When we talk about embroidery, the first thing that comes to mind is cross stitch. But in the world there is great amount other decorative seams and embroidery techniques. Decorative seams - does not mean complicated at all. It is often easier to embroider with them than with a cross. Many handmade decorative stitches do not require such a scrupulous calculation as a cross, they “forgive” the mistakes of inexperienced fingers. There is another plus. With simple stitches, you can embroider not on canvas, but on ordinary fabric. Embroider immediately on the corner of the tablecloth, or decorate jeans with decorative seams. Lots of options! And no canvas. Do spectacular embroideries you can even seam "forward needle". Where is it easier? What can we say about the potential of the chain stitch or "French knots".

The simple stitches that we are about to cover will be a great embroidery material for beginner needlewomen.

Straight stitch.

This is the most basic stitch. With it, you can embroider anything. It can be laid in any direction, any length.

Snowflake with straight stitches. We draw a circle, we outline the middle. We mark the circle into the required number of dots-petals. We take the needle out of the center and make stitches, all the while returning the needle to the center. V-A; S-A; D-A and so on.

Seam "forward needle"

Perhaps the most famous simple seam. To decorate it, you can change the length of the stitches: for example, 2 short 1 long, etc.

expanse

Stitch - a very beautiful independent embroidery. It was especially widespread in the middle of the last century. Perhaps, at someone’s house, grandmother’s satin stitch embroidery has been preserved - pillowcases, napkins. You can use the smooth surface as an element for filling. The stitches in this technique are placed neatly parallel to each other along the entire shape to be filled.

How to sew with satin stitch: First, draw the desired shape on the fabric. We start at the edge of the drawing. We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A. We stick it in at point B, and then we bring it out to the face at point C, next to point A. We continue to embroider tightly putting the stitches one next to the other.

Stitch or seam "back of the needle"

The back stitch of the needle is often used: they embroider stems, inscriptions, make a stroke (for example, in cross-stitching). Sew by hand when you need to sew two parts tightly.

How to sew with a back stitch: Draw a line on the fabric. We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A. We stick it at point B, it is behind point A. And then we bring it to the face at point C, it is in front of point A. We make the next stitch by sticking the needle at point A and bring it out in front of point C.

stalk seam

Like the “back to the needle” stitch, stalk stitch embroidery is used for stems, inscriptions, contour drawings.

How to sew with a stem stitch: Draw a line on the fabric. We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A at the beginning of the line. We make stitch B-C, point C is in the middle between A and B. The following stitches: D - B, E - Di.etc. The thread, when performing stitches, must always remain on one side. When the line is bent, the stitches may fall apart, whatever this happens, the stitches can be made smaller.

How this line looks on the finished product can be seen, for example, on It is completely made with this seam.

Seam "fern"

Decorative seam. The seam "fern" looks like a stem with leaves. To make the picture look more natural, you can change the angle of inclination and the length of the leaves.

How to sew with a seam "fern": Let's draw a curved line. We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A at some distance from the beginning of the line. We stick the needle at point B (the beginning of the line)) and bring it to the face at point C (on the side of the intended line), pull the thread. Making stitch A -D (dotD is on the other side of the intended line), pull the thread. Next, we make stitch A - E along the line. It turns out a stem with branches.

chain stitch

One of the most common and beautiful decorative seams. A small, children's machine "Grasshopper" sews with this seam. Tambour stitch begin to embroider in kindergarten, for some reason it is considered to be very simple. They can sew along a line, outline a pattern, embroider an inscription, and even fill out a shape.

How to sew with chain stitch: We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A. We stick the needle at point B (next to point A) and bring it to the face at point C, but do not pull the thread until we pass it under the formed loop. Next do next loop: prick the needle near point C (inside the previous loop) and bring it out at point E. Again we thread it into the loop formed, etc. In order to finish the seam, we stick the needle into the pointF and bring the thread to the wrong side.

Fully tambour seam made.

Buttonhole or edge seam

With this seam, the edge of the products is processed, overcast in manual buttonholes. It looks very nice and is easy to make. Can be used as a decorative stitch.

How to sew with buttonhole stitch: We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A. We stick the needle at point B and bring it to the face at point C, but we do not stretch the thread until we pass it under the needle. We continue to put the stitches from left to right. When the row is completed, we stick the needle into the pointD just behind the loop. Try to place the stitches at an equal distance from each other.

You can alternate the length of the legs of the stitches - it will turn out beautifully.

You can read more about . There are spelled out options and various embellishments of this seam.

