Bullion knot

How to work it

1. Come up at one end

   

   Bring the needle up at A and pull the thread through. Decide how long the knot will be. B, at the other end, is where the needle will go down.

2. Go down at B and come halfway up at A

   

   Go down at B and leave a long loop of thread on the surface. Bring the needle back up at A, in the same hole or right beside it, and stop when it is halfway out.

3. Wind the thread around the needle

   

   Take the thread where it comes out at A and wind it around the needle. Keep the wraps side by side and add them until the coil is as long as the distance from A to B.

4. Hold the wraps and pull through

   

   Pinch the coil gently between your thumb and finger. Pull the needle, and then all of the thread, through the wraps.

5. Lay the coil down and go down at B

   

   Pull the thread toward B until the coil turns over and lies flat between A and B. Straighten the wraps if they need it, then go down at B.

6. The finished knots

   

   Each knot is a firm, even coil. Lay several side by side or curve them around each other to build buds and roses.

At a glance

Also called

bullion stitch, caterpillar stitch, worm stitch, coil stitch, grub stitch

Used for

bullion roses and rosebuds; flower petals and small leaves; flower centers, massed together; textured fillings

Thread

Any kind of thread works. One with some body gives a full, round knot, and a very thin thread gives a thin one. Two strands of six-strand floss work for small rosebuds.

Needle

A milliner (straw) needle. Its long shaft gives room for the wraps, and its eye is the same width as the shaft. For two or three strands of floss you do not need anything larger than a size 5.

Tips

• Use a milliner (straw) needle. Its eye is no wider than its shaft, so the needle slides through the coil without catching.
• Keep the wraps side by side and close together, and wind them near the fabric, on the thicker part of the needle, not out at the point.
• Check the length before you pull through: push the wraps down to the fabric and lay the needle toward B. Add or remove wraps until the coil just reaches.
• For a knot that curves, as in a rose petal, add a few more wraps than the distance needs.
• The direction you wind changes the look. One way keeps the twist of the thread and shows each wrap clearly. The other way loosens the twist and gives a smoother coil. Neither is wrong, but wind the same way each time if you want the knots to match.
• Hold the coil lightly as the thread runs through, and finish with a gentle tug. Pulling too hard at the end gives a tapered knot.

When it goes wrong

The needle will not pull through the wraps

Use a milliner needle. Its eye is the same width as its shaft, so it passes through the wraps more easily than an ordinary embroidery needle.

The coil is lumpy or has loops sticking out

Before you go down at B, adjust and straighten the wraps so they sit side by side.

The knot is too short and bare thread shows at the end

There were too few wraps for the distance. Add wraps until the coil on the needle matches the gap from A to B.

The knot stands up in an arch

There are more wraps than the distance needs. Use fewer, or keep the arch on purpose for a raised petal.

Left-handed

Mirror the diagrams: put B to the left of A. Wind the thread in whichever direction is comfortable and keep to it, because the direction changes the look of the wraps a little.

Variations

• Bullion rose. Two short knots side by side form the center, and longer knots are wrapped around them like petals. A few knots make a bud and more make a rose.
• Bullion loop. A and B are placed close together and the coil has many more wraps than the gap needs, so it bends into a loop. It makes flower petals.
• French knot. A round knot made with one or two wraps, where the needle goes down right beside the point it came up.
• Cast-on stitch. A related raised stitch. Twisted loops are slipped onto the needle one at a time, not wound around it. It is widely used in Brazilian embroidery.