One technique that I plan to use on the embroidery project I’m working on now is a kind of “basketweave” stitching, using gold threads. The concept is pretty much the same as working with any smooth passing thread – the threads are couched, and they are couched in a bricking pattern, so that on each row of couching stitches holding the passing thread, each stitch falls between two stitches on the previous row. You can see this concept of bricking your stitches in this article about smooth passing thread.

The difference, though, when you want to achieve that woven basketweave look, is what you use to pad your stitches. To achieve a basketweave look with the gold threads, you need some bumps to couch the threads over. Let me show you what I mean!