1. EMBROIDERY STITCH
Straight stitches
Straight stitches pass through the fabric ground in a simple up and down
motion, and for the most part moving in a single direction. Examples of
straight stitches are:
Running or basting stitch
Simple satin stitch
Algerian eye stitch
Fern stitch
Straight Stitches that have two journeys (generally forwards and backwards
over the same path). Examples:
Holbein stitch, also known as the double running stitch
Bosnian stitch
Back stitches
Back stitches pass through the fabric ground in an encircling motion.
The needle in the simplest backstitch comes up from the back of the
fabric, makes a stitch to the right going back to the back of the fabric,
then passes behind the first stitch and comes up to the front of the
fabric to the left of the first stitch. The needle then goes back to the back of the fabric through the
same hole the stitch first came up from. The needle then repeats the movement to the left of the
stitches and continues. Some examples of a back stitch are:
Stem stitch or outline stitch
Split stitch. The needle pierces the thread as it come back up.
Crewel stitch
Chain stitches
Chain stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric. In
the simplest of the looped stitches, the chain stitch, the needle comes
up from the back of the fabric and then the needle goes back into the
same hole it came out of, pulling the loop of thread almost completely
through to the back; but before the loop disappears, the needle come
back up (a certain distance from the beginning stitch -the distance
deciding the length of the stitch), passes through the loop and prevents it from being pulled
completely to the back of the fabric. The needle then passes back to the back of the fabric
through the second hole and begins the stitch again. Examples of chain stitches are:
Chain stitch
Lazy Daisy stitch, or detached chain. The loop stitch is held to the fabric at the wide end
by a tiny tacking stitch.
Spanish Chain or Zig-zag Chain

2. Buttonhole stitches
Buttonhole or blanket stitches also catch a loop of the thread on the
surface of the fabric but the principal difference is that the needle does
not return to the original hole to pass back to the back of the fabric. In
the classic buttonhole stitch, the needle is returned to the back of the
fabric at a right angle to the original start of the thread. The finished
stitch in some ways resembles a letter "L" depending on the spacing of
the stitches. For buttonholes the stitches are tightly packed together and
for blanket edges they are more spaced out. The properties of this stitch make it ideal for
preventing raveling of woven fabric. This stitch is also the basis for many forms of needle lace.
Examples of buttonhole or blanket stitches.
Blanket stitch
Buttonhole stitch
Closed buttonhole stitch, the tops of the stitch touch to form triangles
Crossed buttonhole stitch, the tops of the stitch cross
Buttonhole stitches combined with knots:
o Top Knotted Buttonhole stitch
o German Knotted Buttonhole stitch
o Tailor's buttonhole stitch
Feather stitches
Feather or fly stitches also catch a loop of thread on the surface of the
fabric but they differ from buttonhole stitches in that the catching of the
loop is not at right angles or it alternates from side to side. The result is a
very naturalistic looking stitch that is often used to make leaves and
branches. Examples of fly stitches are:
Fly stitch, or Y stitch
Feather stitch
Faggoting stitch, or Straight Open Cretan
Cretan Stitch
Cross stitches
Cross stitches or cross-stitch have come to represent an entire
industry of pattern production and material supply for the craft
person. The stitch is done by creating a line of diagonal stitches
going in one direction, usually using the warp and weft of the fabric
as a guide, then on the return journey crossing the diagonal in the
other direction, creating an "x". Also included in this class of
stitches are:
Herringbone stitches, including the hem stitch
Breton stitch, here the threads of the "x" are twisted together
Sprat's Head stitch

3. Crow's Foot stitch, these last two stitches are often used in tailoring to strengthen a
garment at a point of strain such as a pocket corner or the top of a kick pleat.
Many examples of cross stitches can be found here
Knotted stitches
Knotted stitches are formed by wrapping the thread around the needle, once
or several times, before passing it back to the back of the fabric ground. This
is a predominate stitch in Brazilian embroidery, used to create flowers.
Another form of embroidery that uses knots is Candlewicking, where the
knots are created by forming a figure 8 around the needle. Examples of
knotted stitches are:
French knot, or twisted knot stitch
Chinese knot, which varies from the French knot in that it takes a tiny stitch in the
background fabric while creating the knot
Bullion knots
Coral stitch
There are also more complex knotted stitches such as:
o Knotted Loop stitch
o Plaited Braid stitch
o Sorbello stitch
o Diamond stitch
Knotted edgings based on buttonhole stitches include:
o Antwerp edging stitch
o Armenian edging stitch
Couching and laid work
Couching or laid stitches involve two sets of threads, the set that is being
'laid' onto the surface of the fabric and the set which attach the laid threads.
The laid threads may be heavier than the attaching thread, or they may be
of a nature that does not allow them to be worked like a regular embroidery
thread, such as metal threads. The stitches used to attach the laid thread
may be of any nature; cross stitch, buttonhole stitch, straight stitch; but
some have specific names:
Pendant couching,
Bokhara couching
Square laid work
Oriental couching
Battlement couching
Klosterstitch
Roumanian couching

4. PICTURES
Straight stitches Feather stitches
Back stitches Cross stitches
Chain stitches Knotted stitches
Buttonhole stitches Couching and laid work

5. Basic Embroidery Stitches: Darning Stitch
Darning Stitch and Darning Patterns are created using several rows of Running Stitch. Running
stitch is one of the simplest and basic stitches used in embroidery.
Uses Of Simple Darning Stitch In Embroidery
Darning stitch is used to cover a background when it is desired to throw a design into relief or it
can be used to fill the petals of a flower or its foliage.
The figure below shows the method of taking the stitch. Only a few threads of the fabric are
picked up on the fabric each time, thus long stitches of uniform length are shown on the right
side only ; while the rows of stitches are parallel, the fabric is taken up on the needle for each
stitch exactly opposite the middle of the long darning stitch in the preceding row.
Simple Darning Stitch
Difference Between Darning And Running Stitch
Darning and running amount practically to the same thing. Darning might be described as
consecutive lines of running. The difference is that, in running the stitches may be the same
length on the face as on the reverse of the stuff, whereas in darning the thread is mainly on the
surface, only dipping for the space of a single thread or so below it.
Original Use Of The Darning Stitch
Darning was originally used to repair clothes. Holes in old clothes were repaired using darning.

6. Ornamental Darning
In ornamental darning little or no working shows on the underside, the working thread being kept
as much as possible on the upper side to sew the pattern in relief.
The chief kinds of ornamental darning are : - (a) Straight ; (b) Waved ; (c) Diamond ; (d)
Vandyke.
(a) Straight
(b) Waved
(c) Diamond
(d) Vandyke
Darning also refers to any of several needlework techniques that are worked using darning
stitches:
Pattern darning is a type of embroidery that uses parallel rows of straight stitches of
different lengths to create a geometric design.
Net darning, also called filet lace, is a 19th century technique using stitching on a mesh
foundation fabric to imitate lace.
Needle weaving is a drawn thread work embroidery technique that involves darning
patterns into bare laid warp or weft threads. ( source: Wikipedia)
Other forms of darning include,
Japanese darning
Damask darning
Double darning
Surface darning
Huchaback or Swedish weaving embroidery.