Diagonal straight and back stitch sounds like a mouthful, but it has a nice working rhythm as it consists of one straight stitch, then a stitch that is worked back on itself, a bit like half a back stitch. Diagonal Straight and Back Stitch creates a simple, quick fill that works up easily on even weave fabric. When you tension each stitch, it makes a pulled thread filling. It looks like faggot stitch but is not as if you were working a faggot stitch you would pass the needle diagonally behind the work. This stitch puzzles me, to be honest, because it feels like someone was trying to do faggoting but got it wrong and, as a result, invented a stitch. That said, it works up very quickly and can be useful to use if you want to cover an area.
How to work Diagonal straight and back stitch
Diagonal straight and back stitch can be used in both surface embroidery and pulled thread work but needs to be worked on an evenweave fabric to look its best.
Bring your needle from the back of the fabric, move horizontally along 4 threads. Insert your needle and have it emerge 4 vertical threads down.
Pull your needle through.
Move your needle up four threads and make a back stitch by inserting your needle at the corner of your previous stitch as illustrated.
Continue in this zigzag manner diagonally down the fabric.
The rhythm is to create a straight stitch across, and then back stitch down, a straight stitch across, and so on.
Turn at the bottom of the line and work in the same zig-zag manner up the line.
Work back and forth to fill the area.
The photograph above is Diagonal Straight and Back Stitch worked as pulled stitch. To create this effect, you just tug on each stitch as you go. It makes for a very quick pulled thread filling!
I hope you enjoy Diagonal Straight and Back Stitch!
Thread Twisties!
Experimenting with different threads can be expensive. You would normally have to buy a whole skein of each type of thread. My thread twisties are a combination of different threads to use in creative hand embroidery. These enable you to try out stitching with something other than stranded cotton. For the price of just a few skeins, you can experiment with a bundle of threads of luscious colours and many different textures.
These are creative embroiderers’ threads. With them, I hope to encourage you to experiment. Each Twistie is a thread bundle containing silk, cotton, rayon, and wool. Threads range from extra fine (the same thickness as 1 strand of embroidery floss) to chunky couchable textured yarns. All threads have a soft and manageable drape. Twisting them around a needle makes experimental hand embroidery an interesting journey rather than a battle. Many are hand-dyed by me. All are threads I use. You may find a similar thread twist, but no two are identical.
You will find my thread twisties in the Pintangle shop here.
