Top tip - keeping your stitches on the smaller side will help with getting the tight curves of letters a little bit neater.
Click on the name of each stitch to see a video tutorial
The back stitch is probably one of the easiest stitches to get the hang of. It's mostly used for stitching lines or outlining shapes. And it's ideal for stitching text!
Variations: whip your back stitch with a contrasting colour for a twisted effect. Or build up lines of back stitch to fill larger letters - often called brick stitch.
Satin stitch is used for filling small spaces with a single block of colour. Really great for big chunky lettering!
Variations: padded satin stitch can be used to give your work a slightly raised effect.
Chain stitch can be a little fiddly when it comes to lettering, and getting around all those tight curves. Make sure you keep your stitches small and stitch the lines in the same order you would if writing.
Couching is ideal for script fonts that are almost one continuous line. Couching makes is easy to manipulate the thread around all the odd curves and shapes of letters. And it's quite a quick stitch too!
This is my absolute favourite stitch! It gives the look of one single line of twisted thread.
And it looks great when you build up lines of it side by side to fill larger letters.
I hope this list helps you along on your embroidery journey! If you have any comments or questions, please leave them below or email alice@bealice.ie Check out the video library for more stitch tutorials.