Learn how to do Feather Stitch embroidery!

The attractive feather stitch is a looped embroidery stitch that is easier than it may first appear. 

Stitch it on evenweave fabric, and it has a neat, regular appearance, which works well in a border. 

In contrast, use a more tightly woven fabric to achieve a delicate, organic appearance that resembles branches, twigs, vines, stems, seaweed or coral. You can tuck tiny stitches against the main stem, such as those on my small flowers page. 

In nature, a branch grows from the trunk of a tree outwards. However, we work our stitch in reverse, beginning at the tips of the twigs. 

I used the stitch for the smaller branches in the tree motif. For the thicker branches and trunk, I used chain stitch. I stitched this tree on a crazy quilt block. You will often find this stitch used to cover the seams between different fabric patches in crazy quilt embroidery.

In the next photograph I worked the brown feather stitch first, and then overlapped this with the white stitching.  

I didn't transfer a drawing on to the fabric. I just let the stitches wander wherever they wished to go, varying the size of my stitches as desired.

I used six-stranded embroidery floss for both these examples. 

On this page I will explain how to work the basic embroidery stitch along with...

• Double feather stitch
• Straight sided feather stitch
• Crossed feather stitch
• Combining other stitches

Bring your needle to the surface where you wish to start your feather stitch. Count four fabric threads to the right and reinsert the needle. 

Pull the needle through, but leave a loop of thread below your work. Push the needle back up inside the thread loop, two threads to the left and four down. 

Pull the thread right through gently until the stitch sits comfortably on the surface. 

You will have a V-shaped curve with the thread emerging from the centre bottom. 

Bring the needle back up four fabric threads to the right, and repeat. 

Now work a stitch in a similar manner, but position it four fabric threads to the LEFT of the previous stitch. 

Alternate the position of your stitches as you continue along the row, working one on the right and the next on the left.

You can vary the basic stitch. You can work more than one stitch on each side before moving across to the other, producing double and triple variations. 

The next photograph shows the stitch worked at different scales. The chunkier sample uses Splendor Frosty Rays, which is a sparkly ribbon. I used Splendor Strandable 12-ply silk for the finer sampler.

In this variation when you bring your needle up inside the loop of thread you move it across so that it is vertically below the previous stitch instead of centered underneath it.

This gives it the characteristic straight sides.

Then, as in the original stitch, you change to working on the other side, again vertically. 

Straight sided feather is then the basis for the next variation.

For this example I used a Perle thread made by Rubi. which was lovely and soft but firm, on 28 count evenweave fabric once again.

After completing your row of straight sided, you then fill in the gaps on the next row to achieve a plaited effect.

You can choose whether to use the same thread/colour or to use a contrasting one. This can be a contrast of colour or thread texture.

The stitch method is exactly the same as the straight sided variation. 

Either of these variations make a decorative seam treatment for a crazy quilt block, or a border in a counted design. 

You can take things further by embellishing feather stitch with other stitches as shown on the green and pink project (from left to right)

• detached chain stitches tucked alongside the main "stem"
• detached chain stitch again but at the end of each "point"
• French knots, either singly or massed together
• three straight stitches grouped together to form tiny flowers

Have fun, and experiment to see what effects you can get. You never know, soon feather stitch might become one of your favourites!