Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 204: Mountmellick Thorn Stitch

Today let's try a stitch apparently used in Mountmellick embroidery, the Mountmellick Thorn Stitch.

It is thanks to blogging that I found this stitch. First at VirtuoSew Adventures where Rachel used it  - beautifully. 

Basically it is a marriage between two well-known stitches, Feather Stitch and French Knot.

For more examples I dug a bit deeper until I found a couple of videos and some photos.

Some people work the feather part of the stitch side by side, others place one stitch a step further away from the previous. Compare the following:

Ariane Zurcher's video.

with that of Mountmellick Museum (a bit blurry).

Or look at the clear photographs and neat stitch lines at Feeling Stitchy.

I don't know which of these is the authentic Mountmellick Thorn Stitch. My favourite is the one that Rachel and Ariane used.

Moutmellick Museum and Feeling Stitchy show a stitch that in a way resembles the Knotted Feather Stitch as found in Sharon Boggon's collection of TAST stitches. The workings is of course totally different, and Knotted Feather Stitch has a French Knot on every Feather Stitch compared to Mountmellick Thorn Stitch with its single knot.

As you can see left-handed Ariane stitches sideways, while a right-handed person like me might prefer to work the stitches away from the body.

A thing you need to remember is to use a hoop and stretch the fabric tight for the best result.

Here are my photo instructions:

Insert the needle INSIDE the stitch.

Take a bite of the fabric and come out OUTSIDE the stitch.

Place the thread behind the needle and pull the knot tight.

Repeat for the next stitch.

This is how they look when you stitch away from your body.

Turn the work around and you get the 'Feather Stitch' look.

I agree it is a fiddly stitch, but well worth a try. Think of all the beautiful flowers that will open up and bloom!

Homework:

Sow some seeds on these samplers.