Looped stitches · Beginner
Fly stitch
Fly stitch is an open loop pulled into a V and held at its point by a small straight stitch. With a short holding stitch it looks like a V, and with a long one it looks like a Y.
How to work it
Come up at the top left
Bring the needle up at A, the top left of the V, and pull the thread through.
Go down at the top right
Put the needle down at B, level with A. Pull slowly and stop while a loop of thread still hangs on the fabric. Hold the loop down with your thumb.
Come up inside the loop
Bring the needle up at C, below A and B and halfway between them. It must come up inside the loop, with the loop lying under the needle.
Pull the loop into a V
Pull the thread through, toward you, until the loop tightens around it and forms a V.
Hold the point down
Go down at D, just below C, on the outside of the loop. This small straight stitch over the loop holds the point of the V in place.
Short tie or long tie
A short holding stitch gives a V. A long one gives a Y. Worked one under another down a center line, fly stitches make a fern or the veins of a leaf.
At a glance
- Also called
- Y stitch, open loop stitch
- Used for
- leaf veins and small leaves; ferns and grasses; scattered fills; twigs and foliage; borders worked in a row
- Thread
- Three strands of six-strand floss is a good place to start. Use more strands for a bolder stitch and fewer for a finer one.
- Needle
- An embroidery (crewel) needle. A size 7 suits three strands of floss. Use a larger needle (a lower number) for more strands and a finer one for fewer. For wool or other thick thread, a chenille needle has a longer eye and a sharp point.
Tips
- Keep A and B level with each other and bring C up exactly halfway between them, or the V will lean.
- Change the look by varying the width of the V, its angle and the length of the holding stitch.
- For a leaf, start with one straight stitch at the tip, then work fly stitches down the leaf with each holding stitch on the center vein.
- Once the stitch feels familiar, you can go down at B and come up at C in one scooping motion, with the thread under the needle tip.
When it goes wrong
- The loop pulls straight through and no V forms
- The needle came up outside the loop. Bring it up at C inside the loop so the thread catches it.
- The V is lopsided
- C is not centered. Bring the needle up the same distance from A and from B.
- The arms curve instead of lying straight
- The loop is still slack. Pull the thread a little more before you make the holding stitch.
Left-handed
Mirror the diagrams. Come up at the top right, go down at the top left, and hold the loop with your right thumb. The finished stitch is symmetrical, so it looks the same.
Variations
- Closed fly stitch. Fly stitches worked one under another so that the holding stitches touch and form a center line. It is often used for leaves and feathers.
- Feather stitch. A row of open loops with no holding stitches, set alternately to the right and left, so each loop is held by the next one.
- Fly stitch in a horizontal row. Fly stitches worked side by side with their top ends joined. The row makes a border.
- Lazy daisy. The same holding stitch, but the loop starts and ends in one hole, which gives a closed petal instead of an open V.
Patterns that use it
Questions
- What is fly stitch used for?
- Leaves, twigs, grasses, borders and scattered fills. A column of fly stitches fills a leaf shape, and the holding stitches form the vein down the middle.
- What is the difference between fly stitch and feather stitch?
- A fly stitch is one loop held down by its own small straight stitch. Feather stitch is a chain of the same loops with no holding stitches, where each loop is caught by the next.
- How do you embroider a leaf with fly stitch?
- Make one straight stitch at the tip of the leaf. Then work fly stitches down the leaf, with A and B on the outline and each holding stitch on the center vein, close enough that the holding stitches touch.