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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