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HERRINGBONE STITCH

The herringbone stitch can make interesting borders. It can be done in 1, 2, or more colors or different types of thread. It can be done in wider or narrower rows and with steeper or less steep slants. It can get complicated, especially when done in many colors. If you are doing the same herringbone stitch in more than one area, it might be easiest to do them all at once, so that you don't forget your count/sequence.

The first example shows a herringbone that is four threads high, and will be done in two colors/threads. This is how the first color/thread could be stitched:

Now we will add a second color or texture of thread:

The next example shows a similar herringbone stitch, but in this case the angle of the stitch is not so steep. The first part would be done as follows:

The addition of the second color/thread would be done as follows:

So far all of the examples have been shown with only full stitches, but no compensating stitches. Compensating stitches at the end of a row are easy to figure out, but the ones at the beginning are a little trickier.

The next two diagrams show compensating stitches at both the beginning and end of the rows:

You can tie together many of the colors used in your design by incorporating them into a multicolor herringbone stitch. Shown below is an example of a "six-trip" (six color) herringbone stitch:

Diagrams and text copyright 2005, Denise Davis, Threadneedle Street