Towards the end of lat year, I started a series of articles working through an A-B-C progression of the archives here on Needle ‘n Thread. The last letter we looked at was K, for Kaleidoscopes.

And that brings us to L – for Lattice Fillings!

Some folks refer to lattice fillings or lattice work or lattice stitches as “trellis fillings.” I am careful not to call them “trellis” stitches, because there is a stitch called trellis stitch (you can find a tutorial for it here) that is not at all similar to lattice fillings.

Lattice fillings are essentially laid work – where long threads are laid in some sort of grid-type pattern, and the intersections are couched (sometimes decoratively, sometimes not). You can achieve all kinds variations with lattice work in embroidery by varying the type, color, order, angle, and whatnot of your laid threads, as well as varying the method of couching your intersections, as well as adding any extra decoration you stitching inside the resulting lattice.

Lattice fillings are a ripe ground for fun experimentation!