On to the 6th day of the 7 days of embroidery stitches with: couching! Couching is one of the techniques that get overlooked easily. For couching a surface material is attached to the fabric with a thread. The surface material can be anything! Dried flower stems, feathers, metallic threads or wire, wooden sticks, thick/thin/loopy/fluffy yarn or simple embroidery floss.
Usually, the surface material is a little bit thicker than the working thread. This way the surface material is the star of the show. If you are using stranded embroidery floss just use one or two strands less for the working thread.
How to do couching
1// Place the surface material on your fabric. If you want to make a complex structure it might be helpful to attach it before couching. Use pins or make a few stitches to hold it in place and make it easy to remove afterward. For simple lines like this, it is not necessary. Now, make a stitch over the surface material (the yellow thread).
2// Get the needle up a little bit further from where you made the first stitch.
3// Make the next stitch as in step 1. Repeat step 2 and 3 until you have covered your surface material.
Do you want more tips and tricks on hand embroidery?
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