Fly Stitch

Fly Stitch

Hand embroidery stitches / Stitch Dictionary
Fly stitch sample 9

Fly stitch is a simple stitch that you can use for many things, such as in the sample above. In this piece of contemporary embroidery, I worked fly stitch in stranded cotton floss, perle #8 cotton, perle #12 cotton over layers of chiffon and net to produce a watery effect.

Fly stitch sample 2

This is a more traditional example of fly stitch. In the foliage of this floral motif, I stacked the stitches to create leaves. You start small and work to a larger fly stitch. In this sample, I used a dark green wool, one strand of light green cotton floss and a green metallic machine embroidery thread. I threaded a needle with all three threads and proceeded to work fly stitches close together in leaf-like shapes.

Fly stitch sample 4

Here, I used fly stitch to represent the leaves of a rose bud. I worked it in cotton perle #5, and the bud itself —which is made up of two bullion knots —is worked in a hand-dyed silk that is about the same thickness as cotton perle #8.

Fly stitch sample 5

On this sample, I have used the same technique to secure a strip of lace on a crazy quilt project. This time, however, I worked the bullion buds in wool, and the fly stitch is cotton perle #5.

Fly stitch sample

Not only can you use it in foliage and floral motifs, you can also repeat the stitch to create geometric patterns. This is fly stitch worked using wool and overlapping herringbone also worked in a wool thread.

Fly stitch sample6

This is a very versatile stitch. In this case, the ties of the fly stitch are not straight stitches, but detached chain stitches. Of course, this means it is no longer fly stitch, but a variation, though it is an attractive variation to explore and play with. In this sample, I used it to secure a braid to a piece of crazy quilting, and I worked itin hand-dyed rayon thread.

How to work Fly Stitch

Fly stitch step by step 1

Bring the thread up through the fabric at the top left of where you want to create the stitch. Hold the thread down with your left thumb and insert the needle to the right and level with where the thread emerged. Make a stitch on a downward angle so that the needle emerges between the two points as illustrated.

Fly stitch step by step 2

With the thread wrapped under the needle, pull it through the fabric. Secure the ‘V’ in position with a small vertical straight stitch.

Fly stitch sample 8

This is another contemporary interpretation of the stitch. On this sample, I used knitting yarn, novelty yarn (that’s the hairy stuff), stranded cotton floss, perle #5 cotton, and wool.

Fly stitch sample 7

Here, I used fly stitch for the stems of little floral elements on a patch in a crazy quilted block.

Fly stitch is also known as ‘Y’ stitch, and ‘open-loop’ stitch.

Have you seen my Stitchers Templates?

Templates

Create your own designs with Sharon’s easy-to-use stitchers templates. Combine shapes to create hundreds of patterns and designs to embroider. It is the ultimate mix-and-match fun for stitchers of all skill levels. I created them to be as versatile as possible. I include four multi-patterned templates in each set. You will find them easy to use, totally clear to help you position them on your work, and they are nice and compact to fit in your sewing box. Each set comes with an e-book filled with patterns and designs that you can create and use as a jumping-off spot for your own designs. They are available now in our shop here!

Happy stitching!

228 Comments

  17. Sharon. I am following the lead of the ladies making a book of twelve monthly pages. I want to leave room for all the stitcnes we will be given this month, but I wasn't sure if there would be four or five since there are five Tuesdays (and I was thinking in terms of weeks per month, not weeks per year.) Will there be 52 stitches total given out? I know this sounds kind of obvious, but I'm just checking.

    Cheryl Razmus

  20. Love all those different variations on fly stitch — very inspirational! Can't wait to start on my first TAST embroidery. Thanks for making this creative challenge happen!

    /Kristina from Sweden

    Maneki

  22. Hello fellow TASTers. Excited to be getting started, thanks Sharon for all you are doing for us. Love the first stitch but have yet to decide whether I want to create a reference piece or a creative piece……..will report on my blog when I get started. Waving to you from wild and windy England.

    Lis

  23. thank you Sharon for this opportunity to learn from the leaders! waving from Connecticut!
    since I have a few blocks made already to work on, is there a special theme I should be using or should it be a sampler? thank you for answering.

    Lori Kinney

  27. Hi Sharon! You seem to be so excited about this! I have a twirly chair too!!!

    I'm not a joiner here but I'll be following along and maybe I'll still learn something new. There's always room for that!

    Happy New Year!

    Pam

    Pam Kellogg

  28. I meant to have my fabric cut out yesterday, but other things happened, so I will do it today. I am really excited about this and want to thank you Sharon for all of your hard work, for your love of needleworking and willingness and joy in teaching us these stitches.

    Have a wonderful 2012.

    FlowerLady

    FlowerLady

  30. Somehow a period at the end of the link I had posted was picked up as part of the url link, so it didn't work. This corrects my previous comment:

    I'm a novice at specialty stitches, so my plan is to do a sample on some odd pieces of linen each week, then later in the year take what I've learned and do something more creative. This is the first time I've worked with the Fly Stitch, and my sample can be found on my blog at http://OctoberLace.blogspot.com specifically on my Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) page found at:
    http://octoberlace.blogspot.com/p/pin-tangle-take-stitch-tuesday-tast.html

    Thank you for offering this challenge!
    Theresa/OctoberLace

    Theresa/OctoberLace

  31. I'm a novice at specialty stitches, so my plan is to do a sample on some odd pieces of linen each week, then later in the year take what I've learned and do something more creative. This is the first time I've worked with the Fly Stitch, and my sample can be found on my blog at OctoberLace.blogspot.com, specifically on my Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) page found at:
    http://octoberlace.blogspot.com/p/pin-tangle-take-stitch-tuesday-tast.html.

    Thank you for offering this challenge!
    Theresa/OctoberLace

    Theresa/OctoberLace

  32. I live near Vienna, Austria, but now I'm waving back from Mauritius. Thanks so much for running this challenge! I wish you a Happy New Year 2012! Sitting at the sea under a palm tree I will start with the Fly Stitch! 🙂 Warm regards Claudia

    Claudia

  35. Thanks so much for all the examples of how to do the fly stitch – tomorrow is Tuesday for us in California. I have my fabric cut and thread ready. I have so many ideas and as a beginner my brain is on overload. I will learn much from all of you.

    Nancy Gardner

  37. Waving back to you from Queensland, Australia, Long time since I did hand embroidery but think I will give it a go this year. Have some beautiful seed beads that I can add along the way. Look forward to this new challenge.

    Joy

Comments are closed.

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