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Box and diagonal stitches · Easy

Framed Scotch stitch

Scotch squares separated by single rows of tent stitch, in the same color or a second one.

Framed Scotch stitch: the finished stitch on canvas, 48 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. Start with a Scotch square

    Framed Scotch stitch, step 1: the first five stitches on the canvas. Numerals 1 to 10 mark the ends of the new stitches, in working order.

    Work a Scotch stitch: five diagonal stitches over one, two, three, two and one intersections, which fill a square three threads by three. Begin with the tent stitch in the top left corner and end with the one in the bottom right.

  2. Leave a thread and work the next

    Framed Scotch stitch, step 2: 20 stitches on the canvas, the 15 this step adds in red.

    Leave a gap of one canvas thread and work the next square. Carry on in rows, leaving one thread between the rows as well.

  3. Frame the squares in tent stitch

    Framed Scotch stitch, step 3: 48 stitches on the canvas, the 28 this step adds in red.

    Fill the gaps with single lines of tent stitch, across and down. The pictures show a patch of the pattern, with a line above and to the left of each square: a last line of tent stitch around the whole area frames the squares at its right and bottom edges.

At a glance

Also called
Scottish squares, Scottish stitch
Used for
backgrounds; small pieces such as pincushions and box tops; two-color grids
Coverage
Full
Direction
Slanted up to the right
Stitch length
Over 1 to 3 intersections

The tent-stitch frame sets each square apart. In one color the effect is a quiet texture; in a contrasting color the frame stands out as a grid.

In older books this framed version is plain Scotch stitch: a nineteenth-century encyclopedia describes Scotch stitch as squares of slanting stitches separated from one another by rows of Gobelin stitch. That book's Gobelin stitch is a slanted stitch over two horizontal threads and one vertical thread, a little taller than the tent stitch that makes the frame here. One stitch reference files it as Scottish squares and notes that names in this family are used interchangeably, so go by the diagram.

The frame slants the same way as the squares. Each repeat takes four canvas threads: three for the square and one for the line of tent stitch. One stitch list calls the result an engineered-looking background.

Tent stitch is part of the stitch: it makes the frame, in the same thread or a contrasting one.

Tips

  • Finish by running a line of tent stitch around the whole area.

When it goes wrong

The frame will not fit between the squares.
A square was started too close to its neighbor. Leave one canvas thread between squares, across and down, before you stitch any of the frame.
Part squares at the edge of a shape.
Fill with as much of the square as fits, at the same angle, or with plain tent stitch. Then run the framing line of tent stitch around the whole area.

Variations

  • Open Scotch. The gap between squares is left unstitched, for an open border.
  • Moorish stitch. Scotch squares set corner to corner in diagonal rows, with tent stitch along the sides of each row only.

Questions

Do I stitch the squares or the frame first?
The squares. One stitch reference works the Scotch squares with a one-thread gap between them and then fills the gaps with tent stitch.
Is Scottish stitch the same as framed Scotch stitch?
Yes. Scottish squares, Scottish stitch and framed Scotch stitch all name Scotch squares framed with tent stitch.

Where to go next

Stitches

Guides