It’s already halfway through June, so I am slow, but it isn’t too late to start the summer-long stitch school I have been thinking about. It will be fun. The plan is to have 12 stitches through the end of the summer – since I am a little behind I will either squeeze in the extra weeks or go into September. I will pick a different, slightly unusual stitch to show you, then hopefully a few variations or applications of the stitch, as time allows. The first stitch is wheat ear stitch. It is an easy stitch that is quite versatile due to it’s 2-in-1 nature. If you want your stitches to be very even, use an evenweave, or you can draw the stitches on the fabric first. First the stitch:
Make two straight stitches with equal lengths meeting at a downward point:
Then bring up the needle down a bit and thread the the needle though the 2 straight stitches, be careful to not divide the stitches with the needle or things will get a bit distorted.
Bring the needle down in the same hole to form the loop. Next begin a new stitch by bringing up the needle straight down from the first stitch, ideally to make the same angle as the previous stitch. Then put the needle down through the fabric just below the previous loop stitch. Make another straight stitch on the other side, and form a loop as above.
Continue as long as you like!
Now the variations, which there are quite a number of.
You can stitch them as single units. Either in a vertical row, or a horizontal row.
Consider using two different colors and vary the ending. You can continue making loop stitches or maybe add a bit of back stitching or both!
It’s quite an interesting effect. You can easily add beads. Just put a bead on in the middle of the loop stitch, or perhaps on the straight stitches. If you add to the loop, you may need an extra little horizontal stitch to keep the bead straight.
And finally, why not turn the whole thing upside down and make a little tree or flower:
So these are only a few of the possibilities there are many, many more!
This little sampler took quite a bit of time to do, so I may not always have time for this kind of effort, but for now:
Fabulous tutorial – thank you.
Great sampler! I like the trees with this stitch.
Great tutorial for this stitch and I like the trees too. Saving this to file. Thank you.
So cool! Summer did not officially start until the 21st anyway and it doesn't end until the 21st of September. So, I think it will all work out.
Wow – so beautiful! I would like to try this but am unsure as to how to start. What kind of material are you stitching on and how many embroidery threads are you using? (I am obviously very new to this!) Thank you!
This is lovely and for me perfectly planned, I 'll follow you till the end 🙂
Thank you for the lesson. Some sewingfriends of mine has started a blog – minastygnblogspot – where we are trying different stitches.
Your sampler is just beautiful.Annika
I just love this. Can't wait to get started!
This is beautiful, thanks for sharing!
i don't understand how you use the two colors on the first variation. do you do the v's and then loops separately? or two needles at once, each threaded with a different color? could you clarify?