Chain Stitch

Instructions on how to work chain stitch You can use Chain stitch to create a line. You might also know Chain Stitch as tambour stitch or point de chainette. Bring the needle up through the fabric and hold the thread with your left thumb. Insert the needle as illustrated, so that the …

Chevron Stitch

Chevron stitch is a decorative stitch used in surface embroidery and smocking. Some people consider it a basic stitch that you can use in numerous ways in hand-embroidered projects. The sample above is on a piece of crazy quilting and consists of a row of Chevron stitch, worked on either …

Herringbone Stitch

Herringbone Stitch is an old favourite of mine and of many other stitchers. I think it is a very versatile crossed stitch. You can work it for a border, as a fill, or along a curved line. You can use it in various forms of surface embroidery, and I have …

Cretan stitch

Cretan stitch can be used in many decorative ways. With it, you can fill a shape, create a border, or create a line. If you arrange rows of Cretan stitch in lines, it makes a wonderful filling stitch to work within a shape. You can also use it to couch …

Feather Stitch

Feather stitch is a wonderfully versatile, decorative, surface embroidery stitch. It is also known as single coral stitch, or briar stitch. Feather stitch is found extensively on traditional English smocks, Dorset embroidery and on crazy quilts. You can easily give a contemporary twist to the traditional uses of feather stitch, …

Fly Stitch

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. …

Picot chain stitch tutorial

Picot Chain Stitch is an interesting variety of chain stitch that can be used as a linear stitch. Picot simply means knot or loop. This version has a picot on each chain stitch creating a slight ridge down the side of the line. In order to work this stitch it is …