The colonial knot is an embroidery stitch that is very similar in appearance to a french knot, but I personally think they look a bit smaller and neater! They take a bit of practice, but are super fun once you get the hang of it.

If you enjoy this tutorial, check out how to make even more embroidery stitc hes.

Colonial Knot vs French Knot

So, what is the difference really between these two? At first glance, it’s really hard to tell these two knots apart. But I’ll go ahead and nerd out for a second and get down to the nitty gritty details…Colonial knots are a bit smaller in appearance than French knots. French knots tend to topple over and look lopsided if you twist the embroidery floss around the needle too many times, but colonial knots tend to sit on the fabric more neatly and evenly.

You can see both of them in action in the video below.

When it comes down to it, deciding on which knot to use for your embroidery is purely preference! But definitely give this knot a try and see what you think.

Want to learn even more embroidery stitches?

This workbook is NOT your usual stitch encyclopedia. Most embroidery books don’t actually show you how you can use each embroidery stitch and they also don’t come with many tips. This workbook is packed full of helpful information to make you a better, more confident stitcher.

It comes with:

embroidery stitch tutorials
helpful tips for each stitch that will maximize your learning and improve the way your embroidery looks
fun, modern embroidery patterns you can use to learn the stitches with ease

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Time needed: 5 minutes

Colonial Knot Embroidery Tutorial

Step 1
Come up through the fabric and take your needle and place it under the thread.
Step 2
Now take the thread and twist over the tip of the needle, forming a figure 8.
Step 3
Bring your needle back down through the fabric right next to where you initially came up. Make sure to hold tension on the thread while you’re doing this.
Step 4
Here is the finished colonial knot.

Amanda

Amanda is a hand embroidery artist and teacher. With over 15 years of experience in the craft industry and embroidery, she owns and runs Crewel Ghoul, sharing tutorials and patterns to help inspire fellow crafters to get inspired and creative. In addition to running this website, she teaches on Skillshare and Youtube.