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Box and diagonal stitches · Beginner

Encroaching gobelin stitch

Rows of slanted Gobelin in which each row reaches one thread up into the row above, blending the rows together.

Encroaching gobelin stitch: the finished stitch on canvas, 21 stitches, all slanting up to the right, in two colors
The finished stitch on canvas. Every stitch runs from one hole to another; the two colors are only there to tell the stitches apart. In the steps, new stitches are red, and the numbers give the order: up at an odd number, down at the next even one.

How to work it

  1. Work the first row

    Encroaching gobelin stitch, step 1: the first seven stitches on the canvas. Numerals 1 to 4 mark the ends of the first two new stitches, in working order.

    Work a row of slanted stitches from left to right, each over three horizontal threads and one vertical thread: up at the bottom, down at the top, one thread to the right.

  2. Overlap the next row

    Encroaching gobelin stitch, step 2: 14 stitches on the canvas, the seven this step adds in red.

    Start the next row two threads lower and work it back from right to left, still coming up at the bottom of each stitch. The top of each new stitch reaches one thread up into the row above, between its stitches. Take the needle down into the row above, not up through it.

  3. Carry on, row by row

    Encroaching gobelin stitch, step 3: 21 stitches on the canvas, the seven this step adds in red.

    Continue, overlapping every row by one thread.

At a glance

Also called
interlocking Gobelin
Used for
shading; smooth backgrounds; animal fur
Coverage
Full, smooth
Direction
Slanted up to the right
Stitch length
Over 3 canvas threads up and 1 across

Because rows overlap, there are no hard lines between them. That smooth surface makes encroaching Gobelin a good stitch for flat or shaded backgrounds: change color row by row and the bands blend into each other. It can also be worked taller, for example over five horizontal threads, still overlapping by one.

This is an oblique stitch: it crosses more canvas threads one way than the other, so it stands steeper than tent stitch. Packed close and overlapped, it reads as fur or hair, as grass, or as smooth sand.

It is a dense stitch, and one stitch list recommends it for pillows, wall hangings and other pieces that get wear. The height is adjustable: one teacher works it over fewer threads for things in the distance and over more for the foreground, and slants it to the left when she wants the direction to change. She also finds it easy to compensate at the edge of a shape.

Tips

  • Work the rows in order down the area, as the steps do, or up it. Working upward, the row already stitched is the one below, so come up at the top of each stitch and go down at the bottom, into that row. Coming up through the row already stitched instead of going down into it disturbs the stitches there.

When it goes wrong

The color bands look striped, not blended.
Choose shades that differ only slightly. The closer the colors, the softer the change where the rows overlap.
Stitches in the row before look disturbed.
Always take the needle down into the row already stitched, between its stitches, and never bring it up there. Work the rows in order, top to bottom or bottom to top.

Variations

  • Encroaching straight Gobelin. The same overlap with upright stitches: rows of vertical stitches over three threads, each row reaching one thread into the last.
  • Slanted Gobelin. The same slanted stitch in rows that meet edge to edge and do not overlap.

Questions

Is encroaching Gobelin the same as interlocking Gobelin?
Yes. They are two names for one stitch.

Where to go next

Stitches

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