Herringbone Stitch

The Herringbone stitch, also known as Witch Stitch, is a stitch used in plain needlework to join flannel pieces together. It is also as an ornamental stitch in embroidery. The beauty of this stitch depends entirely upon the execution. Every stitch requires to be put in at an exact distance from the last made, and the amount of material taken up upon the needle should always be the same. Without this uniformity of execution the work is spoiled.

Herringbone Stitch Illustration No. 1

To work:

If the worker's eye can not judge a straight line without a guide, make two parallel lines, a quarter of an inch apart, upon the material, with a succession of dots, hold the material in the left hand, with the part to be worked along the first finger, bring the needle up from the wrong side in the top line, put it into the bottom line in a slanting direction, take up only a small quantity of material, and put the needle in with the point to the left hand (see Fig. 1). Draw up the cotton, and put the needle in the top line in a slanting direction, the point of the needle towards the left. Draw up, and the cotton of the last stitch will cross over the cotton of the first. Continue to cross the cotton in this manner until the lines are filled.

Fancy Herringbone Stitch

The Fancy Herringbone stitch is also known as the Barred Witch Stitch.

Fancy Herringbone Stitch

To work:

Commence with a line of Herringbone, and work the stitch more upright and less slanting than in ordinary Herringbone.

Then take a new thread, bring it from the back, and twist it over the cross of the Herringbone, run it down under the slanting line to the next cross, twist it over that, and continue running the thread up and down the slanting lines and over the crosses until a barred appearance is given to each cross. (See Fig. 2)

Border Stitch

The Border Stitch is a variation of the Herringbone/Witch Stitch. It is made by following a line or edge, and working toward you. Each stitch is taken as in Herringbone, but the work proceeds from top to bottom, instead of from left to right, following a perpendicular instead of a horizontal line.

Border Stitch