Tambour loop (flower)

The chain stitch is a variant of the chain stitch in which each loop in the chain is embroidered separately. If you embroider several tambour loops around the central point, you will get a flower. The leaf will come out of a separate tambour loop

How to embroider with a chain loop: We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A. We stick the needle at point B (next to point A) and bring it to the face at point C, but do not pull the thread until we pass it under the formed loop. Next, we stick the needle into the pointD, thus closing the petal-loop, and output at point A. We continue to make the petals in a circle.

Open decorative loop or Y-loop or half-loop

This loop is similar to the chain loop, but with an open end. With an open decorative loop, you can embroider petals on a flower, or rays of the sun.

How to embroider with an open decorative loop: We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A. We stick the needle at point B (away from point A) and bring it to the face at point C, put the thread under the needle and pull it out. Next, we stick the needle into the pointD, thereby securing the thread. Stitch C-D can be made in different lengths.

Velvet seam, or "goat"

Decorative velvet seam, similar to a series of crosses, close to each other. It is carried out in two parallel lines.

How to make a velvet stitch: Draw two parallel lines. We work from left to right. We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A at the beginning of the intended line of the top line. We make a stitch back on the bottom line B - C, then a stitch back on the top lineD-E etc.

Seam "Christmas tree"

The herringbone seam is very decorative. It is pleasant to embroider, and it is easy to perform. You can sew evenly and accurately, then you get a strict geometric pattern. And you can vary the slope and length of the stitches, then the pattern will come out more natural.

How to sew a herringbone stitch: Draw a line on the fabric. We bring the needle from the wrong side at point A at the beginning of the intended line. We stick the needle at point B (on the side of point A)) and bring it to the face at point C (in front along the intended line), pull the thread, after passing it under the needle. It turned out to be a half loop. Making a stitchD - E (pointD is on the other side of the intended line), we pull the thread, also passing it under the needle. We continue to embroider. At the end, to secure the seam, we bring the needle to the wrong side on the other side of the loop, as in a chain stitch.

Seam "chicken track" or "fish skeleton"

It is good to embroider the leaves of plants with this decorative seam, as if it was specially created for this. You can sew by putting the thread tightly together. And you can embroider freely, get an openwork leaf.

How to make a chicken footprint seam: Let's draw a shape (for example, a leaflet). We bring the needle from the inside out in the corner of the drawn shape at point A and make a straight stitch B-C (point B is on the central axis, point C is on the edge on the stroke line). Next do stitch D-E(D - from the other edge on the stroke line, E - on the central axis), thread under the needle and pull the thread. We fix the thread by inserting the needle at point F and bring it out next to point C. We continue to embroider until we fill out the entire shape.

french knot

The French knot is used in embroidery as an element. They protrude slightly above the surface of the embroidery. Often, with the help of a French knot, the centers of flowers are made. If you place the knots close to each other, you can get curly hair.

How to embroider french knot: We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A. With the left hand, circle the thread around the needle twice. We turn the needle perpendicular to the fabric and stick it at point B (next to point A), pulling the wrap tightly. We bring the needle inside out, and on the front side we get a knot.

Seam "sheaf"

This seam is named so because it really resembles sheaves of wheat. The "sheaf" seam is easy to perform and looks original. He can decorate a napkin.

How to make a sheaf seam: We make three straight stitches (1.2 cm long, 0.3 cm gap) We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A, in the middle between the first and second stitch. We wrap the needle and thread twice around three stitches, pulling the thread tightly. To finish the knot, we stick the needle at point B.

seam "sheaf"

Seam "spider"

Beautiful and original decorative seam. The number of basic stitches must be odd. It is interesting to use threads in this seam different colors for basic stitches and for wrapping. If the twist is not made along the entire length of the stitches, then you get the sun or a flower. For wrapping it is better to use a blunt needle, or wrap the other side of the needle around.

How to make a seam "spider": We draw a circle, we outline the middle. We make a snowflake with straight stitches. There should be an odd number of rays. We bring out a needle with a blunt end from the wrong side at point A (closer to the center. We wrap around the rays, bringing the needle under them, then above them, alternating. Fill the base in a spiral outwards. Finish the embroidery, stretch the thread to the wrong side.

Seam "flooring"

It’s fun to embroider with a “flooring” seam, it is somewhat similar to a “spider” seam. It turns out a piece of floating fabric. You can twist two warp threads - you get a petal or a leaf for a flower. From several warp threads, you can make a large leaf. And you can play with the tension of the thread-entanglement - you get different interesting shapes. Interesting to take different colors threads for the warp and twist.

