4 Creative Ways To Embroider Waves

Are you stitching a nautical or beachy themed embroidery and looking for some out-of-the-ordinary ways to stitch some waves? You’ve come to the right place! This post will show you how to embroider waves in a variety of simple yet impressive ways.

Supplies You’ll Need

• Embroidery Hoop
• Fabric
• Needle
• Embroidery Floss
• water soluble marker or heat erasable pen

Don’t have everything you need? Take a look at this post to see some places you can purchase good quality supplies.

How To Embroider Waves

Outline With The Back Stitch

The first way is the simplest and most beginner friendly way to embroider waves. Draw a few curvy lines and outline these lines with the back stitch.

1. Come up through the fabric and make a single straight stitch.
2. Skip ahead a stitch length and pull your needle and thread up through the fabric.
3. Come back down through the fabric at the end of the first stitch you made.
4. When you get to the crest of each wave, make sure your stitch ends at the very tip of it. Then make another stitch so that the ends of two of the stitches meet to form a sharp point.

This method for outlining the waves is just one way you can do it. You can use a variety of other outline stitches, too!

Fill In Waves Using The Satin Stitch

If you want to take things a step further and fill in the waves, the satin stitch is the perfect stitch for this.

1. Make straight stitches horizontally across the wave. Space these stitches out along the wave. This will help you fill them in smoothly and evenly.
2. Fill in the rest of the shape with more straight stitches.
3. Repeat for all of the individual waves.

Scroll Stitch

Maybe you’re looking to add some texture to water or you’re looking for a stitch that makes a really small, somewhat abstract design. The scroll stitch is a great option for this!

1. Working from left to right on a marked line, bring your working thread up through the fabric. Skip a little bit of space and grab a small amount of fabric with your needle along the line.
2. Wrap the thread around the top of the needle, then underneath the tip of the needle.
3. Gently pull the needle and thread through and a small circular shape will form. Try not to pull too tight or it will disrupt the shape. Skip ahead a stitch length and repeat steps 1 and 2.

Wave Chain Stitch

A fun variation of a chain stitch is the wave chain stitch. This stitch is worked in groups of 3 chain stitches that are essentially stacked on top of one another.

1. This method can be a bit confusing at first, but the easiest way I remember it is to start with a downward facing group of stitches. Work them top to bottom, from shortest to longest.
2. Then, work another group of stitches facing slightly upward. Work these from shortest to longest, bottom to top.
3. Alternate these groups of stitches the desired length.
4. Then, if you want to add some foam to the waves, make a few French knots at the top of each point.

Embroidery Patterns

There are, of course, many different ways you can embroider waves. They can be as simple or as intricate as you want them to be. That’s the beauty of embroidery!

Check out some of these patterns to learn more ways.

Amanda

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