Unusual Embroidery Stitches You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

Whether you’re looking to add something unique into your next project, or you’re just curious about all of the different embroidery stitches out there, this post will share some unusual embroidery stitches that you may not have come across before!

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Unusual Embroidery Stitches

One of my favorite things to do is to look through embroidery books to find new stitches to learn. (My favorite recently has been Contrast in Crewel Embroidery by Tatiana Popova) Once I pick one out, I like to get creative and think of an interesting way to use it. And that is basically how I stumble across some really interesting and lesser known stitches. Keep reading to learn about some of my favorites.

Ceylon Stitch

The ceylon stitch looks exactly like knitting! It’s such a fun way to add a lot of texture to an area.

Raised Stem Stitch

Another interesting stitch is the raised stem stitch. This is a variation of the stem stitch, but instead of making the stitches through the fabric, the stem stitch is worked along foundational stitches on the surface of the fabric. To me, this stitch looks somewhat of similar to a basket weave stitch.

Palestrina

To me, the Palestrina stitch looks like a delicate string of pearls. It’s fun for outlining shapes or it can be a thoughtful addition to a border of some sort.

Woven Picot

The woven picot is a stitch that literally pops off of the fabric. This one is a great option to use for flower petals; take a look at how I used it in this sunflower embroidery.

Hungarian Braided Chain Stitch

The Hungarian braided chain stitch is a much fancier looking version of the chain stitch. It looks complicated, but the steps to create this stitch are surprisingly simple!

Laid Work

Laid work used to be a pretty common stitch for crewel work, but you won’t see it used as much in present day. It’s a great alternative to the satin stitch, and it’s especially helpful for filling in large areas. The anchoring stitches can be made in contrasting colors to create some lovely patterns along the surface of the stitch.

Cloud Filling Stitch

Another interesting option for filling in shapes is the cloud filling stitch. This open fill stitch was used in a lot of traditional crewel designs, and I’d love to see it make a comeback!

If you enjoyed this post, I think you’ll love learning about some creative stitch combinations for embroidering borders or this raised embroidery stitch sampler.

Do you know of another unusual embroidery stitch that wasn’t included? Leave a comment!