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March 08, 2024

embroidery fill ideas (besides satin)

⚡if you are not a satin stitch fan, this post is for you.⚡

maybe you're not a huge satin stitch fan. i get it, i really do. it takes a lot of practice to get consistently good results, and there's really no shortcut. the best way to improve your satin stitch is to keep practicing and trust that your work will just keep getting better and better.

however, there are SO MANY ways to fill a shape if you don't want to use satin stitch.

here are a few ideas i'd love to share with you:

 seed stitch - just make a bunch of scattered small straight stitches. make them big or tiny, pack them in tight to completely cover the area, or space them out as a lighter fill.

 running stitch - stitch rows of running stitch. make the stitches the same length, or make them all different lengths. stitch rows close together and uniform, or stitch them wonky. i've shown three different running stitch ideas here.

 chain - rows of chain stitch make a great fill, and gives nice texture.

 colonial knots - scatter them or keep them aligned, fill the area loosely or dense.

☁ cross - i like my cross stitches wonky, but you could make yours more orderly if you prefer. make them big or small, or mix them up.

 star - i've shown two examples here. one is big and fills the entire shape. the other one is filled with a bunch of tiny stars (you could easily make these into flowers by adding a knot in the center).

 brick - brick stitch has a really nice texture, and i love it here. it fills the space really well, and its uniformity goes will with these geometric shapes. you could orient your stitches diagonally, horizontally, or vertically.

☁ satin - i know i said no satin, but i wanted to show you another idea for satin. instead of covering the entire shape with one solid section of satin, divide it up and stitch each section separately. the entire shape is still filled, but the sections give it a little more depth, and you could play around with patterning your sections in various ways. my example here shows 3 sections (i just drew a couple of lines to follow).

just a few ideas! hope this is helpful.

xo

1 comment

  • I am looking forward to meeting my sisters in Clearwater, FL next week for some beach time, game time, wine time and together time. I’m an avid stitch, quilter, watercolor and sketcher…..I just love being creative.

    Carol on

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