Surface Satin Stitch

Satin stitch and surface satin stitch to the left, and the reverse side of the cloth to the right. Satin stitch and surface satin stitch to the left, and the reverse side of the cloth to the right.

The surface satin stitch is a technique whereby the stitches are worked in close, parallel rows. They are used to fill in all or part of a design. At first glance, the surface satin stitch looks like the satin stitch, but instead of the stitches being taken across both the surface and reverse of the ground material, a surface satin stitch only covers the surface of the cloth.

The stitch is worked by taking the needle/thread across the top of the cloth, but instead of the needle returning below the ground material to the top of the stitch just made, the needle picks up a minute piece of material to one side of this stitch and immediately returns again to the surface of the cloth.

The back of the cloth consequently has two parallel rows of small back stitches outlining the design, rather than that area being covered by thread as with the conventional satin stitch. Stitches produced in this manner tend to be more uneven than satin stitches. It is also regarded by some as a more economic manner of embroidering a design.

Source: THOMAS, Mary (1934). Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches, London: Hodder and Stoughton, p. 180.

Digital source of illustration (retrieved 22 February 2017)

GVE

Last modified on Wednesday, 22 February 2017 21:15
Published in Embroidery stitches
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