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Embroidery Stitches & Patterns

Learn the art of embroidery.

Fine ladies of the realm could often be found stitching away at an embroidery. As ladies were extremely limited in what society permitted them to do, embroidery was something that proved to be both a practical and a dainty way for them to spend their time.

Embroidery stitches can be used to embellish clothing, pillows, quilts and just about anything in the fiber arts. Mixed media artist even sew on cardstock. There are thousands of named stitches but for now, we’ll just explore some of the more commonly used ones. We’ll also be including some vintage embroidery and cross stitch patterns that you can use freely in your own projects.

Latest Embroidery Stitches & Patterns Tutorials & Projects


Cross Stitch Bug Pattern

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This embroidery pattern may be over 100 years old but its appeal is timeless. This cross stitch bug pattern is easy to stitch and quite pretty when done.

Cross Stitch Background 1

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This is the first of what will hopefully be many repeating cross stitch background patterns that I will be sharing with everyone. This one was originally designed by Therese de Dillmont.

Vintage Cross Stitch Alphabet 2

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Our second cross stitch alphabet pattern is for another vintage design. It stitches up somewhat large which would make it better suited for monograms and crafts than a traditional cross-stitch sampler.

Christmas Embroidery Alphabet Pattern

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A wonderful vintage Christmas embroidery pattern – a full set of the alphabet (well, one with only two letters missing, anyway) that you could use for all sorts of Christmas items – embroidered towels, Christmas ornaments, greeting cards, the list is virtually endless.

Vintage Grapes and Leaves Embroidery Design

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Another great vintage embroidery pattern from the folks at Godey’s Lady’s Magazine. This time we have a section of grape vine with leaves and clusters of grapes. The image shown here is only a small section of the overall design.

Vintage Bleeding Heart Flower Embroidery Design

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This is just the top section of a lovely, tall, vintage embroidery pattern for a sprig of bleeding heart flowers. Be sure to check out the rest of the design and my stitching suggestions.

Long and Short Stitch Tutorial

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Ever wonder how they embroidered that sweet little satin purse or Oriental-inspired blouse of yours? To the trained eye, it’s obviously a form of satin stitch. But, how are the beautiful shadings of color, like the pansy to the left, actually laid down on fabric? Today, much of this type of work is now being [...]

Floral Embroidery Design for Handkerchiefs

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Vintage floral embroidery design for a lady’s handkerchief or any other embroidery project requiring floral sprays or a square frame.

Vintage Embroidery Designs

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A collection of free vintage embroidery patterns from the vintage lady’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book.

Vintage Embroidery Designs

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I stumbled across some great vintage embroidery designs in a vintage magazine that I thought might prove useful. These designs were added to trims and edgings on garments in 1860.

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