When you are an embroidery artist, you’re always looking for stitches to make the best font for hand embroidery, and there are hundreds to choose from! It is also easy to find them because there are now tons of websites that you can go to learn about newer and better hand-embroidery fonts.
If you embroider by hand, you are truly creating a masterpiece each time you sew something. Since hand-embroidered pieces cannot be duplicated, each one is unique and special. This is indeed an extraordinary talent that not enough people have, but that doesn’t mean those that do this type of work can’t improve.
How Fancy Do You Want to Be?
The best part about embroidery is that there are so many available fonts, you can choose everything from basic stitches to stitches that are quite exotic and fancy. Adding to your repertoire of interesting fonts is something most embroiderers are interested in, and most of these fonts are super easy to learn. If you’re interested in learning about hand-embroidery fonts you may not have known about before now, below are just a few of them for you to enjoy.
1. Back Stitch
This is a basic, but very popular and simple, embroidery stitch. Much like the name suggests, you are essentially stitching backward. You start with short stitches (you can do long stitches, but short ones will keep it simpler) and move ahead with your needle, then come back and insert the needle toward yourself instead of away from you like you would with a standard stitch. It doesn’t take long to learn this stitch, and it produces a very neat, uncluttered design.
2. Chain Stitch
If you’ve ever crocheted something, you know what a chain stitch looks like. It is merely a line of loops, and the embroidered chain stitch looks just the same. You can use this stitch in both straight and curved lines, and you start by making a small loop by starting and stopping the stitch in the same location. When you bring your needle back up, you’ll place it at the bottom of and inside the loop, then pull it through that loop to start all over again. It is much easier than it sounds, and it’s a stitch you’ll use quite often in embroidery.
3. Couching Stitch
You can think of this stitch as similar to an applique, because you are going to stitch a line then go back over it in certain places and stitch it again, almost like you’re attaching that part of the line to your fabric. A perfect stitch to make the best font for hand embroidery is the couching stitch. It is sometimes worked in two threads that are two different colors, and the best part is, you can use this stitch over lines that are either straight or curved. In fact, some embroiderers use more than two strands of thread, but regardless of how many strands you use, this is a great-looking stitch that is easy to fall in love with.
4. Basic Satin Stitch
This is a basic stitch, but there’s nothing basic about how it looks when you’re done. In fact, it is one of the prettiest stitches in embroidery, and you start by making a horizontal stitch that can be any length you want it to be. Next, you’ll bring your needle directly underneath the line/stitch above, and bring it to the right, creating another horizontal stitch. Each line will be stitched directly underneath the line before, but you can make the stitches as wide as you want. This is a great way to make decorative items such as flowers and even fancy lettering, and it’s super easy to master.
5. Stem Stitch
Even though this stitch is good for cursive fonts, this stitch is also used if you’re going to embroider flowers, plants, or other designs. Don’t worry, it’s a simple stitch. The end result will look like short markings one right after the other. You start by making a small line that is horizontal, which is done in one step. When you go to make the next stitch, it will be placed right next to the first one except you will start in the middle of where the previous stitch is. Each stitch is the same length, so when you’re done it looks like tiny markings lined up, but each with a different starting point.
6. Split Stitch
Although perfect for outlining an object, you can use this font for just about anything. It is essentially a single line except that instead of placing each stitch one right after another, you bring your needle up through the middle of the last line you stitched. It gives it an entirely different look that stitching each line in a completely different spot does, and you’ll find this stitch to be a very useful one when you’re embroidering, regardless of the particular project. You can also use the split stitch to fill in a letter or object if you like.
7. Running Stitch
You can make either letters or designs with the running stitch. When you get started, the first thing you’ll notice is that it looks a little like a basting stitch in sewing. There are spaces in between each visible stitch, so you’re essentially bringing the needle up through the fabric every other time you make a stitch. The running stitch can consist of either short or long lines, and you can, in fact, get quite creative with this one once you learn how to do it properly. Don’t get fooled by the fact that the stitch looks so basic – you will use this stitch much more than you might think.
8. Straight Stitch
Okay, this one really doesn’t need an explanation, but you’ll certainly be using it a lot every time you embroider something. It’s perfect for letters, numbers, and even designs, and it’s essentially just a straight line that you can make any length or size you want it to be. You can use it to make just about anything, from fancy letters and numbers to small flowers and just about anything else you can think up in your head. Most patterns will indeed involve some type of straight stitch, so this one is useful to learn.
9. French Knot
The French knot looks a lot more complicated than it is. With this stitch, you simply wrap the thread around the needle to make the knot, holding the thread tight but not too tight as you work. The French knot is used to fill in a variety of designs as well as to give your final design a little bit of a 3-D look. When you first start doing this stitch, it can be a little challenging, but it won’t take long for you to get the hang of it. In fact, the French knot is much more common in embroidery than you might think, so you might as well learn it now if you intend to keep embroidering.
10. Fly Stitch
The fly stitch is one of the easiest stitches in embroidery and can be used for letters, numbers, and various designs. It is essentially a V embroidered on the fabric – that’s it! Instead of a V, some embroiderers use a semi-circle shape instead, but either way it’s still a very basic and easy stitch that you can learn before you know it. You can use this stitch inside of a radius or as a fill-in for numerous other designs.
11. Herringbone Stitch
When you’re researching stitches to make the best font for hand embroidery, this is one you will likely run into. You can use this stitch for letters and numbers, and it looks like a bunch of tepees stitched one right after the other. It is perfect to make fancy edges and borders, and it looks great combined with other stitches because it gives the final design a little more dimension. This is one of the many embroidery stitches that you’re better off printing on the fabric beforehand with a water-soluble fabric pen, just to make sure the design is even in the end.
12. Blanket Stitch
Used mostly for edging and trimming, the blanket stitch looks like a long horizontal line with lots of vertical lines above it, and the spaces between the vertical lines can fluctuate from very narrow to very wide. In fact, you can even make the vertical lines various lengths if you like, allowing you to make it look like a mountain or any other tapering-off design in the end. It’s also a simple stitch to do and has a variety of uses.
13. Feather Stitch
If you’re looking for a stitch that works perfectly when you’re trying to make foliage, scales, or even feathers, the feather stitch is the one you want. It looks like a bunch of V’s turned with the point to the right side, and they’re stitched together to create a cohesive look. There are different ways to do the feather stitch, so it is simple to make the stitch your own and get the look you desire when you’re done.
