Next up in our Stitch Directory is Feather Stitch. Feather stitch is a lovely decorative stitch that’s quick to sew and has lots of variations. Some old needlework books refer to it as plumage stitch as it was often used for working feathers in elaborate ecclesiastical and secular embroideries.
Bring your needle to the front of your fabric at the top of the line to be covered. Holding the thread down with your left thumb, insert your needle back into the fabric a little lower down to the right of the line and at an angle as shown in the diagram above. You then make a similar stitch on the left hand side of the line and continue working in this way.
Above is, I think, a delightfully pretty variation on ordinary feather stitch. Instead of making single stitches alternately to left and right, you work two or three consecutive stitches on one side, and then a similar number on the other side to create a pretty zigzag line. This makes for a light feathery effect in your embroidery – and why not experiment with making it quite irregular – say two stitches to one side, four to the next, three to the next and so on.
I do hope that you’ve found this post useful, pop back next week when we’ll be looking at Fly Stitch!
*If you missed last week’s post about Cross Stitch you can find it here.*
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