QUILTsocial Issue 21

Stitch 3 – Bullion knot
Before last summer, I had never even
heard of the bullion knot, but it’s quickly
become my new favorite! It’s such
a versatile stitch that you can use to
outline shapes, make petals on a flower,
create bullion roses, and even turn into
bugs like bumble bees, ladybugs and
inchworms!
I find it easier to do this stitch using a
twisted thread like perle cotton instead
of stranded threads like embroidery floss.
Bring the thread from the back of the
fabric, insert the needle tip a short
distance away, and bring the tip up close
to where the thread comes out of the
fabric. The distance between these two
points is the size of the stitch.
Wrap the thread around the needle tip 4 or
5 times (the more you practice this stitch
the better you’ll get and the more wraps
you can do to make longer stitches). Make
sure you don’t cross the wraps on the
needle, and that the coil of wraps on the
needle are the same width as the distance
between where the needle enters and
emerges from the fabric.
Gently pull the thread through, holding
the coil of thread between your first
finger and thumb on your non-dominant
hand. Make sure to keep hold of the
coil as you pull the needle and working
thread up and away from you. As the coil
tightens, change direction and pull the
thread towards you. Once the thread is
all the way through, insert the tip of the
needle back into the point where it first
emerged, and your bullion knot should
lie flat against the fabric.
If you want your bullion knots to have
more dimension, all you do is wrap the
needle with more wraps than will fit in
the distance between where the needle
goes into and comes out of the fabric.
This is what I did to make the petals on
this flower. I did about 12 wraps on the
needle using the DMC Perle Cotton but
only had a small space between where
the needle goes into and comes out of
the fabric. This causes the knot to bow
outward in a curve instead of lying flat
against the fabric.
16 OUILTsocial | issue 21
A bullion stitch diagram
The center of this flower is stitched with
a blanket stitch worked in a circle instead
of a line.
Bullion knots create the petals of a circular flower
Stitch 4 – Double cast on stitch
By grouping together 3 to 8 double
cast stitches together, you can make
beautiful flowers with lots of dimension.
You can also do a row of these stitches in
a zigzag formation across your fabric to
give your piece amazing texture.
This is one of the few embroidery
stitches that you create working with a
double thread, so the first thing you do
is thread your milliner’s needle with DMC
Perle Cotton, and then knot the two
ends of the thread together. Now bring
your needle to the front of your work.
Take a ¼” backstitch and bring the needle
point close to the emerging thread.
Leave the needle in your fabric and
separate the two sides of the thread, and
then place them behind your needle.
Take your left hand and make a loop in
the left side thread by twisting the thread
like shown in the diagram. Pull the knot
down to the base of the needle until it
is taut. Now take the right-hand thread
in your right hand and twist it to make a
loop and slide it onto the needle tip.
Pull on the free thread until the loop goes
to the bottom of the needle and is taut.
Keep repeating left and then right until
the length of the stitches on your needle
is the same length as the backstitch.
Now hold on to the
stitches with your
right thumb and
forefinger and pull
the needle all the
way through with
your right hand. Pull
the needle with the
free thread towards
you and then
put your needle
through the fabric
to the back at the
base of your stitch.
A double cast on
stitch diagram
I used six of these double cast on
stitches to make each of my four pink
flowers with size 3 DMC Perle Cotton
#3689 and a size 1 milliner’s needle. I
made a French knot in the center of
each flower with size 3 DMC Perle Cotton
#3328.
Watch my video on how to make these
four stitches
I bet your head is just swimming with all
the possible ways you can include these
stitches in your embroidery designs
using Clover Gold Eye Milliners Needles!
Take some time to practice these stitches
– you’ll be so glad you did. And use them
to embroider a few of the flowers on
your needle roll.
Six double cast on stitches create the petals of
a flower