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Box and diagonal stitches · Beginner

Mosaic stitch

Three diagonal stitches, short, long, short, that fill a square two threads by two.

Mosaic stitch: the finished stitch on canvas, 27 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 tent stitch

    Mosaic stitch, step 1: the first stitch on the canvas. Numerals 1 and 2 mark its ends, in working order.

    Work a tent stitch over one intersection, in the top left corner of a square two threads by two.

  2. Work the long stitch

    Mosaic stitch, step 2: two stitches on the canvas, the one this step adds in red. Numerals 3 and 4 mark its ends, in working order.

    Next, work a diagonal stitch over two intersections, from corner to corner of the square: come up one hole below where the tent stitch began and go down one hole to the right of where it ended.

  3. The second tent stitch

    Mosaic stitch, step 3: three stitches on the canvas, the one this step adds in red. Numerals 5 and 6 mark its ends, in working order.

    Finish the box with another tent stitch in its lower right corner.

  4. The next box

    Mosaic stitch, step 4: six stitches on the canvas, the three this step adds in red.

    Work the next box beside it, to the right in the picture, so that the two share the holes along the edge between them. The next row of boxes lies directly below and shares holes in the same way.

At a glance

Used for
backgrounds; small squares and checks; small areas
Coverage
Full
Direction
Slanted up to the right
Stitch length
Over 1 or 2 intersections

Mosaic is the smallest of the box stitches: a neat two-by-two square that is easy to learn and useful for backgrounds. It is the slanted cousin of Hungarian stitch, which is the same short, long, short idea worked upright.

All three stitches are true diagonals, like tent stitch, and one box covers the same canvas as four tent stitches. Teachers count it among the easiest decorative stitches, and because it is so small it fits almost anywhere: one uses it for the architectural details of a house.

One stitch reference lists it among the stitches of Berlin wool work and gives double stitch as another name. In old books the name may mean something else: a nineteenth-century encyclopedia prints a different arrangement, rows of alternating short and long stitches with rows of short stitches between, as mosaic stitch.

It pairs with tent stitch: mosaic checker alternates mosaic boxes with blocks of four tent stitches. Cashmere and Scotch stitch are its larger relatives.

Tips

  • The boxes can be worked in straight rows or in diagonal rows; the result is the same.
  • A single mosaic box will fill any two-by-two square in a design.

When it goes wrong

Part boxes at the edge of a shape.
Fill them with tent stitches at the same angle. A tent stitch is the usual way to fill a gap too small for a full unit.
Diagonal rows of boxes do not fit together.
When you work the boxes in diagonal rows, leave one canvas hole between one box and the next. The boxes of the following row fill those spaces.

Variations

  • Reversed mosaic. Every other box slants the opposite way. It needs more room than plain mosaic for the pattern to show.
  • Mosaic checker. Mosaic boxes alternating with blocks of four tent stitches, in one color or two.

Questions

What is the difference between mosaic and Scotch stitch?
Size. Mosaic is three stitches on a square two threads each way. Scotch is five stitches on a square of three.

Where to go next

Stitches

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