Cross stitch is really easy. It truly is just a little stitched X. But there are a couple of tricks that will make your stitching look good – especially if you’re using cross stitches to fill an area – and that’s what I show you in this video.
Happy stitching!
Here are all my lessons for other stitches.
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons about finishing your work.
Whipped backstitch is one of my very favorite stitches.
It looks fancy, but it’s soooooo easy! It’s very similar to the Threaded Running Stitch and Backstitch – but it has more of a spiral effect.
You can see some whipped backstitch in the flower with the red and pink striped outline that’s cropped out of the top of this photo.
Those flowers are from the Bloom embroidery pattern.
I also used it for the crown in the Queen of Hearts pattern. That’s what you see in the title image at the top of the post.
I always think whipped backstitch looks like candy cane striping, so I used it in several places on this free gingerbread house pattern.
I don’t use whipped running stitch as much and whipped backstitch, but the process is the same, and I demonstrate both in the video.
Happy stitching!
Here are all my lessons for outline embroidery stitches.
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons teaching fill stitches.
Here’s an easy way to fancy-up a basic outline stitch. Try it with two colors of thread like I show in the video – it’s a fun look!
Here are all my lessons for outline embroidery stitches.
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons teaching fill stitches.
Normally split stitch is an outline stitch, but in this video I show you how to use it as a nice fill stitch.
It’s a great way to fill an area with lovely texture instead of the smooth surface you’d get by using satin stitch.
It’s also a very useful stitch to use as padding below satin stitch, to get a nice raised bed of stitching.
Using split stitch as a fill stitch is easy – there are just a couple of things to keep in mind, and I show them in this video.
Want to practice this new stitch? I used it a lot in this free embroidery pattern.
Happy stitching!
Here are all my lessons for fill stitches (besides satin stitch).
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for all the other stitches.
This is a handy little stitch with lots of different names. One of the names is Pistil Stitch – and it is perfect for stitching little pistils inside detailed flowers. It’s also good for teeny little flowers and grasses – and also antennae on bugs and aliens. Such a versatile stitch!
Sometimes it’s called an elongated French knot – and that makes sense. If you can make a French knot – you can stitch this French knot with a stem. It’s almost exactly the same thing!
I wish it was called Lollipop Stitch. Wouldn’t that be adorable?
I don’t use pistil stitch very often – but sometimes it’s absolutely perfect. Especially for flowers!
You can see it in some of the flowers in the Bloom embroidery pattern. . .
. . . and also for some of the flowers in this free pattern for an embroidered felt Easter egg.
Pistil stitch – have fun with it!
Here are all my lessons for other stitches.
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons about finishing your work.
Hello all! It’s time for another fill stitch! This one is related to satin stitch – so it will look familiar.
You can use it to fill in large areas where satin stitch wouldn’t work.
You can use it to make the coat on furry critters like bunnies and dogs.
But one of the best things about it is that you can use it to shade from one color to another. In the video I show shading from dark to light, but you could also go from one color to another – or even fill with a whole rainbow of shading. This is one to have fun with!
Happy stitching!
Here are all my lessons for fill stitches (besides satin stitch).
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for all the other stitches.
Seed stitch is one of my favorite fill stitches. It’s really easy to do and it makes a great texture – perfect for grassy fields and shaggy critters.
But there’s a trick to getting all the texture – and that trick is in choosing the right colors – and choosing enough of them.
Everyone who’s ever read a fairy tale – or listened to Schoolhouse Rock – already knows the secret. . .
It’s that simple!
Here I’m going to show you some seed stitch-in-progress so you can see what adding the additional colors does.
I always start with the darkest shade and lay down a nice, dense bunch of stitching. The background fabric isn’t completely covered – but it’s pretty close.
It’s not bad. Kind of shaggy and pebbly looking – fun.
But look what happens when I layer a lighter shade over the dark one.
Oooh! Depth!
Note that the stitching with the second layer of color isn’t nearly as dense. Lots of the dark is showing through, and the background fabric is now almost completely covered.
I’m always kind of tempted to stop with the second color – because at this point I’m always really happy with how it’s looking. But I know from experience that THREE is the magic number. Not two.
Wow! Look at those highlights!
I shot this photo after HURRIER had gotten its third color, but before BEHINDER got it so you could really see the difference in them.
If you look closely you can see that there are actually very few of the lightest stitches, but they make the whole thing look so much fuller and more textured.
You can see more seed stitching in grass in the corner of the free Feast embroidery pattern.
And here’s a handy dandy link list. . .
