The hand embroidery stitch called the pistil stitch (or the elongated French knot) comes in really handy when stitching flowers. The reason is obvious – it looks like its namesake, the pistil on the inside of a flower.

The pistil stitch is an easy stitch to master, and it works well inside all kinds of flowers or even on its own, in completely un-flower-related circumstances.

I’ve been using the pistil stitch on the Secret Garden project, on the flowers. Some reader’s have asked for pointers on working this stitch, so here’s a handy tutorial to show you how to work the pistil stitch.