Embroidery is the handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins.
I love Embroidery and think people can create such wonderful things using it. I’ve embellished a few tops in my time when i was super bored and wanted to take my mind off things!!
^^^A waistcoat that was very plain and needed something to jazz it up! ^^^^
Here are some simple stitches to get you started,
Split Stitch: The split stitch is great for everything. Outlines? Yep! Letters? You betcha! Fills? Heck, yea! It’s the perfect stitch to use on clothing or accessories or anything that’s going to get a lot of action since each stitch locks the stitch before it down. I like to use shorter stitches for outlines and letters because they give you more control on curves and such, and a longer stitch on fills so that I’m not stitching until the next Olympics.
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Start your split stitch by coming up through the middle of your first stitch, splitting it in half. |
That’s why it’s called a split stitch!
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Make the rest of your stitches the same length as your first to get a nice, even line. |
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Start your stitches in the middle of the stitch before. Use the end of the stitch two stitches before as a guide. |
The back of your split stitch should look like the front of the back stitch. That’s how you know you’re doing it right!
Stem Stitch: It has a cool ropey look about it that makes it great for lettering. Like the split stitch, use shorter stitches when you’re working anything with curves.
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The first stitch of your stem stitch should be half the length of the rest of your stitches. Start your second stitch alongside your first stitch. |
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Start each stitch at the end of the stitch two stitches before, so the start of the third stitch should be at the end of the first. |
This stitch is great to work “from the front,” which means you can poke the needle through and out of the fabric without switching your hand from back to front. This makes stitching go much faster and makes the whole process easier on your hands.
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Make sure all your stitches start on the same side of your stitch line. |
Just like with your split stitch, the back of your stem stitch should look like a back stitch.
Back Stitch: The back stitch is a great outline, especially if you want a homespun effect to your work. It’s also great when using a few strands of floss to get thin, almost pen-and-ink-style line for backgrounds and fills. I’ve used it several times when doing black and white embroidery to add lowlights and textures. As a fill, it makes for great texture. Make the stitches in a bricklike fashion, and you’ve got a pretty long/short style fill (I used to call this a running stitch until I was corrected by a lovely commenter, normasews. A running stitch actually looks like a broken line! Thanks normasews!)
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Start your back stitch as you would any other line stitch. Start the second stitch on the other side of your stitch. |
Since you can’t start the second stitch at the end of the first without pulling the first stitch out, you need to start the stitch on the away side of the stitch.
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Start the third stitch at the end of the second stitch. |
The back stitch line should look like a perforated line in paper.
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Make sure all your stitches are the same length. |
The back of the back stitch will not look like the back stitch! It should look like a running stitch when done correctly.
Chain Stitch: I love the chain stitch as much as I love the stem stitch. Ask me which one I love better and I couldn’t choose—it’d be like picking a favorite child. Don’t make me do it! Big and loopy, it makes a great accent stitch, while tighter it makes a great old-timey-looking outline for patterns and letters. I’ve also used it as a fill and find that the openness of the chain makes for great texture when stitching hair or fur.
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The first stitch of your chain stitch is a loop. It should start and stop in the same place. Start the second stitch at the top of the loop. |
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All your loop stitches will be made in the same way. Use your free hand to add a bit of tension to the previous loop. |
This is another great stitch to work from the front and goes like rockets once you get it down.
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The bigger your loops, the more chainlike your stitches will look. |
Like the split stitch and the stem stitch before it, the back of the chain stitch will also look like our friend the back stitch.
Blanket Stitch: The blanket stitch is my go-to joining stitch. If you look in my shop, you will see it over and over and over. I love the old world of this stitch and like to use it to add a handcrafted look to mundane, everyday items. This stitch looks hard, but it’s so very easy once you get it down. The stitch is worked right to left, like the pictures below. The pictures may look strange or flipped but that’s just because I was stitching upside down for the camera, the stitches are still going the right direction.
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The first stitch of the blanket stitch is a three-point stitch. Starting on the bottom fabric, insert your needle diagonally into the top fabric. Bring the needle down in line with the first stitch over your floss.
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The second stitch starts on the top fabric. Bring your needle down into the bottom fabric as you did on the first stitch. |
This stitch is also great to join edges or as a decorative border on blankets, quilts, home accessories, and clothing.
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This stitch gets its name because it’s often used to edge blankets. The more even your stitches are, the more polished your finished work will look. |
If you’re using the blanket stitch on an edge, the front and back should look the same. If you’re using it to join two flat pieces, then the back will look like evenly spaced vertical lines.
Now stop worrying and start stitching! There are tons of patterns out there from Jenny Hartto vintage-looking Aunt Martha to Etsy finds.
Happy stitching!http://www.craftstylish.com
