Knots, loops and line stitches · Beginner
Stem stitch
A line of overlapping stitches, each starting halfway back along the last, so that the line twists like a thin rope.
How to work it
Make the first stitch
Bring the needle up at 1 and take it down at 2, four canvas threads to the right. Leave the thread slack and hold it below the row of holes.
Come up halfway back
Bring the needle up at 3, in the hole halfway along the stitch, above the thread and never through it, then pull the first stitch snug. Go down at 4, four canvas threads to the right, and hold the thread below the row again.
Come up where the first stitch ended
Bring the needle up at 5, in the same hole as 2, and go down at 6. Come up at 7, in the same hole as 4, and go down at 8. Every stitch is the same: four canvas threads forward, then up halfway back, above the thread.
Start a slanted line
On a slant, count intersections, not threads. Bring the needle up at 9 and take it down at 10, two holes up and two to the right.
Continue up the slant
Bring the needle up at 11, in the hole halfway along the stitch, above the stitch and to its left, and go down at 12. Come up at 13, in the same hole as 10, and go down at 14.
Work a shorter stitch
The shortest stitch crosses two canvas threads. Bring the needle up at 15, take it down at 16 and come up one hole back, at the dot, above the thread.
Continue along the line
From the dot, go down two canvas threads forward, one hole past 16, and come up one hole back again. Continue to the end of the line, every stitch the same.
At a glance
- Also called
- outline stitch, crewel stitch, stalk stitch
- Used for
- stems and vines; outlines of shapes; curved lines; lettering; leaf veins
- Coverage
- A solid line
- Direction
- Along the line: horizontal, vertical or slanted
- Stitch length
- An even count: 2 or 4 canvas threads, or 2 intersections
The line takes a curve well, which makes it the stitch for stems, vines and tendrils, the outline of a shape and lettering. Over finished stitching it draws the veins of a leaf.
On a curve, use the stitch over two canvas threads, take each one to the hole nearest the painted line and never change the side the thread is held on: outside a circle worked counterclockwise, inside one worked clockwise.
The line comes out twice as thick as its thread, so choose a thin one: on 18 mesh canvas one strand of a very fine braid is enough for the heaviest outline. Shorten the last stitch of a line if a full one will not fit.
Canvas stem stitch, or broad stem stitch, is a different stitch: a ridged band of two columns of slanting stitches with backstitch down the middle.
Tips
- Working from right to left, hold the thread above the row; up the canvas, to the right; down the canvas, to the left. The twist then stays the same in every direction.
When it goes wrong
- A sharp corner comes out soft and wavy.
- End the line in the corner hole. Begin the new line there: bring the needle up one stitch length along it and take it down in the corner hole. Then come up halfway along that stitch, with the thread held to its usual side, and continue.
- A rayon or silk thread does not twist into a rope.
- Rayon and some silks are twisted the opposite way from cotton. Hold such a thread above the row on a line worked from left to right.
Variations
- Packed stem stitch. Rows worked tightly side by side, which fill a woody stem, a leaf or a petal.
Questions
- Is stem stitch the same as outline stitch?
- In needlepoint the two names usually mean the same stitch. In embroidery, outline stitch holds the thread above the row on a line worked from left to right, which reverses the twist.