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INTERLOCKING GOBELIN

Have you ever had a painted canvas, and wanted to stitch an area in a dramatically different color than the color that is painted? If you are not careful, the underlying color can show through the stitching. This can also be a problem with an unpainted white canvas background when you wish to stitch the background in a dark color. A common solution for this problem is to use a heavier than usual thread, but sometimes that can be onerous or not look smooth.

In a case like this, the interlocking gobelin will give you very good coverage, while using a normal weight of thread. Once completed, it does not appear that different than basketweave or continental stitch.

This stitch is made over two threads in height and one in width. All rows, whether from left to right, or right to left, are stitched from the bottom to top (this does mean that the reverse of your work will be different from row to row, but it would be very difficult to make otherwise, as you would need to bring your needle up in a hole that would be nearly covered).

Here is a first row of interlocking gobelin:

Here are two rows of interlocking gobelin:

Here is interlocking gobelin shown over a larger area:

This stitch will use a larger quantity of thread overall than many other stitches.

Diagrams and text copyright 2005, Denise Davis, Threadneedle Street