How to make a seam "flooring": We lay two straight stitches on the fabric, not very distant from each other. We pull out the twisting thread at the beginning of the resulting stitches and draw the needle over the first thread and under the second. We turn the needle and, without touching the fabric, again draw the needle over the first thread and under the second. (Counting goes on the other side). Continue until the warp threads are completely filled.

Coiled knots or rococo

For the Rococo knot, the thread is wrapped around the needle and a voluminous stitch is obtained. This knot is rather complicated in execution, but effective. They can embroider rose petals, furry animals or dreadlocks.

How to make rococo knots: We bring the needle out from the wrong side at point A. We make a stitch B-A (about 0.6 cm) With our left hand we circle the thread around the needle seven times. Holding the wound thread on the needle, we push the needle through the winding and fabric, while the knot will slide to point B. Gently distribute the winding along the entire stitch. To finish the knot, we stick the needle at point B.

decorative mesh

Decorative mesh is good for quickly filling large spaces. Large long stitches fill the entire shape in the vertical and horizontal direction. And at the intersection of the threads, small crosses can be made with a contrasting thread or a thread of the same color.

How to embroider a decorative mesh: At the first stage, we fill the entire form with straight vertical stitches from edge to edge at an equal distance from each other. On the second - we do the same thing only we put horizontal stitches. And at the end, to attach our threads to the fabric, we embroider a cross at each intersection.

We transfer the pattern to the fabric.

Method 1. If the fabric is thin enough, then you can transfer the pattern glazing. For this, a backlit table or ordinary window glass is used. Tape the drawing to the glass with tape, put the fabric on top and stick it with tape too. Outline the drawing with a pencil or water-soluble marker.

Method 2. On a thick or dark fabric, you can transfer the pattern using a carbon paper. On the flat surface put the fabric, then carbon paper, with the colored side to the fabric, then our drawing. Outlining the drawing ballpoint pen. So that the lines do not erase the pattern on the fabric, it is advisable to circle it with a water-soluble marker.

Method 3. We print the picture we need on an inkjet printer. We put the fabric on the ironing board, on top of the pattern, printed side down and iron it with an iron without steam. If the drawing is not bright, you can circle it with a marker. The resulting lines are not erased in this way, and one more thing: your drawing will be mirrored on the material.

Centering the drawing

To find the middle on the rectangle, you need to fold the fabric or paper pattern in half. Draw a line along the fold line. We do the same horizontally. The intersection of the lines will be the middle.

If the pattern is not rectangular: fold it in both directions, matching the widest and longest parts of the pattern. Draw with a pencil along the fold line.

We put the fabric and paper drawing on the table, combining horizontal and vertical lines.

Beginnings and ends

Used materials from the book Nicholas Christine "Designer embroidery. 65 new home decorating ideas

The stalk ("back to the needle") seam is one of the basic ones in satin stitch embroidery. It consists of several horizontal stitches adjacent to each other. The stalk seam is considered the oldest and at the same time the easiest to perform. It is no coincidence that it is with him that they advise to start acquaintance with this type of needlework.

Application of a stalk seam

In the old days, flower stalks were embroidered with the help of this seam, for which it got its name. But its scope is not limited to this. The “back needle” can be used as an additional one, combining it with other types (for example, with a counted cross), but simple outline patterns will also look very impressive. The stalk seam is plastic: it can fill the contours of the picture, make floral patterns and even complex motifs - examples of work can be seen in the photo.

Tools

Embroidery requires special tools and materials.

It is better to use cotton fabric, it is better to wash it before starting work to prevent contraction and deformation finished product. You should not use a border for cross-stitching - it will not work for this purpose.

It is better to use a hoop - so the thread will not tighten the work, and the embroidery will look good.

Threads - you can pick up any that seem most suitable. Most often, floss threads are used in embroidery.

Pencil - you will need it to draw the outline of the pattern on the fabric.

Stages of embroidery with a stalk stitch

When you first start embroidering with a stalk stitch, you can apply marking points. They must be on the same line, at the same distance from each other. In order for the seam to turn out beautiful and even, it is very important to correctly calculate the length of the stitch. It depends primarily on the width of the selected thread. It is best to make a stitch whose length is 4 times the width of the thread.

In order not to get confused in the work, you can label all the points with letters. For stalk suture the letters will not go in order, but as follows: A-C-B-D and so on. This markup will allow you to better navigate the first time.

