Stem stitch
How the Stem stitch is worked, what it is used for, and the stitches that go with it.
- Family
- line
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Thread use (x)Line, knot, detached, couching, edging and composite stitches: cm of thread per cm of stitched line. Filling stitches: cm of thread per square cm of solid cover with all six strands (halve the strands and the figure doubles). Working figures used by the thread length estimator; they include the thread on the back but not starts and ends.
- 2.6 x
- Used for
- Plant stems, curved outlines, filling narrow shapes with rows, lettering.
- How it works
- Worked left to right with the thread kept below the needle: each stitch comes up half way along the previous one, so the stitches overlap and twist into a rope. Keeping the thread on the same side every stitch is what gives the even twist.
- Related stitchesStitches built from this one, or worked the same way
- outline-stitch,split-stitch
Nearby in embroidery stitches7 of 35