Couching is a wonderful technique that many embroiderers overlook. But it is easy to do, and it’s a fun way to use interesting textured novelty threads in your embroidery. You can create wonderful surfaces by couching down threads and then embroidering over the top of them. Combined with beads and …
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 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 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 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 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 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. …
