Straight stitch

Seed stitches (small, detached running stitches) are used on the center ribs of these flower petals.

Pattern darning

Straight or Flat stitch is a class of simple embroidery and sewing stitches in which individual stitches are made without crossing or looping the thread.^[1][2] These stitches are used to form broken or unbroken lines or starbursts, fill shapes and create geometric designs.

Running stitch, Holbein or double-running stitch, satin stitch and darning stitch are all classed as straight or flat stitches. Backstitch is also sometimes included in this category.^[1]

Applications

Pattern darning is an ancient technique in which parallel rows of straight stitches in varying lengths are arranged to form geometric patterns.^[3] Japanese Kogin embroidery is a pattern darning style from the island of Honshū, often worked in white cotton thread on rough, dark blue indigo-dyed linen.^[1]

Stitch gallery

• 
  Arrowhead stitch
• 
  Eye stitch
• 
  Algerian eye stitch
• 
  Fishbone stitch
• 
  Open fishbone stitch
• 
  Raised fishbone stitch
• 
  Flat stitch

See also

• Blackwork embroidery
• Darning
• Embroidery stitches

Notes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to embroidery stitches.

• Caulfield, S.F.A., and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885.
• Christie, Grace (Mrs. Archibald Christie: Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving, London, John Hogg, 1912
• Eaton, Jan. Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches, Revised by Jan Eaton. London: Hodder&Stoughton, 1989. ISBN 0-340-51075-7
• Enthoven, Jacqueline: The Creative Stitches of Embroidery, Van Norstrand Rheinhold, 1964, ISBN 0-442-22318-8
• Reader's Digest, Complete Guide to Needlework. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (March 1992). ISBN 0-89577-059-8
• Levey, S. M. and D. King, The Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile Collection Vol. 3: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1993, ISBN 1-85177-126-3

External links

• The Crimson Thread of Kinship is a 12-metre-long embroidery predominately using a straight stitch at the National Museum of Australia

Embroidery
Styles	Assisi Bargello Berlin work Blackwork Broderie anglaise Broderie perse Candlewicking Canvas work Celtic cross stitch Counted-thread Crewel Cross-stitch Cutwork Darning Drawn thread work Free embroidery Goldwork Hardanger Machine Needlepoint Quillwork Smocking Stumpwork Surface Suzani Whitework
Stitches	Backstitch Blanket Buttonhole Chain stitch Couching and laid work Cross stitches Embroidery stitch Featherstitch Holbein Parisian Running Satin stitch Sashiko Shisha Straight stitch Tent stitch
Tools and materials	Aida cloth Embroidery hoop Embroidery thread Evenweave Perforated paper Plainweave Plastic canvas Sampler Slip Yarn
Regional and historical	Art needlework Bunka shishu Brazilian Chikan Chinese English Indian Islamic Jacobean Kaitag Kantha Kasuti Korean Mountmellick Nakshi kantha Persian Opus Anglicanum Rushnyk Ukrainian Vietnamese Vyshyvanka Zardozi
Embroideries	Butler-Bowden Cope Bayeux Tapestry Bradford carpet Hastings Embroidery Hestia tapestry Magna Carta (An Embroidery) Margaret Layton's jacket New World Tapestry Overlord embroidery Quaker Tapestry Fragments of a Cope with the Seven Sacraments
Designers and embroiderers	Emilie Bach Leon Conrad Kaffe Fassett Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum François Lesage Ann Macbeth May Morris Jessie Newbery Charles Germain de Saint Aubin Mary Elizabeth Turner Teresa Wentzler Kathleen Whyte Erica Wilson Lily Yeats
Organizations and museums	Embroiderers' Guild (UK) Embroiderer's Guild of America Embroidery Software Protection Coalition Needlework Development Scheme Royal School of Needlework Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum Han Sang Soo Embroidery Museum
Related	Appliqué Crochet Knitting Lace Needlework Quilting