Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 259: Raised Seeding Stitch

Today let's do a detached stitch that has a nice structure. As the name suggest,  it is a member of the Seed Stitch  family and it rises above the surface like an arch.

It can be found at Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials

See my photo tutorial here:

Chose tightly woven even-weave fabric which you stretch tight in a hoop.

Stitch each individual stitch Back Stitch fashion

while leaving an arch. Spread them out evenly over the surface.

Aren't they cute?

Now these arches will not stay put unless you are very careful not to pull them.

There is one way you can control them - with a fixative like the water-based Japanese 'bond'. Delute a dollop with a few drops of water.

Use a cotton swab to dot the watery paste onto the back of the stitches. 

Once it has dried you will not notice it,  the stitches, however, will stay put. 

Unless you plan to wash the embroidery, that is!! Then use a brushing of clear nail polish instead.

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There is another method where you tangle the stitches in place:

For this, I recommend using a bamboo skewer or fine crochet hook, six stands of DMC floss and a needle with a sharp tip.

Make a sturdy knot for the back.

Stitch over the skewer. Make two stitches at the same place.

Let the needle catch a bit of the thread.

Make another stitch a bit further away along the same skewer.

Take a stitch through the thread on the back to fix it.

Pull out the skewer carefully. The stitches ought to sit reasonably well.

Purple = perle cotton worked twice, red = 6 strands of floss, aqua = one stitch of perle cotton; the original stitch.

Homework: Build arches on these samplers.