The Diary of a Northern Belle

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Fern Stitch Embroidery Tutorial

     Anne      Leave a Comment

It’s been a little while since I updated the Stitch Library with a new stitch tutorial! While stitching my latest pattern, I decided to branch out a little from the usual stitches I love and try the fern stitch. It’s a lovely leafy stitch that is super simple to work and is the perfect addition to a bouquet or to create a gorgeous border.

 

 

Ready to try it? Let’s go!

 

For this tutorial, I’m using 3 strands of Anchor #365.

 

1. First, I suggest drawing 3 parallel vertical lines, making sure that they are at an even distance from each other.

 

2. Then, once you’ve secured your thread (see this post if you need), bring your needle up from the back at point A, right at the top of the middle line.

 

3. Go down at point B, the length of a stitch, and come back up at point C along the left line, just a little below point A.

4. Go back down at point B again (in the same hole), which will form the second stitch, and come back up on the right line at the same level as point B. This is point D.

 

5. Pull through to close the left stitch from C to B.

 

6. Then, go back down through B again and come up at point E along the middle line, the length of a stitch.

 

7. Pull through to close the right stitch from D to B.

 

8. Go down in point B one last time, to close the stitch from E to B along the middle line. To close this stitch, I prefer to pull through while my needle is on the wrong side, but you could come up at point F on the left line to start the new stitch in the same motion, as we did previously. I just find it easier not to for this middle stitch.

 

9. If you haven’t done so in the previous step, come up at point F along the left line, below point C.

 

10. Go back down through E and up again at G, on the right line below point D. Pull through to close the stitch.

 

11. Go down through E and back up at point H, along the middle line. Go down through E one last time, closing the next stitch.

 

12. Keep going in the same fashion to get one continuous line. Here I’m going in a straight line, but you can decide to curve it as you like. Once you’ve gotten the hang of it, you won’t need to draw the 3 guide lines, you’ll only need to trace the middle one (or none at all if you like to totally free-hand things!).

 

And that’s it! I find it such a satisfying stitch and should definitely use it more often.

 

Bonus:

You can easily add little beads as you stitch and it creates the loveliest effect!

A snippet from a current WIP, which will be available as a pattern in my Etsy shop soon!

 

I hope you’ll try this stitch too and enjoy it as much as I did!

 

Fondly,

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Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial: Simple & Pretty

     Anne      6 Comments

Welcome to another stitch tutorial! The basket weave stitch is a really fun one. There are so many different ways to approach stitching a basket, but this method is rapidly becoming my favourite. You can easily change the look and texture of the basket by playing around with the number of strands you use.

 

the basket weave stitch embroidery tutorial

 

If you’re here following the Tea Party Mini-Quilt project, ready to stitch June’s Strawberry Basket, I used only 2 strands in the original design. For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m using all 6 strands. Up to you to decide which you like best!

If you’re new around here and you’d like to join in on the Tea Party, I send out a free mini-embroidery pattern each month, to turn into a hexie for a decorative mini-quilt. This month’s pattern is this adorable cottagecore strawberry basket.

embroidered strawberry basket in wooden embroidery hoop

If you’d like to stitch it too and catch-up on previous patterns, you can join my mailing list by subscribing here! I send out a newsletter every two weeks (usually, haha!).

 

Now, onto the tutorial!

 

Basket Weave Stitch Tutorial

1. First, assuming you are indeed wanting to embroider a basket, transfer or draw your pattern on the fabric. Mark the vertical lines of the basket’s weave.

basket outline drawn on fabric

 

2. Make straight stitches over those vertical lines.

vertical straight stitches

 

3. Then, come up on one side of the basket, just beside the first straight stitch.

needle coming up beside the first stitch

 

4. Weave your needle under and over the stitches, all the way to the end.

needle weaving through vertical stitches

 

5. Pull through, adjusting the thread if need be, by pushing it gently with your needle so it rests in a curved line at the top of the basket. Go down into the fabric.

pull working thread through
first row done

 

6. Coming up from the back just beside where you last ended, start weaving the needle again, in the other direction. You’ll want to do the opposite you did previously, so if you ended your stitch “under” the last vertical stitch, start by going over this time. Go all the way to the other end, end the stitch by going down into the fabric, and come up again just under where you left off.

second row complete
basket half filled

 

7. Continue to weave your needle over and under until the basket is filled!

basket filled with weave stitch

 

8. I like to finish with a nice line of stem stitch to hide the weaving ends, and stitch the handle.

stem stitch added around the basket base and handle

And there you are, the sweetest little basket!