Fastening the thread on the wrong side

Next, we proceed directly to embroidery. First, we thread the needle. If the eye of the needle is too small, you can thread the needle using a needle threader. Then you need to fasten the thread on the wrong side - you can see how to do this in the photo or video of the master classes.

“Back needle” is easiest to sew from right to left. First you need to insert the needle into the point A from the wrong side. Bypassing the point FROM, we bring the needle to the wrong side through the point B. Then we return to front side at the point C, it should be in the middle of the stitch. Bringing the needle to the front side, you need to try not to separate the strand.

Tighten the thread to remove excess. But this must be done carefully so as not to pull the pattern. We make the next stitch. To do this, we bring the needle to the wrong side through the point D and return to the front through the previous hole - in our case, the point B. Again, tighten the thread a little, avoiding sagging.

Thus, it turned out 2 stalk stitches, the same in size. By the same principle, you can continue to embroider a straight line with a stalk seam. That is, we make a stitch, bring the needle to the front side approximately in the middle of the previous one, make the second stalk stitch, again bring the needle to the front side through the previous hole. If you can’t figure out the scheme, you can watch our training video or photo.

A straight line is the easiest option for stalk stitch embroidery, and far from the only one. In this way, you can make a curved line, fill the drawing area. The directions of embroidery are also different: you can do it from left to right, or vice versa, from top to bottom or from bottom to top, you can - at an angle. That is, with stalk stitches, you can sew the outline of any pattern that only requires the implementation of the scheme.

If the line is to be curved, the stitches are made in exactly the same way as for a straight line. But there are several nuances. To make the seam look neat, the stitches can be made a little smaller. And to get a smooth line, it is better to bend in such a way that the stitches “look” at the outside.

Some schemes require the entire area of ​​​​the pattern to be filled with a stalk seam. In this case, the contour of the area should not be embroidered with a seam. The embroidery is filled with several rows of stalk stitch. At the same time, each of them should begin on the same side so that all the stitches are made in the same direction, and each row fits snugly against the previous one.

Seam Rules

Ideally, the stitches should fit snugly together, the stalk seam should resemble a continuous cord, in which neither the beginning nor the end of the stitches should be visible. To achieve the perfect result, it will take some time to train, and, of course, following some rules.

The working thread must always be kept on one side, which is more convenient - to the right or left of the main line. It is impossible to change its location, otherwise the entire structure of the seam will collapse, and it will not work to achieve a good result.

The needle needs to be brought out only into the previous hole - so the seam will look neater and tighter.

The stitches should be the same length. If it is not possible to determine the distance "by eye", you can first mark the pattern, marking the points of entry and exit of the needle with dots.

Video: learning to embroider with a stem stitch

In traditional folk needlework, two groups of seams are used, free and counted. Satin stitch embroidery, performed along a drawn outline, belongs to free embroideries and is done with satin stitch (white and color stitch) and simplest stitches. Contour or auxiliary stitches for embroidery are easy to perform, but can form independent floral patterns.

Which of the free seams are used most often? These are the well-known tambour, looped, goat, lace and, of course, stalk. To master the techniques for making simple seams, you need to develop certain skills in embroidery and work extremely carefully.

What is a stalk seam? This is a series of diagonal stitches adjacent to each other, performed from left to right and away from you. First, we make the first stitch on the fabric, draw the needle from the wrong side towards ourselves and pull it out at the middle of the previous stitch on the left side. We pull the thread and pierce the fabric above the first stitch, pull out the needle at the middle of the second stitch on the left. You can see that we perform the seam with a movement towards ourselves, and we lay the stitches away from ourselves. Each next stitch protrudes half of the previous one.

The stalk seam is made so that the working thread is always on the same side - left or right. If you change the direction of the thread during operation, the structure of the seam will be disturbed.

A stalk stitch is used when designing pattern motifs in Oryol spis embroidery, as well as for embroidering stems and twigs in satin stitch embroidery and independent patterns. If it is necessary to make a line along an arc, we bring the needle to the front side of the work from the side of the center of the circle. To make the branch thicker, we gradually increase the length of the stitch, while bringing the needle to the front side a little lower than the middle of the previous stitch.

When embroidering a floral ornament, we combine the stem stitch with other simplest stitches. To make small leaves and flower centers, the stitches of which are placed from left to right are suitable, pulling the needle through the fabric alternately along different edges of the strip of the desired width. In the center of the strip, the stitches intersect, the new stitch is laid on top of the previous one.

