STITCH GUIDE

Basic (straight line) stitch: This stitch is simple and is used frequently. The needle is brought up at 1 and back down into the fabric at 2. The stitches are continued forward along the pattern as shown.

Back stitch: This stitch is used to outline and create the flower stems. To begin, the needle is brought up at 1, then pulled down at 2. It then comes back up at 3 and down at 1. Finally, it comes up at 4 and back down at 3. This is essentially a backwards basic stitch. The stitches are continued along the line as shown above.

French knot: This stitch is used for small detailing. Firstly, the needle is brought up at 1. Then, holding the thread tight with the hand not holding the needle, the thread is wrapped around the needle three times and plunged back down into the fabric, slightly over at 2. The thread must be kept tight to prevent the knot from looking bunched.

Satin stitch outlined (left): This stitch is used to fill in spaces, such as in the leaves and petals. The outline is stitched first, using back stitches, before filling with satin stitch. Staying just outside the outline, the needle is brought up at 1 and down at 2. The stitch is repeated, moving along the shape, staying just outside the outline. The stitches should be kept tight and very close together, as shown above.

Satin stitch (right): This creates a more natural look. For this method, the stitches should be kept just touching the shape created with a pencil or marker. Stitches should again be tight and close together.

Rose wheel stitch (or woven wheel stitch): It is important to keep the thread loose, and a full cut of thread is needed: all six strands. The needle is brought up at 1, down at 2, back up at 1 and down at 3. Then it is brought up at 1, down at 4, up at 1, down at 5, up at 1 and down at 6. This creates a shape that looks like the five spokes of a wheel. Next, the needle is brought up at 7 and woven in between the spokes in an ‘over, then under’ sequence. The thread is kept loose and if it runs out, the needle is simply pulled through the fabric, rethreaded, and brought up in the same spot it ended. To finish, the needle is pulled down through the fabric, and the tail is woven through the back of the rose.

Lazy daisy stitch: This stitch is used for petals and flowers. It can be a little tricky to sew, so is worth taking some time over. As with the rose wheel stitch, a full cut of all six strands of thread is used. The needle is threaded and brought up at 1. Then, slightly piercing it down at 2, the needle is slipped forward just a tiny bit and the tip of the needle brought back up through the fabric at 3. The thread is then looped around the tip of the needle, making sure it is not too tight. The needle is inserted back through the fabric at 4, to create a small loop around the much larger one, anchoring it in place. They can then be filled in with thick basic stitches, which should be kept just outside the petal.