Quick Announcement before we start! For those who have long awaited the large-holed, lovely, etched-blade Golden Forge scissors, we finally have some in stock! These are excellent embroidery scissors, beautifully weighted, smooth mechanics, and … yes! … pretty! The Willow Green is perfect for spring. They would look so nice, tucked in your Easter basket. (And we also have red! Yay!)
And now, back to our Regularly Scheduled Program:
We’re moving forward in the ABC Archives this morning, and of course P is for Palestrina Stitch – because I love Palestrina stitch!
Are you familiar with Palestrina stitch? It’s a glorious textured knot stitch that works for line stitching, but also makes a beautiful edging stitch.
If you haven’t added Palestrina stitch to your stitching repertoire, please do! It takes a little practice to get the tensioning right if you’re trying to achieve plump, juicy knots, but it is oh-so-worth the effort.
Today, as we continue with the ABC exploration of the archives here on Needle ‘n Thread, I’ll show you some past projects that feature Palestrina stitch, plus some tips and – of course – some tutorials.
What’s so special about the Palestrina stitch? Well, it’s the knots, you know! They’re everything you could want in a textured line of plump, pretty knots.
Palestrina Stitch Tutorials
First, some tutorials! You’ll find a handy video tutorial for Palestrina stitch located here.
You can also find a detailed tutorial for working Palestrina stitch along the edge of a piece of fabric, here.
And oh! Why knot? Here’s a tutorial for the beaded Palestrina stitch – because if you can add beads, why wouldn’t you?
And here’s a step-by-step photo tutorial for Palestrina stitch along the edge of a pincushion, featured in the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion stitch-along series.
Palestrina Stitch on Projects
One of my favorite uses of Palestrina stitch is as a decorative edging.
I used it for the edging on the Bee-Jeweled Pincushion project, which was a stitch-along here on the website. You can find the whole project detailed here.
I also used Palestrina stitch – separated with large beads – on Cotton Quartet, a stitch-along project you can find here.
You’ll find the step-by-step instructions for the beaded edge on this project here.
And I used the same technique on the Christmas mitten!!
In fact, as you can see on this Christmas Wreath ornament, I tend to use Palestrina stitch for ornament edgings a lot.
The plump knots are just ideal for edgings, and touching them up with added beads for sparkle – mmm, mmm, mmm.
But don’t stop there! Try it as a line stitch! Use it to accent stems and vines and whatnot in crewel work! Use it for textured outlines in whitework!
You can do a lot with Palestrina stitch – so go forth and give it a try!
More ABC Archives
You can find previous articles in the A-B-C Archives Series right here in the ABC Archives Index, if you’d like to explore earlier content on Needle ‘n Thread in an alphabetical way.
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
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