 

As you might notice, the weaving looks different in this tutorial compared to my original strawberry basket. That’s because I used fewer strands and made my base stitches much closer for the latter. The basket in the tutorial used more strands, and the vertical stitches were further apart, creating a longer weave.

 

You can play around with this until you find the look you are best satisfied with! I hope you enjoyed this basket weave stitch tutorial, and I wish you lots of happy stitches and strawberry pickings. There’s nothing quite like a basket of freshly picked wild strawberries on a sunny June afternoon, is there?

 

Fondly,

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Spiderweb Stitch Tutorial & May’s Rosy Teapot Pattern

     Anne      Leave a Comment

It’s May already, and that means a new mini-embroidery pattern for our Tea Party Mini-Quilt SAL! It’s time to crown the Tea Party with its ultimate essential, the Queen of all tea things: the teapot. For this pattern you’ll need to know the spiderweb stitch to embroider the roses, so I thought I’d add to the Stitch Library and post a new stitch tutorial. It’s been a while since I posted one, and this is one of my favourite stitches. It’s so simple, but so pretty!

 

Of course, you could embroider the roses on the teapot pattern with bullion knots like we did for January’s Teacup pattern, but I decided to switch it up a bit and do spiderweb roses instead. It’s up to you! Initially, I was going to make the teapot a close match to the teacup pattern, and stitch it in the same blue, but then it just happened to turn pink. I’d pulled out DMC #3779 from the floss box and kept gazing at it, and next thing I knew, the teapot was pink. Just like Sleeping Beauty’s dress.

embroidered teapot on epp hexie

 

I loved the pink too much to change it, but honestly, I still think they do match. I would buy that tea set in a heartbeat if I saw it. 😉

teapot and teacup embroidered on epp hexies

Anyways, onto the spiderweb stitch tutorial!

 

Spiderweb Rose Stitch Tutorial

 

1. First, I recommend marking five straight lines in the shape of a star on your fabric. This will be the foundation for the “spiderweb”. Make sure they are of equal length.

pencil markings on fabric

 

2. Then, I like to use just a strand or two to make straight stitches over the markings. End the stitches in the same hole in the middle.

start-like shape stitched with straight stitches

 

3. Depending on how big you want your rose to be, use as many or as few strands as you like and come up from the back between two of the base stitches, just above the middle point.

needle coming up between two stitches

 

4. Skip over the first straight stitch, and slide your needle under the second stitch. Pull through, and go over the next stitch, and down under the one after. You can go clockwise or anti-clockwise to do this, depending on what you prefer. I like to go anti-clockwise.

needle going over a stitch and under the next
needle going under a base stitch

5. Repeat these motions, going under and over the straight stitches, and you’ll see the rose start to take shape.

needle going down under base stitch to make spiderweb rose
spiderweb rose stitch taking shape

6. Go around the rose several times, until the 5 straight stitches are fully covered. When you’re satisfied, simply bring your needle down to the wrong side, as close to the rose as possible. Anchor your thread on the back, and you’re done!

needle going down the fabric to complete the spiderweb rose stitch

 

You can choose to add a French knot or a seed bead to the middle, but often I like to leave it as is and let the 3D effect create the nice center.

spiderweb rose stitch complete

 

This stitch is very addictive, and also looks amazing worked with ribbon. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and that you’ll give it a try.

Here’s the pinnable image if you want to save it for later:

how to do the spiderweb stitch

 

I can’t wait to see all your beautiful teapots! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #northernbellesal and tag me on IG (@northernbelle.atelier) with your lovely embroideries.

If you’re new around here and would like to stitch the pattern too, simply subscribe to my newsletter and you’ll find the pattern in your inbox next newsletter! I send out a newsletter every two weeks, and a new mini-embroidery pattern every month. At the year of the year, the embroideries will be turned into an EPP mini-quilt. 😊

For more information on the project, you can see this post:

mini-quilt project: epp & embroidery

 

And for an introduction to EPP (English Paper Piecing), you can see this one:

english paper piecing: how to cut and baste shapes

 

As always, thank you so much for reading and following along! Happy stitching, and best of all, happy tea-brewing in your lovely teapots,

 

Fondly,

epp stitchalong: May's rosy teapot
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