The contour of flowers embroidered with satin stitch can be drawn. It looks like a series of loops coming out of one another, and is performed by moving the needle towards itself. We bring the working thread to the front side, lay it in a loop, insert the needle at the point where the thread came from and pull it out of the fabric higher to the height of the loop so that the loop remains under the needle. Repeat the stitches as many times as necessary. We can make this seam straight or zigzag, depending on the pattern.

The decorative seam of the lace looks especially beautiful if you use threads of two colors for it. First, we perform it and then we thread a thread of a contrasting color under each of the stitches from top to bottom, wrapping the main seam around. You can thread the thread alternately from bottom to top and top to bottom to get a wave pattern.

Learning how to perform the above simple seams is not difficult, the work will be greatly facilitated by the hoop and a special needle for embroidery with a blunt tip.

I wish you successful creative decisions!

For decorating fabric items: tablecloths, napkins, towels, apron, etc. - embroidery is often used. It makes products stylish, colorful, unique. Beautiful embroidery will allow you to make even simple decorating seams: stalk, tambour, "velvet", "knots", "herringbone" and others, the technique of which is really quite accessible. But do not think that a beautiful pattern will turn out right away: even the most elementary seams come out beautiful and neat only after long workouts. Therefore, if you want to decorate clothes, accessories or home textiles beautiful embroidery will have to be patient. The first step should be to purchase accessories for embroidery: special threads (mulina), needles, fabrics, hoops (they are a must, because to get even seams, the fabric will have to be stretched, and pulled very tightly). The second step is to study the step-by-step instructions for making embellishing stitches. You will find them below.

"Lace" and "snake"

Seam Snake

"Lace" and the so-called "snake" are very light seams, it would be more correct to say that they are not simple, but elementary. They are performed on the basis of the simplest seam "forward the needle."

1. Sew a “needle forward” stitch, while trying to ensure that all stitches are the same size. It is not necessary to grind strongly, but large stitches are all the more unsuitable. The optimal length is two millimeters.
2. To get a “lace”, start making the second stitch on the left side, each time threading the needle and thread under the stitches on the right side in the same direction. To get a “snake”, alternate the direction: through the first stitch, pass the needle from the bottom up, through the second - vice versa.

These seams look original only if the threads are taken in two different colors, close in tone or, conversely, contrasting. If the threads are of the same color, these seams do not look elegant enough to be called decorating. However, they are rarely chosen for embroidery in any case.

Stem stitch (step by step)

When creating floral ornaments, they most often use a simple decorating seam, which is called a stalk stitch. It resembles a tightly twisted rope. Depending on how frequent and long the stitches are, the appearance this "string". The same seam is often embroidered in drawings simply thin lines, straight and sinuous, denoting the outline of the pattern.

With seeming simplicity, the stalk seam requires some skill to perform. However, if you follow the step-by-step instructions for the technique of making a stalk seam, decorating products with it will actually be quite simple.

1. Insert the needle from the inside and pull it to the front side.
2. Holding the thread at the entry point, pull the thread slightly to the right and up and peg towards you.
3. From the wrong side, make the next peg approximately in the middle of the stitch and pull it to the front side.
4. Repeat the operation as many times as needed.

In order for the stalk seam to turn out even and attractive, try to make the stitches the same size, preferably medium-sized. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that they fit snugly against each other - in other words, there should not be a large distance between the stitches. Of course, it will take more time than embroidery with large stitches, but it will look aesthetically pleasing. So no need to rush.

With an ordinary needle on your hands, you can also make another very beautiful and at the same time simple decorating seam - chain stitch. It is also very common when embroiderers create floral ornaments. Outwardly, it resembles a chain.

1. Insert a needle and thread from the wrong side to the front, pull the thread. It is more convenient to make a chain stitch with a needle when it goes from top to bottom.
2. Lower the thread and, holding it thumb right hand form a loop.
3. Stitch from the entry point of the thread with the needle down. When pulling the thread with the needle, make sure that they remain inside the loop all the time. The stitch length should be small - along the length of the "link" of the "chain" that you want to get.
4. Repeat the operation several times until you get a "chain" of the length you need.
5. Try to change the direction of the stitches - this way you can embroider leaves and petals, start up a “chain” with a snake.

"Velvet" seam, or "goat"

“Goat” is often used to embroider the edging of napkins and aprons, it is also often used to “fill” the space inside the contour embroidered with a stem or chain stitch. From the front, this seam, which is sometimes called “velvet,” resembles intersecting lines, while from the inside, two dotted lines parallel to each other are observed.

