Stitch School: Guilloche

Another stitch from Erica Wilson's Embroidery Book is the guilloche. From the French verb guillocher, which means to ornament with line. This is a border stitch and it uses a combination of two parallel stem stitched lines and a series of small blocks formed from three straight stitches in between. A second thread is woven through to make circular spaces for the French knots to be placed inside. All of which makes for a nice way to work in a lot of color.

Start by embroidering two parallel lines of stem stitch about an inch apart. Then work small blocks of three straight stitches each, horizontally across the center space, keeping them evenly spaced between the lines of stem stitch and from each other.



Then, using a blunt needle, slide through these blocks as shown. Leave the thread loose so that it curves instead of forming a sharp "V". You have to really work to keep them even (and I didn't do a perfect job of it myself).







Finally, work one French knot in the center of each circle.



I worked with aida cloth this time because it's really important that the spaces in between are even. You could use linen, too, and count carefully when you make your blocks of three lines.

If you're just joining us, you'll find a list of past Stitch School posts in the sidebar. Also helpful if you need a refresher for some of the basics used in these combination techniques!