Stitch School: Stem and Outline
The first in a series of posts about common (and not so common) embroidery stitches—what they are and how to do them.
We may as well start at the beginning with the most common and widely-used embroidery stitches—the stem (sometimes called crewel) and the outline. Both are used primarily for (you guessed it) stems and outlining and they are very similar in how they are worked. For stem stitch the thread is always kept below the needle; for outline it’s always kept above. They look pretty similar when completed, too.
To work the stem stitch bring the thread to the front at the left edge of your drawn line. With the thread below your needle, take the needle to the back about ¼ inch to the right and re-emerge at the point where your thread began.
Pull the thread through. Repeat and continue along the line, keeping the tension even and the stitches the same length. Stitches that are close together make a tight line, ones that are farther away make a looser line.
When you come to the end of the line, take the thread to the back for the last stitch but don’t re-emerge. Secure the thread with tiny back stitches or weave it back through the line before clipping any excess thread. On both of these stitches you’ll see an even row of backstitch on the wrong side of the material.
And this is how it looks when finished:
For the outline stitch, do the same thing but keep the thread above the needle.
This is how it looks when finished:
Some worked examples:
Did you know that stem stitch is used extensively in redwork embroidery?
I plan to do one of these posts each Monday until I run out of stitches (ha!) or time to do them, whichever comes first. And because I have to actually do the stitches to photograph them, I'm going to learn a lot myself! Next up is the Lazy Daisy stitch.
We may as well start at the beginning with the most common and widely-used embroidery stitches—the stem (sometimes called crewel) and the outline. Both are used primarily for (you guessed it) stems and outlining and they are very similar in how they are worked. For stem stitch the thread is always kept below the needle; for outline it’s always kept above. They look pretty similar when completed, too.
To work the stem stitch bring the thread to the front at the left edge of your drawn line. With the thread below your needle, take the needle to the back about ¼ inch to the right and re-emerge at the point where your thread began.
Pull the thread through. Repeat and continue along the line, keeping the tension even and the stitches the same length. Stitches that are close together make a tight line, ones that are farther away make a looser line.
When you come to the end of the line, take the thread to the back for the last stitch but don’t re-emerge. Secure the thread with tiny back stitches or weave it back through the line before clipping any excess thread. On both of these stitches you’ll see an even row of backstitch on the wrong side of the material.
And this is how it looks when finished:
For the outline stitch, do the same thing but keep the thread above the needle.
This is how it looks when finished:
Some worked examples:
Did you know that stem stitch is used extensively in redwork embroidery?
I plan to do one of these posts each Monday until I run out of stitches (ha!) or time to do them, whichever comes first. And because I have to actually do the stitches to photograph them, I'm going to learn a lot myself! Next up is the Lazy Daisy stitch.
posted by janet at 12:03 PM
12 Comments:
Thank you so much for showing these stitches. I like the idea of a weekly little stitching tutorial and look forward to this series.
Janet, Thank you so much for your online tutorial. I always admire your stitching, and here we get a chance to have an upclose look at the master at work.
Cathy.
thank you for showing and explaining the difference between the two(Redwork)stitches - I prefer to use the stem stitch (thread below the needle) for my Redwork pieces and change to outline stitches when I have to embroidery (tiny)curves....Looking forward to reading about french knots etc.
How wonderful! Thank you for posting this tutorial! I've been wanting to venture into the world of embroidery and this will help tremendously!
Thank you so much for sharing and teaching us these wonderful stitches. I look forward to "class" next week! :)
Hugs
If you can manage a tutorial that finally teaches me how to do french knots without getting so cross I throw my embroidery across the room it would be amazing!
Thank you very much for sharing your stitch skills. Your stitching is so even & perfect. I just purchased the "Sublime Stitching" book today & I'm excited to start on my first project. I will refer to your tutorials for help & inspiration!
Thank you so much for this great tutorial! I'm excited to hear you'll be doing more of these! I linked over from Montessori by Hand and adore your blog! Many blessings and thanks again, so much!
I found your blog while doing a web search for stem stitch.
The difference between stem stitch and outline stitch is apparent when you use either an S- or a Z-twist thread. If you're using DMC (or similar) cotton floss, notice when doing stem stitch that the thread begins to split (come unwound). When doing outline stitch, the thread winds up tighter.
To get nice curves, you simply have to make tinier stitches. It doesn't have to do with which stitch you use (stem or outline). Tinier stitches may mean that you only pick up two threads of the ground.
Hope this helps to clarify some issues.
Thank you thank you thank you! I haven't done any needlework since the 1950s! ... so starting from scratch.--Pilar
Thank you for teaching me the steps for the outline stitch.I was having trouble at first but then once I read your instructions I knew what to do!
This is such a great tutorial series! I am a complete novice (just decided to start learning tonight!) and this is just the starting place I needed. Thanks!
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