? I started practicing and my satin stitch was not great. So I w
The split stitch is a lovely outline stitch. It's raised a bit from the surface of the fabric, and it has a lovely, almost-braided look to it. It also forms a more continuous line - unlike the backstitch where you can see the individual stitches. Here's how to split stitch. See how easy it is?
New month, new stitches! Today and few next days let's take a look at cretan stitch and some of its variations as well as herringbone stitch and romanian couching. I tried to group them together based on the fact that they are often used in crewel embroidery as a filling technique and also they are quite popular for working leaves and similar shapes. Cretan stitch will be quite easy to conquer if you are already familiar with fly stitch and feather stitch because the technique is very similar. So if you forgot them, it's time to refresh your memory and make few practice stitches. Where to apply cretan stitch? From what I noticed, it is a very popular way to work leaves, especially in crewel embroidery. And I actually like using it for this purpose as well! You can see my cretan leaves in this design - they turn out having satin stitch-resemblant sides and braided dimensional “spine” which I think looks lovely. The only nuance is that it probably would work better with simple shaped leaves, you know, without the ragged sides. Another way to apply cretan stitch is to work a border. Crazy quilting, anyone? Add some french knots or lazy daisy stitches on the tips of cretan stitch and it will make a pretty decorative border. You can also adjust cretan stitch's appearance by changing the place of the stitch points... well, it will be clearer after we take a look at how to actually work it. How to work cretan stitch First, we need to make a stitch from A to B. As you see, the B point is situated a bit lower than A. Next, bring the needle back to the front of the fabric through the point C, which is lower than B but closer to A. From C we make a stitch ending at point D, which is, again, a bit lower. And come up through the fabric at point E. Note that both, in this step and the previous one, when we bring the needle up through the fabric, the stitch is under the needle. I prefer the stabbing way of working cretan stitch, but you can also use a sewing method if you want. Just don't forget to keep the thread under the needle when you work it. Here's how you change the look of cretan stitch, making it more open or close. Also, the points C and E from the first two pictures can be situated closer to the edges of the border, or they can be right under each other – all of these alterations will bring forward something new in this stitch. Cretan stitch leaf As much as I'm an advocate of fine embroidery and using primarily 1 strand of floss in the needle, I believe working cretan stitch will be best if you have at least 2 strands of floss, especially when you work leaves. Otherwise, it will a) take a really long time to fill a shape b) will be not as dimensional. Also, I would like to warn, that my way of working cretan stitch is slightly different from the ones you will find in many other resources. So be aware of that and maybe check out some other places to know which method suits you better. I start my cretan stitch leaves with a lazy daisy stitch on top of the shape. After that I make a stitch to one of the edges, coming back to the front right under the lazy daisy stitch (and making sure that the needle is inside the stitch). Repeating the same actions, but now on the other side of the leaf. And the needle appears right on the line of the “spine” again. So, here's how your cretan stitch can look like. As you see, you can give it a gentle curve of the central vein instead of keeping it perfectly straight. Naturally, you can make the filling more open if you wish. Also if you don't like the open space at the tip of the leaf, just make an additional straight stitch there and don't tell anyone :) So, this is the cretan stitch. A very fun and versatile technique suitable for many purposes. If you ran out of ideas how to give your embroidery leaves a new look – cretan stitch would be a great addition to your stitch library :) By the way, here's the Stitch Library with all the stitches covered so far.
How to perfect Satin stitch in 3 easy steps
Whether you are learning the satin stitch for the first time or looking to improve your technique, these tips will help you advance your hand embroidery skills while creating beautiful satin stitches every time.
Moss stitch is an easy, textured and classy stitch. Learn to knit the traditional moss stitch and some other variation thereof as well.
My first videos of how to start a cross stitch project, even for complete newbies to needlework. If you can count and make an X with thread, you can do it.
Learn how to knit duplicate stitch with our step-by-step duplicate stitch tutorial and get a chart for every letter of the alphabet.
If I had to pick an embroidery stitch that I have mixed feelings about, it’s the satin stitch. I love it – I consider it the Queen of Embroidery Stitches. It screams elegance. Refinement. Style. But on the other hand, there’s one thing I don’t like about it: sometimes, it’s a hard stitch to get ...
