Hand Embroidery Stitches and Stitch Families

About Hand Embroidery Stitches

Stitching or sewing has a history dating back to prehistoric times. It is believed, with archaeological pieces of evidence, that sewing must have come into being since the stone ages when people had begun to sew to attach pieces of animal skin using needles made of bones, antlers, and ivory. They probably must have used threads made of animal parts like veins, or plants.

As the times progressed and sewing started to become an integral part of life, not only newer methods of sewing styles developed but many other materials were tried as needles and threads. For many thousands of years, sewing or stitching was done exclusively by hands. Later, machines that helped to assist sewing and weaving were developed. The invention of sewing machines in the 19th century and computerization in the 20th century led to a revolution in the textile industry with the mass production of sewn objects.

Although sewing or stitching is commonly associated with clothing and fabrics, it must not be forgotten that this skill is used in many other craft areas like making shoes, bags, sporting goods, and all those things associated with attaching pieces of fabric. Sewing also comprises a wider range of art in the textile industry like embroidery, tapestry, quilting, applique, weaving, etc… Our tutorials deal with one of such arts: Hand Embroidery, which is very much practiced even today in spite of all the invasion of machine-made, ‘perfect’ sewn objects. It should be admitted, though, that it is a dying art with hobbyists finding lesser time and patience. On the other hand, hand embroidery is an important means of livelihood for many people in different countries. There are more than 400 types of different stitches from around the globe and even more types of hand embroideries. The stitches and associated hand embroideries can speak volumes of the history of its people, culture, and times.

This section of the tutorial will teach you the various hand embroidery stitches. These stitches are categorized based on certain families they belong to. These families are distinguished based on the nature of the technique used to create a particular stitch. It is possible that some stitches belong to more than one family, but an effort has been made to minimize the confusion. Hand stitching is an art to be perfected with patience and perseverance. It helps us in creative expression and ultimately gives us the satisfaction that most other hobbies can give. Happy learning…happy stitching. 🙂

You can go directly to the pages of each family from here:

Stitch Families

We have a dedicated Hand Embroidery Book with a picture dictionary and step-by-step guides to 300+ stitches. Buy now and start stitching!