10 embroidery stitches to take you from beginner to master

It is a subject of common knowledge (and quite a few popular books) that you only need to know a few chords on a guitar to open you up to be able to play a whole rainbow’s worth of music. Of course learning new chords afterwards is great and can make your playing varied and even more fun but effectively you can do an awful lot with just those few chords and a willing spirit. Embroidery is actually pretty much the same. While it’s great to know how to stitch a huge range of different stitches you can actually get away with just mastering 10 stitches to make huge numbers of gorgeous pieces.

So here I’ll show you, with photographs, how you can stitch these 10 stitches quickly and easily and start your journey from embroidery newbie to stitch master!

• Running Stitch:

  Technique:

  There are two methods for doing running stitch, just choose which you like best.

  METHOD 1– First knot the end of your thread and come up through the back of the material until the knot hits the material, now make one stitch by going down through the material again a small distance away.

  Now (as shown in Photo 1) weave your needle in and out of the fabric to create the stitches and pull through. Photo 2 shows the completed stitches.

  

  

  METHOD 2 –  The second method is just to go up and down normally and do your stitches individually. See Photo 3.

  

  Where to use running stitch:

  1. Decoratively, to create a border or line.
  2. To gather material together.
  3. In appliqué (where you sew smaller fabric shapes onto another larger piece of fabric to create a pattern or picture.)
  4. To hold pieces of fabric together temporarily before properly stitching.

• Back Stitch

Technique:

Backstitch is a lovely simple stitch which again starts with you knotting the end of your thread. Now come up from the back and make one stitch by going down again. Now come up a stitch’s worth amount from your first stitch and then go back down the hole from the first stitch (see Photo 4) covering over where you left the gap. It’s easier to demonstrate with pictures and a diagram as it sounds so much more complicated than it is!

You come up at 1 and go back down at 2, back up at 3 and then back down at 4 and so on.

Where to use backstitch:

1. Decoratively, for lines or borders.
2. To stitch words or outlines.

• Straight Stitch

Technique:

Super simple and perfect for filling up shapes. Just come up from the back at point 1 and back down at point 2, then start again at a completely different angle.

Where to use straight stitch:

1. To fill up large shapes and to create texture.

• Chain Stitch

Technique:

Come up  from the back with your needle,  go back down at 1 (next to where you began) and come up at 2, before pulling through catch the thread around the left side of the needle as shown in Photo 7.

To continue chain stitching just follow the same technique but go through the middle of the last chain as shown in Photo 8.

Where to use it:

1. To outline words and shapes.
2. Decorative borders.

• Lazy Daisy

Technique:

This is basically a variant of chain stitch so once you can do that you can do this! Start by knotting the end of your thread, coming up from the back and then going back down next to where you came up from, creating a loop. Come up again where you want the tip of the “petal” to be and thread through the loop (see photo 10). Pull through and then make a very small stitch to hold the loop in place (see Photo 11).

Now come back up in the middle and start again (Photo 12), create the petals until your flower shape is complete (Photo 13).

Where to use it:

1. To create flowers, petals, leaves or seeds.

• French Knots

Technique:

First knot the end of the thread and then come up with your needle from the back, now using your fingers wrap the thread 3 times around the needle tip towards you (Photo 14) and hold the working thread while you push the needle back down next to where you came up (Photo 15). Pull steadily and slowly until a knot is formed (Photo 16).

Where to use it:

1. Decorative filling
2. To form part of or the whole of plants, flowers or seeds

• Stem Stitch

Technique:

Come up from the back and, using Photo 17 to help demonstrate, up at 1, down at 2 and then back up again at 3 (point 3 is halfway between points 1 and 2) so that the stitches sit neatly on top of each other (Photo 18).

Where to use it:

1. To outline writing
2. To create stems, twigs and branches
3. For decorative borders

• Satin Stitch

Technique

Draw with pencil or chalk the shape you would like to satin stitch (photo 20), this makes it much easier to make sure you are staying on target.

It’s down to personal preference but I like to start at the widest point and work out, this is usually the middle of a shape. You come up from the back and go straight across the design and down, as shown in  Photo 21. You then come back up just next to where you started on the left but slightly down. This means that you get a well covered shape with no gaps. Remember not to pull the thread to tight otherwise it will start to gather.

Where to use satin stitch

1. To give a solid filling to shapes or writing
2. For petals and leaves

• Cross Stitch

Technique

You might think that this stitch belongs exclusively to cross stitch but it is also fantastic in embroidery as well. It is as simple as it sounds but it is important to always stitch it in the same order as it will show if you change the order you stitch it. As shown in Photo 24, come up at 1 and across and down at 2, up again at 3 and down at 4.

Where to use cross stitch

1. As a decorative filling
2. For borders

• Blanket Stitch

Technique

(These instructions are if you are stitching two pieces of fabric together) Knot the end of your thread and go down through the bottom fabric piece only, this will hide your knot between the two layers (Photo 26). Make your first stitch by now going through the two layers from the top, this creates a loop and your first stitch (Photo 27).  Push the needle sidewards through first stitch and between the middle opening of the two layers to anchor it and make the thread appear on the left hand side of that first stitch.

Now using Photo 28 to illustrate, go down from the top a short distance away from your last stitch and make sure the thread loops behind the needle so that when you pull it together it looks like Photo 29. Just carry on doing this all the way around the piece you are stitching until you are back to where you started. Then slide your needle sidewards through your first stitch and then again to make a loop, now pass your needle through that loop so you have a knot.

Where to use blanket stitch

1. For decorative borders
2. Appliqué
3. To sew two edges together decoratively

I really hope you have found this whistle-stop tour of embroidery stitches useful. Embroidery is so rewarding, not just because it is relaxing and therapeutic but also because it is something that has no parameters so you can literally stitch your imagination!

Please send in pictures of your completed embroidery masterpieces, I’d love to see them!

For more blog articles like this as well as articles on craft, wellbeing and nature then please follow this blog or follow Cre8kits on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.