Basic Thread Painting Stitches & Techniques for Hand Embroidery
Running Stitch
Appearance: Broken Lines
Used For: Outlines & Fill Stitches (covering an area with stitches).
Padding: used for the bottom layer of padding.
Back Stitch
Appearance: Single Line
Used for: Outlines, flower stems and lettering.
Split Back Stitch
Appearance: Solid line
Used for: Fill stitches, blending, outlining and lettering.
This is the most used basic stitch for thread painting.
Curve Stitch
Appearance: Curved line
Used for: Outlines and lettering.
Smaller stitch lengths are required to create a curve.
Fill Stitch-Rows
Appearance: Solid filled area using the Split Backstitch and a brickwork pattern.
Used for: Background & larger areas. 1/4 – 1/2 inch stitch length, where space allows.
Long & Short Fill Stitching
Used when multiple stitches are needed to cover an area.
Usually a second colour is blended into the first.
Single & Double French Knots
This example uses 6 strands of embroidery floss to simulate flowers and buds.
Single French Knots: Wrap the floss around the needle 1 time.
Double French Knots: Wrap the floss around the needle 2 times.
Short Stitch Punch Needle Blending
Used to blend two or more colours together using short punch needle stitches