7 days of stitches: fly stitch

It’s already day 5 of the 7 days of stitches series – time is flying by…. which leads me to the next stitch: the FLY STITCH. This embroidery stitch can be used as a detached stitch for scales, flying birds in the distance and other things with a half circle/oval shape. The connected version is great for twigs or flower stems with tiny leaves. I like to use it for branches of fir in Christmas embroideries.

How to embroider the fly stitch

1// Imagine a triangle pointing downwards. Stick the needle in at the upper right corner, then pull it out at the bottom point. Make sure the thread is under the needle tip before you pull the needle through.

2// Fixate the loop by sticking the needle a little bit further down from where the thread exits the fabric. If you want to make a stand alone fly stitch, you are finished now. If you want to do the connected version, go ahead with the next step.

3// Repeat step 1 making the fixating stitch of the previous step the bottom point of the triangle. When you want to achieve a more open fly stitch increase the length of the fixating stitch to make room between each fly stitch.

4// To finish, fixate the loop by sticking the needle a little bit further down from where the thread exits the fabric.

Do you want more tips and tricks on hand embroidery?

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