Basic Embroidery Stitches : Stem Stitch

Find all the basic embroidery stitches here.

                                                                                                                                      
Stem stitch is basically an outline stitch. This stitch makes a fine line and is used around edges and for making veins in leaves, stems etc. It can also be used for outlining and lettering.


The stitch may be used as a filling by working rows alongside each other.

Stem stitch is used extensively in Redwork Embroidery .Another form of embroidery where this stitch plays an important role is the Casalguidi Embroidery.


Other uses of stem stitch include surface embroidery, freeform embroidery, whitework, etc. 

The thread is always on the left side of the needle . 

Outline stitch is another variety of stem stitch , where the thread is always on the right side of the needle.

Stem stitch project with Casalguidi Embroidery

This pattern( from Larks Craft)  is worked entirely in stem stitch .

Stem stitch has been used for filling the leaves. I have experimented a lot with shading the leaves using stem stitch , so each leaf is unique.

The leaf towards the lower end is entirely in one shade of green.

The leaves on left have been stitched in two shades of green.

The leaves on the right look like this.

The center of the leaf on the lower side has been stitched with two strands of different shades of green held together, whereas , the periphery stitched with single shade ; hence the colours merge well.

Stem stitch is used to stitch the twigs of nest and to fill the eggs

Now, as promised , I have a form of embroidery where stem stitch is an inseparable part . And that is the Casalguidi Embroidery , used for the branches on which the nest rests.

There is a tutorial coming up on Casalguidi Embroidery in my next post . 
check it out here