Baby Thistle Weed
Stitch Guide Companion
I created this series of videos to compliment the Stitch Guide that comes with your embroidery kit.
I found it difficult to position the camera to take the clearest images whilst also being able to see what I was doing but I hope that the videos are helpful.
In the meantime I'll be working on my video skills...
Each link will take you to a short video showing the progress of the stitch indicated in the pictures.
You will have to come back to this page to find the link for the next video.
STITCHES USED: Basket Stitch*, Satin Stitch, Leaf Stitch, Daisy Stitch, Double Cross Stitch, Random Seed Stitch. Random Long and Short Stitch, Stem Stitch, Fishbone Stitch, Back Stitch, Split Stitch and the French Knot.
*NOTE To keep the edges of your basket stitch neat you can sew a stem stitch or back stitch around the shape that you are going to fill. This is not necessary but you might find that you like the finished look of the stitch more.
BASKET STITCH
Some Notes:
I hadn't realized that I held my embroidery hoop so close to my chest as I'm sewing. I found it difficult sewing at arms length to center the work for the video. I couldn't see where I was placing the needle and had particular trouble, as you can probably tell, videoing the French Knot which goes almost out of view.
Sorry 😬
I used to make my French Knots pointing the needle down, toward the fabric, and always had trouble keeping the stitch from collapsing through the fabric. I recently saw a video where the needle was pointing up, away from the fabric and I've had no trouble since.
The Double Cross Stitch may, or may not, have just two stitches. The bud shape in my sewing example was fairly large and I think I put more than two in. The idea is to fill the area with a nice 'cross' stitch pattern.
And finally, these videos are for beginners. Experienced sewers may find them annoying, especially with the poking around not being able to see where the needle's going thing 🙄
There are a lot of better videos of the stitches I use on the Internet, I just wanted to make sure that absolute beginners had at least something they can refer to.
I used three threads of floss in the examples above except for the Split Stitch where I used six. You can use as many threads as you like bearing in mind that the results will vary. If you are new to a stitch, or to how it will look with different amounts of thread, it may serve you to practice the stitch on a spare piece of fabric before you start.
If you have purchased a kit from me (thank you 😊) you will have received a Stitch Guide booklet which explains in more detail how a stitch is made.