Saturday Stitches - Running, Darning, Lacing

Hello!  Welcome to Saturday Stitches - a weekly embroidery tutorial.  Remember, if you are looking for any other stitches, you can type in the word you want into the search box at the top left corner of this blog.

Link to all Saturday Stitches posts here.

Thanks for the comments last week!  I'm glad you liked the Aida cloth tip.  Today I'll show you variations of a single, simple, plain old stitch.  Here is the running stitch - simple spaced dashes.  They make great quilting lines if you want to add stitches to your modern quilts.  In decorative embroidery, they serve as a foundation for weaving, interlacing, and even attaching crocheted borders.  In this photo below, I am using a double blunt ended needle.  I know that likely looks odd.  When you do any type of weaving or lacing with a sharp tipped needle, remember to simply turn the needle around and weave with the blunt eye end.  This way you can avoid snagging the threads and the fabric as you slip the needle under the stitches.

The Darning Stitches are essentially masses of running stitches, with the spaces typically smaller than the stitches.  Rows of these were used to secure fabric that was falling apart (is - darning hols in socks).  In artful stitching, these make great filler stitches for fields, walls, buildings, and backgrounds.

I took out a mixed fibre pack and attempted to play around with these in an abstract way - three stitches at a time but a little wonky.  It's not really my style but it was an interesting experiment.

See you next Saturday for more!  Happy Stitching,