1. Work must be done from left to right. For convenience, two parallel lines can be drawn. On the top line from the inside, make a peg, pull the thread to the front side.
2. Slightly to the right of this point on the bottom line from right to left, make a small stitch, pull the thread with the needle to the front side.
3. Stepping back a little more to the right, make the same stitch on the ear on the top line. The next one will be already on the bottom line and so on.

"Loop" seam

This type of decorating seam resembles the one used for. It is performed quite simply - it can be seen in the figure. Even without step by step instructions even an embroiderer who does not have needlework skills can make it. I must say that this light seam is used for decorating products infrequently. They usually let it go along the contour of handkerchiefs and napkins.

"Knots"

These elements, resembling knots or small, very small buds, are also very simple. Insert the needle into the fabric from the wrong side to the front. String a thread on it (wind it). Insert the needle from the right side to the wrong side at about the same point where the first peg was. An unusual stitch is ready. By the way, with the help of this unpretentious seam and stalk seam, you can embroider amazingly beautiful patterns- the main thing is to show imagination and be patient, since the work is simple, but painstaking. However, in needlework everything requires perseverance and creativity.

"Herringbone"

Like the "goat", it is performed between two parallel lines (you can draw them right away for convenience). We will sew from right to left. So, we make the first peg on the top line. We make the second peg on the lower ruler at the same level, we lead the needle forward and up (at an angle of 45 degrees) to make a stitch, but at the same time we press the thread against the fabric so that the needle from the inside comes out on top of it between the rulers. We make the next peg on the top line and lead along the slope to the left and down, also passing the thread under the needle. So alternately we make stitches from above, then from below to the center. It turns out "herringbone". If each time two stitches are made above and below, then a “double” Christmas tree will come out. Both of them are used most often to decorate children's underwear.

Elena Pronina

Types of seams

Simple seams (part 3)

Hello, beginner craftswomen, in the previous article we told you about a simple seam. Today in the third part of the article you will learn how to perform a "stalk seam".

Stem seam. This is another of the simple stitches often used in various types embroidery . They, as a rule, are embroidered with twigs and stems in floral ornaments, which is why it was called "stalked". You can also completely fill in individual elements of embroidery with this seam or sheathe the contour of the pattern. In facial sewing, it is used as the main one.

The stalk seam is performed both in the hoop and without them, from left to right or from bottom to top. First, a stitch is made about 3-4 mm, then the stitch is brought out from the inside to the front side in the middle of the first stitch, without piercing it. To perform the next stitch, the needle is injected into the fabric, stepping back along the pattern line by 1.5-2 mm from the end of the first stitch (i.e., at a distance equal to half of it), and the needle is brought out to the front side at the point of its end (Fig. .one).In the same way, perform all the remaining stitches until the end of the row. In this case, you need to ensure that the working thread is always on the same side of the seam. This rule must be followed for any bend in the line of the pattern - only then is a smooth line obtained. With proper sewing, a “back of the needle” seam is formed on the wrong side. Heavily curved lines, such as circles and spirals, should be embroidered with a traditional stitch in as small stitches as possible.

In embroidery, the traditional stem stitch is often modified.

To get a thicker line, the stitches are gradually shifted to the left, more and more overlapping the previous stitches with subsequent ones.

(Fig. 2).

And if necessary

Get a thinner line

then move the needle exit point

Front side right

(Fig. 3) .

With the help of these methods can be embroidered twig with thickening grounds and very thin peaks

(Fig. 4) .

If, when performing a stalk seam, bring the needle to the face from above, then from below the previous stitch, then you get a two-row seam"bricks" (Fig.5).

The seam "pigtail" it turns out if you perform two rows of a seam, laying the stitches symmetrically to each other, one under the other (Fig. 6).

With tightly packed rows of a stalk seam, you can fill in entire fragments of the pattern. In this case, the seam gives a more convex filling. If, when filling the pattern with a thin stalked seam, the stitches of adjacent rows are staggered, the satin filling is flatter (Fig. 7).

The seam "split" perform in the same way as a traditional stalk seam, but bringing the needle to the front side, pierce the thread of the stitch being performed. The puncture point is slightly shifted to the right (approx. 1/3 or 1/4 stitch size). The thinner the thread, the smoother the seam (Fig. 8). This seam performs a particularly thin satin stitchembroidery, "Facial sewing", with which the faces of saints are embroidered on icons.

The stalk seam is also used as a finishing one, wrapped around with a thread of a different color or making scallops.