What is the split stitch and how do I use it? The split stitch is literally splitting the threads of your embroidery floss as you...
How to work satin stitch and satin stitch tips. Learn of the classical stitches of hand embroidery.
An beginner's guide to cross stitch, from picking out materials to starting your your first project. Avoid common mistakes and learn a new craft!
This is a kind of filling stitch which is ideal for making leaves or feathers. It requires us to divide the pattern into two and each side is filled alternately giving it a plaited effect in the center, thus ideal to make leaves or feathers. I...
In 16 Schritt-für-Schritt Tutorials lernst du ratz fatz das Blumen sticken. Besticke deine Kleidung oder Heimtextilien ganz individuell mit Blumen.
Looking for hand embroidery stitches for lines or letters? Find 8 stitch tutorials and their pro's and con's in this article.
These cross stitch patterns are completely inappropriate (also known as subversive cross stitch.) They have bad words in them and some have mature themes. Please only click through if you are looking for inappropriate cross stitch patterns.
How are you enjoying your time without buzzers and beepers in your hands? Mighty relaxing, isn't it? Now maybe you're remembering what it's like to have time for YOU. To refresh. To be tactile. That's what my patterns and stitching tutorials are all about. We all need that time. Time for the next three stitches in the sampler. Cross stitch. Feather stitch. And fly stitch. Now, I haven't used feather stitch in the tree sampler. I was saving that to add as a decorative border at the end of the work, so if you are stitching up that sampler, you'll only have two stitches today, unless you are using a large enough hoop to make the border. If you have used a 7" or smaller hoop, you'll have to move it around a bit to make the border or use a larger hoop if you can. Cross stitch This is a dream of a stitch and you'll see why people make whole pictures out of cross stitch. It's easy, can outline, can fill, and has a very simple and homey look about it. It's vintage, retro, and geometric modern all at the same time. Bring the threaded needle up from the back side of the fabric at the lower end of one diagonal. Take the needle back down at the other end of the diagonal line. I used 3 strands here. Repeat this line of diagonals all the way across. When you get to the end of the row, bring the needle up at the bottom point of the diagonal line leaning the other way. And head back the way you came, covering these diagonal lines in the same way. When you get to the last one, bring it to the back and knot or hide the thread. Feather stitch When you look at all the lines drawn, it looks complicated, but it's really just a bunch of Vs connected at the points. Bring the threaded needle up at the top left of the first V and insert it back into the top right of the same V. Bring the needle back up at the point, catching the loop of thread and pull through. I used 3 strands for this stitch. This is now the top left of the next V. And then you just make the next stitch the same way. Insert the needle in the top right point, pull through a bit, bring it up at the point, and pull through catching the loop to make the whole V. At the very end, take a small stitch to the back to secure the point and knot or hide the thread end. Fly stitch Oh dear! Isn't this like the last one? Yes, chickies! It is so much like the last stitch we learned. That's what makes embroidery so easy! But in fly stitch, instead of joining the stitches up, they are separate. Bring the threaded needle up at the top left and continue as if this was a feather stitch. But once you make the V, you bring the thread back down like a little tail and it becomes its own stitch. And then you make the next one the same way. These can be made in a row and pretty much connected, long or short tails, or further apart, so they show up like little seed pods, bird tracks, or flying geese. Back of the work: NOTE: It doesn't matter if you start feather and fly stitches from the left or right tips. I tend to start from the outer tip in a row of feather stitch. It's really up to you. Same goes for cross stitch. You can work the diagonals from left to right and then come back right to left, or vice versa. Here's the Alice Brooks-style tree sampler using cross stitch and fly stitch. As I said, I'll be adding the feather stitch border at the end, so you'll have to wait for the big reveal on that. Cross stitch on the fence - 4 strands. DMC 783 Fly stitch as birds - 3 strands. DMC 310 Well, aren't you clever! You've stitched half a sampler already! That's it for today! See you tomorrow. Remember to share Embroidery School with your friends.
