Sunday, 11 May 2025

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 323: Maltese Cross (according to Mary Thomas)

Sunday Stitch School #131 Interlaced Cross is a single unit. Today we are making five of them into one stitch.

There appear to be several stitches called Maltese Cross. I first saw a stitch with this name in Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches. Actually, her book also includes a filling stitch version by the name Maltese Cross Filling Stitch. If you have the book, check out pages 74 and 110.

Then I found in the Royal School of Needlecraft's Stitch Bank a stitch under the name Maltese Cross. It is totally different from the two in Mary Thomas's book. In fact, it is made up of a Half Rhodes Stitch, you know shaped like an hourglass, on top of another, at a 90ยบ angle, thus forming a cross. Have a look here.

Let's work the first of these stitches today. Kim of Kimberly Ouimet has an excellent photo tutorial.

In India, this type of embroidery would be called Kutch Work. 

Shami Immanuel of My Craft Works has created numerous tutorials with accompanying photos. Check them out, please.

Bhavani Harikishnan of Kutch Work Tutorial has some tips for stitching.


Here are my photo instructions, 

be prepared for an overload of photos:


First, you make this grid. Count the number of 

holes on the Aida to understand the spacing.











Please note, here you have to weave the needle over 

and under the threads.







Weaving!





Weaving!



Weaving!


Anchor the thread.


Can you see the weaving?


It should look like this on the back.


The next step is the interlacing:

It's all about weaving.













Notice the weaving!





























Completed.


Turn to see the cross.

Homework: 

Add here.