Cross Stitch Frames

In everyday language, a stitch in the context of embroidery or hand-sewing is defined as the movement of the embroidery needle from the backside of the fabric to the front side and back to the back side. The thread stroke on the front side produced by this is also called stitch. more...

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In the context of embroidery, an embroidery stitch means one or more stitches that are always executed in the same way, forming a figure of recognisable look. Embroidery stitches are also called stitches for short.

Embroidery stitches are the smallest units in embroidery, embroidery patterns are formed by doing many embroidery stitches, either all the same or different ones, either following a counting chart on paper, following a design painted on the fabric or even working freehand.

Technique

Basically, there are two ways to do embroidery efficiently and orderly. What works better depends on the stitches and materials used, and on personal preference.

Hand-sewing method

The needle is brought to the upside of the fabric. For doing the stitch properly, it is inserted into the fabric and brought back to the surface in one movement. Then the thread is pulled through. The same method is used for plain hand sewing.

It is strongly recommended to use a thimble for this. It is best to put the thimble on the middle finger. Once the needle is inserted into the fabric, the hooded middle finger is used to push it through; the thumb and index finger grab the needle at the front as soon as possible and pull at the same time. This can speed up working when the embroiderer is used to it.

This method can be done using an embroidery frame or free-hand, but in many cases the use of an embroidery frame or hoop will make the work easier. It needs to be a frame that allows for adjustment of fabric tension, because the fabric mustn't be too strongly stretched in order to allow inserting the needle without pulling the fabric too much.

Stab method

The needle is inserted into the fabric at a 90 degree angle, then the thread is pulled through. Then, the needle is again inserted, this time from the underside to the surface; again, the thread is pulled through.

Usually it is not necessary to use a thimble for this method, but it can help when pushing the needle through.

For this a frame or hoop should be used. It can be done faster if the hoop or frame is somehow mounted, so that both hands are free for the embroidery. Then, the dominant hand is held under the fabric, the non-dominant hand above it. The needle is handled by each respective hand without necessity for hand position changes.

Common Stitches

Embroidery uses various combinations of stitches. Each embroidery stitch has a special name to help identify it. These names vary from country to country and region to region. Some embroidery books will include name variations. Taken by themselves the stitches are mostly simple to execute, however when you put them together the results can be extremely complex.

Read more at Wikipedia.org