Happy stitching!
Here are all my lessons for fill stitches (besides satin stitch).
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for all the other stitches.
Want to learn the basics of hand embroidery with an easy online workshop – totally free?
Sign up for Embroidery 101 here. You’ll learn how to get started, the tools and supplies you’ll need, the four most basic stitches, how to transfer your pattern and how to display your work.
If you already know the basics – sign up for Embroidery 201. It’s also free! You’ll learn how to stitch on specialty fabrics like felt and stretchy T-shirts. Plus you’ll learn lots and lots and LOTS more stitches – all my favorites!
Last week I showed you how you could quickly add some color to your embroidery using colored pencils or crayons instead of fill stitches. Today I want to show you how you can do the same thing by combining applique and embroidery.
I have two different approaches to this technique. I think of the first one as my “color outside the lines” technique and the other as my “color inside the lines” technique. We’ll do outside the lines first.
I really like screen prints when the colors don’t exactly register. It’s usually considered a mistake, but I love it. Here’s a little elephant print I made several years ago. . .
See how the magenta elephant doesn’t exactly match up with the space I left for him in the blue background? That’s the look I’m trying to achieve with this technique. Here’s how you do it. . .
Step 1
Choose a fabric for the applique and transfer your embroidery pattern to it.
Step 2
Cut out the applique shape, leaving a little space around the edge of your stitching line. It’s ok if you cut off the legs and beak – we’re going to fix that. Fuse it to your background fabric.
Re-transfer the lines you cut off. For this step I usually trace in front of a window – it makes it easy to get everything lined up.
Step 4
Hoop it up and stitch. When I do this technique I usually stitch everything in very dark brown (DMC #3371). I think it contributes to the overall playful and cartoony effect.
Step 5
Done! See how well the applique and embroidery work together?
I think it’s especially fun to use this technique with patterned fabric. You get stripes or dots or flowers without having to stitch them!
But maybe you’re not a color outside the lines kind of person? Maybe that extra fabric around the edge really bugs you. Then you’ll want to use the “color inside the lines” technique. Follow all the steps outlined above except. . .
You can see an example where I used a combination of both techniques here.
I wanted the hat and the skin to be shapes without strong outlining, so I cut them out exactly the size I wanted and I did the stitching in a matching color. I wanted the hair to look looser, so I cut its shape out a little bit outside the lines and I stitched the curls in a darker color.
I started using this technique of combining applique and embroidery to get skin color without having my ladies look hairy from the texture of the fill stitching. Now I use it for lots of different things! You can use it on any embroidery pattern.
Have fun and happy stitching!
With hand embroidery, sometimes you’ll want to fill an area with color but you don’t want the texture of a stitched area – or you don’t want to take the time.
One possibility in those situations is to fill the area with colored pencils or crayons. In this video I show you how to stabilize the fabric for coloring, and how to heat set it after you’re done.
Here’s the finished piece I started in the video.
I really love to do an all-dark outline when I color the fill. To me it has a playful, cartoony look that suits my drawing style.
By the way – that dark outline looks like black, but it’s really DMC #3371. That’s a very dark brown and I use it a lot of places you’d expect to see black. I think black outlines and eyes can sometimes look a little harsh. Using this color takes the edge off.
The free Vroom Vroom pattern uses the same coloring technique, but I match the outline thread to the fill color. It’s a different look and one you’ll also want to have in your tool basket.
And here’s a totally different look on that same car – colored and stitched by my daughter.
Finally, for just one more fun look, here’s a set of three Easter chicks colored by my daughter.
The one in the top left corner is made with the free Little Chick with Big Feet embroidery pattern. The rest are from the Chickens embroidery pattern.
So much fun!!!
Here are all my lessons for fill stitches (besides satin stitch).
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for all the other stitches.
Let’s satin stitch points!
I like birds. I like to quilt them. I like to crochet them. And I like to embroider them.
You could satin stitch a bird’s beak with a regular satin stitch, but I make a little tweak to the basic stitch that I think adds a nice dimension to birds’ beaks. It’s not any harder and it gives them just the shape I want. Watch the video to see how I do it.
Want to practice your satin stitch points?
This bird embroidery pattern has lots of them!
This free embroidery pattern of a bird driving a car has just one.
There’s another free bird embroidery pattern here.
I didn’t satin stitch the point of that beak – but you could. The stitches I list in the pattern are always just a guide!
Here are all my lessons for fill stitches (besides satin stitch).
Return to the Learn to Embroider main Table of Contents.
Move on to the lessons for all the other stitches.
