Stitch Showcase: Burden Stitch

With my houseplant collection of craft kits, I’m always on the look out for stitches that would look good as pot or basket decorations. When I came across this stitch, I knew I wanted to try it out.

• Lay down parallel rows of horizontal stitches (A to B)

• Start at the bottom corner, add a stitch at right angles ending just below the next horizontal stitch (C to D)

• Keep adding vertical stitches, evenly spaced, with enough gap between each to fit a stitch on the next row

• For the next and subsequent rows, place the vertical stitches between those of the previous row.

Want to have a go at this stitch? Keep an eye out for the palm house plant kit that it heading into my shop very soon. Alternatively, you could use this stitch instead of any of those I recommend in the guidance for any of my houseplant kits. You can find the full range of houseplant kits here.

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Stitch Showcase: Couching With Cross Stitch

Couching with cross stitch is a variation on both couching stitch and Jacobean couching. I like to use it in more modern style embroidery pieces I create contrasting thinner and thicker yarns I am stitching with.

Two different needles might be needed if working with two very different threads

• Lay down the thread to be couched (A to B), essentially this is a long straight stitch

• Take the second thread and work out how far apart the couching stitches will be. I find it useful to consider this before I start stitching to make sure I don’t get to the end find the only solution is to have uneven spacing there.

• To stitch the cross, create a diagonal line at about 45 degree angle from the couched thread (C to D). The second part of the cross is at a 90 degree angle from the first part of the cross (E to F)

• Another method is to lay down the cross stitches first and then thread the couched thread through the crosses, but this technique works best for threads of similar thickness

• It may be easier to stitch the first diagonal of the cross stitch all the way along first before returning and completing the crosses as this will secure the thread being couched. However, I prefer to stitch each cross in turn before moving on so I can control how the crosses look

I like using couching with cross stitch in my more modern pieces of embroidery. In this example I’ve couched some thicker yarn with some thinner yarn and used crosses to hold it in place.

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Stitch Showcase: Jacobean Couching

Jacobean couching is a stitch that originated in the 17th Century and requires precision and time to get both the laid down threads and the cross stitches that couch them down lying evenly.

• Start off by laying down the vertical threads evenly spaced across the area. (The closer together the threads the more couching you'll need to do.)

• To help get each stitch straight lie the thread on top of the felt and get the correct angle before you complete the stitch.

• Now repeat the same process for laying down horizontal threads. The effect looks best if these are spaced out at the same distance as the vertical threads but play around with the spacing for different effects.

• The intersection of each vertical and horizontal thread is where a small cross stitch will be added to secure or couch the threads.

• To add these, start by bringing the needle up at the top left of the intersection and then taking it down over the threads at the bottom right to complete a half cross stitch. To complete the cross, work from top right to bottom left.

• My preference is to complete all the half crosses first and then go back and complete the rest of the cross, but you can complete each cross before moving on. I'd suggest you always work the first part of the cross in the same direction for the best finish.

• You can work methodically from one side to another. Alternatively work every few stitches on each row to tack the threads in place which helps maintain the even spacing, before going back and filling in the gaps.

This is a great stitch to experiment with different thread thicknesses and colour combinations. The sample below is stitched with one strand of embroidery floss and a single strand of metallic sewing thread.

Want to try this stitch? It’s one that I suggest using in my monstera kit.

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Stitch Showcase: Couching

Couching is when embellishments such as cord are attached to a piece of fabric using small stitches to hold it in place rather than it being sewn through the fabric. It is a technique used extensively in gold work embroidery as well as in certain types of bead work. Most commonly a single strand of matching thread is used so that the couching stitch is barely visible but contrasting thread of different thicknesses can be used to make the couching visible.

Depending on the type of item you are couching will influence how you attach it. Thick cord that can’t be pushed through the fabric will be completely surface couched. If the item can be pushed through the fabric then it is best to attach the start and end of the length with a simple knot on the back of the fabric.

• Place the item being couched on the fabric at the start (A) and end (B) points. This may be a thread that goes through the fabric or one that stays on the the surface

• The thread that will be couching could be the same thread or a different thread to the one being couched

• Bring the needle with the couching thread up through the fabric right next to the item (C). it works best if it is slightly underneath and you bring the needle through at a slight angle

• Take the thread over the top of the item being couched and push the needle back down as close to the item as possible (D). Again a slight angle works best

• Add as many couching stitches as is needed to keep the item being couched secure. These can be close together or evenly spaced apart.

With this goldwork piece each hand is one strand of gold cord, the start and end of the cord is pushed through the fabric at the fingertips and each hand is then couched in place. The cord was of a thickness that it could be pushed through the fabric.

The couching stitches can also be made very close together so that the item being couched is completely covered. In the middle picture, on the right hand side of the sampler, thick yarn has been couched to the surface with the ends of the thread loose as this was too thick to be pushed through the fabric. On the left hand side cord has been completely covered by couching stitches.

Couching is also a technique used to attach strings of sequins or beads to fabric and is a much quicker method of embellishing than stitching on individual beads!

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