In the ‘old days’ the quality of the back of the embroidery was as important as the front as it showed a lady’s skill in embroidery.
I’m a real advocate of knotting the thread when starting or finishing my embroidery. Why? Because I’m a bit lazy and I don’t always pay attention when starting off a new thread and have ended up pulling the thread completely through after one or two stitches (and roll my eyes every time I do this).
But there are certain occasions where even I will not knot:
when the back does need to look identical to the front such as in Hardanger
when the embroidery needs to lie completely flat such as for pieces that are framed
embroidering on clothes where a knot in the wrong place could be irritating
where the fabric just won’t take a knot as the holes are too big
when you are stitching on thin fabric and everything going on in the back of the work shows through
The photos below show the difference between a piece where knots were used and a piece where they weren’t used, but no-one is going to see these when these pieces are on display.
Do you knot or not knot?
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