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Woven filling stitch is an excellent way to fill shapes while adding texture, interest, and color. Follow the simple steps below to learn how to fill your shapes with a stitch that is fun and functional.

Woven Filler Step-by-Step

Woven filling stitch starts with a foundation of straight stitches. The distance between the lines is up to you, but the idea is to keep the space between the lines equal. You can achieve this by marking out a grid using a removable marking pen, or simply by eyeballing the distance.

When making the straight stitches, follow the guide below to avoid unnecessary long lines of thread on the back of your fabric.

Once you have the foundation stitches in place. Bring the needle and thread up at top of the square and slide it under and over alternate stitches. It doesn’t matter if you start on the right or the left because the direction of the weaving changes with every row.

At the end of the row, take the needle down into the fabric and then bring it back up to begin the second row. This time, weave over and under the stitches in the opposite direction. When you reach the end of the row, once again bring the needle down and then back up to start the third row.

Continue weaving in alternate directions until you have woven through all the vertical lines.

Woven Filling Variations

Woven filling stitch can be created in a variety of ways. The above example shows a widely spaced weave using a single color, but there are many variations to the basic technique. You can space the lines closer together to create a tighter weave, use more than one color, or even use it to fill irregular shapes. As long as you follow the basic weaving steps, the sky’s the limit when it comes to woven filling variations.

Happy Stitching!

Woven trellis is part of the weave stitch family. Commonly used to create flowers, borders, and so much more, woven trellis is fun to stitch and simple to learn. The bold texture of this stitch makes a statement that adds dimension and flair to any embroidery project.

Woven Trellis Step-by-Step

The foundation for woven trellis is a series of three straight stitches. Start the stitches at a common point in the center and make them even in length. Alternately, make the middle stitch slightly longer to give the finished trellis a rounded look on the top.

After making the foundation stitches, bring the needle back out at the bottom and start weaving alternately under and over the stitches without going through the fabric.

Turn the needle and start weaving in the other direction, sliding the needle under and over the opposite stitches as the previous line. Carefully pull the thread tight at the end of each row. Don’t pull too tight or the trellis shape will become distorted.

As you weave, use the needle to push the thread down so the rows are tight together.

When you reach the top of the trellis, end the stitch by bringing the needle and thread down and into the fabric at the corner.

Woven Trellis Variations

There are several variations of the traditional three-stitch woven trellis which I have shared below.

Straight-Sided Woven Trellis

This variation is stitched the same as the method above, but the three foundation stitches are straight instead of diagonal.

The result is a rectangular shaped trellis.

Large Woven Trellis

Make a larger version of the three-stranded trellis by starting with additional foundation stitches. As long as you use an odd number of stitches, the weaving will be the same.

Woven Trellis Flowers

This stitch is often used to make flower petals. Arranged together to form a flower shape, the woven texture creates bold and interesting flowers. Creating woven trellis flowers is as simple as arranging the trellis shapes in a circle so the middle points line up and the top of the trellis (or petals) face outward.

It’s easy to jazz up the flowers by adding more petals, colors, and sizes. The image below is the template I used to stitch the above flower. Feel free to copy and use it to make or practice your own flowers!

OR, try out the Bountiful Cornucopia Pattern which features two woven trellis flowers intermingled with fall gourds and colorful leaves.

Happy Stitching!

Blanket stitch is already known as a simple, versatile embroidery stitch used for everything from edging blankets to making an embellished border. But did you also know that you can make a pinwheel using blanket stitch? Follow along to learn the simple steps for making this interesting and easy embroidery shape.

Blanket Pinwheel How-To

You will need to know the basic steps for Blanket Stitch to make the pinwheel.
Blanket Stitch Embroidery Tutorial + 6 Variations

Start by drawing a circle and marking a single dot in the middle. Make a single blanket stitch by bringing the needle out at point A, in at point B, and back out at point C. Remember to keep the working thread behind the needle before you complete the stitch.

Next, insert the needle back into the center dot and make another stitch alongside the first.

Work you way around the circle, making stitches that start in the middle and finish on the edge. Try to keep the distance between stitches as even as possible.

A completed pinwheel looks like this!

Blanket pinwheels can be big or small and made with widely or closely spaced stitches.

These super easy pinwheels look great on their own, or you can add a stem and make them into whimsical flowers. However you choose to use them, blanket pinwheels are a simple and fun embroidery addition.

Happy Stitching!