Learn how to do Chain stitch in 4 simple steps!
Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet.
November is coming to an end, so it's time for a lil freebie to make this month a bit more exciting ^^. This time it's the Grace embroidery design that you might already be familiar with from my previous posts. I'm excited to share not only the pattern and stitches I used but also a bit of guidance and tips. Hopefully, it will make the stitching process easier for you! This design features 3 key elements: Rope-looking lines and outlines for the leaves Filling of the leaves Lettering Lines All of the lines are worked in stem stitch. You can see some additional tips on stem stitch in the following posts: Changing direction of stem stitch and the 6 faces of stem stitch. Long story short, as you are stem stitching, keep bringing your needle up to the left of your stitches. This will help you achieve the “rope” appearance of your stem stitch. Given that the direction of lines keeps changing throughout the whole pattern, be careful to not mix up the sides of where the needle should come up. If you are confused, rotate the hoop or embroidery frame so that the line faces upwards and make sure the needle comes up to the left of the line. When I stitched I worked the outline in portions. Let's say I completed 25% of outline first, then filled in some of the leaves, then worked the next 25% of outline and so forth. It helped me to keep a steady path. But, of course, it might be more convenient for you to work it in another way. Maybe you'd like to complete all of the outlines first and only then fill in the leaves. It's completely fine! Decide for yourself the order of working this embroidery pattern and work it in the way that makes you comfortable! I used two strands of floss for the box around the word GRACE, and one strand of floss for the rest of the lines. It made the plant motif look finer and helped the box to stand out. Leaves All of the leaves are filled with the fishbone stitch after the outline is already complete. The leaves are not always conveniently “straight” and with even edges. Their form changes here and there and sometimes they are not complete or cross with other leaves. So, yes, although the fishbone stitch itself is quite easy to pick up on, this design might still present a challenge. As a result, it will be an excellent practice of fishbone stitch for you ;) The order of working the leaves can be whatever you want. Just like with outlining I did it in portions, but it is possible to fill all the leaves with one shade of floss first, and then another and so on. I used two strands of floss when I embroidered the leaves in this pattern. Also, in some places leaves “fold”. These small areas are worked by satin stitch using one strand of floss in the needle. I didn't do any padding here. Just stitched the outline the same way as the areas of the plant motif and covered the “foldings” with parallel satin stitches. Lettering I used an easy and quick approach to lettering for this design. Take two strands of floss and outline a letter in back stitch first. Then “wrap” the letters in satin stitch. Because the letters are not that big and we use two strands of floss, there is no need for any padding. The letters look dimensional enough and pop out of the fabric surface. That's pretty much it. In case you have any questions left, you're always welcome to leave them in the comments below or send me a DM through the contact form :) DOWNLOAD THE FREE PATTERN HERE Have a nice stitching!
Stitch People Extras These extra patterns are free for purchasers of "Do-It-Yourself Stitch People", both 1st and 2nd Editions. They are patterns that have been created since the publication of the book, but my help you to better complete your portraits. These patterns are available online only. If you have the 2nd Edition of the
You've just completed a lovely piece of embroidered art but have decided that it is missing something - text! It can be so fun to add a favorite quote or name to your work, but what stitch should you use? Below I've included a look at my favorite hand embroidery stitches for lettering. Scroll down for information on ea
Cactus on a shelf free cross stitch pattern. So cute and fun to complete! Good for beginners and intermediate stitchers. Get the free pattern here!
Using bullion stitches as petals – why not? This bullion stitch flower is a nice one to spread in between other flowers. Adapt it to your taste by adding more […]
In this tutorial, I will show you a simple and easy process to convert a photo into a cross stitch pattern. Starting off with your own photo is a great way to customize cross...
Also known as: Damask Stitch Satin stitch has a very easy procedure. What is difficult in this stitch is to maintain the neatness, especially on the sides of the pattern that is being filled. So, very often, a satin stitch is outlined using one...
How to do back stitch in 4 simple steps
Learn how to sashiko stitch with this step-by-step guide to Sashiko stitching includes thread, needles, and transferring your pattern.
