Stem Stitch
for Hand Embroidery

The stem stitch is used for outlining or creating thick lines in your project. It is created by lots of small slanted stitches lining up to make a straight, or curved line. The thickness of your stitches will be the thickness of the finished line.

Knot your thread. Insert your needle from behind into your beginning place. Pull tight. Insert your needle a little to the left of your beginning thread. Pull tight.

Insert your needle from behind, coming up about half way through the length of your first stitch and a little to the right. Insert your needle a little to the left of your thread, about half again past your stitch. Continue in this pattern until you complete your desired area. Make sure to keep your stitches very small and as uniform as possible. Return the thread to the back of your project on your last stitch and tie off.

This stitch is often used in hand embroidery for making stems of flowers and vines. That’s where its name comes from.

(Ok, so that may or may not be a fact,
but that’s where I think it comes from!!)

Whipped Stem Stitch

For a whipped stem stitch, you do exactly the same stitch, then with a matching or contrasting thread (depending on your desired finished look), you whip stitch around the stem stitch.

This is a similar stitch to the whipped stitch seam in crochet.

To whip stitch, knot your thread. Insert your needle from behind into your beginning point. Encase your existing stitches within the “circles” you will create with your whip stitch. Insert your needle under one side of the stitches and come up on the other side of the stitches at a slight angle. Continue this up and down angled motion, alternating from one side of the stitches to the other. This will create diagonal lines across your existing stem stitch. When you have completed your last stitch, bring your thread to the back and secure your stitches.

You can alternate the distance between the whip stitches to change this stitch a bit. As you can see in the above pictures, my first stitches are farther apart than my last stitches.

(Well, of course I’m going to make it look like I did that on purpose! I don’t want everyone to know I can’t stitch nice and neat without my Aida cloth!! Oops .... Shhhh! That’s our little secret, ok?)

If you use a contrasting color, the stitches will stand out like mine do. This could add a really neat design detail to your project. If you use a matching thread color, then this will just make your stitch look a little thicker. This would add a little dimension, and make thicker stems.

Next Stitch: Back Stitch

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