Inside: 3 stitch background embroidery tricks.
When it comes to embroidery and different pictures and images you plan to come up with for your projects, there are some ways that you can make it a little more unique, personalized, and detailed. Most embroidery images don’t include or require a background surrounding the main focal point of the image, nor do they always include a filler on different pieces and objects. Sometimes, an object is just left as an outline.
Maybe this is something that you like to do for your own stitching, and it definitely makes each one unique. Embroidery is an art, and as an artist, every image and piece of art that you create maybe needs something a little different.
If you just finished a project and you feel like it needs something to fill the empty space, this post is for you. With something so general and broad like a filler, you have so many options that it may be more overwhelming than it is helpful.
Here are 5 stitch backgrounds for some embroidery tips and tricks.
Why Should You Stitch The Backgrounds
Stitching the background and filling the space is generally what makes the difference between a minimalist piece of embroidery and what makes it more of an elaborate piece of work. It’s a different look entirely when the entire image is outlined and various little images, versus when each piece is filled in and when they’re all more detailed. This makes it a more intricate piece of embroidery and something that has quite a bit of artistic freedom and significance.
Not every embroidery piece needs this though. Some of them are powerful, exciting, and fun without all of the details and texture. Sometimes it really is a more emphasized piece when it has a more minimalistic approach.
There is never a one and true answer to if you should always use a background or a filler, but simply each piece you work on asks that question on its own and you come up with an answer for each one. Maybe you even plan on a background on one and decide at the end that it’s wonderful and complete without it, or maybe vice versa.
When you finish up an image you didn’t plan to fill the background on, you decide it needs a little more texture or color to make it pop.
These are the kinds of creative and artistic decisions you have to make while being an artist. That’s the thing about creative vision too, is that it is always flexible and always changing as you’re seeing the final product slowly come to life. It’s not one solid and set answer, but you can change your decisions based on what you’re seeing.
So the answer to why you should use a stitch background is simple: if you want to. If you want to take the piece the extra mile or if you want to add some texture and pattern to it, this is a great way to do so. It’s totally up to you and anything that you would want to add to your project. This is your embroidery piece, it’s all about what you want to do with it!
Stitches For Filling Space
There are hundreds of ways that you can fill space with your needle and thread on any given project. There’s not one correct stitch or let alone even a few “correct” stitches that you should be using for filling space at all. There’s only the space to be filled, your needle and thread, and anything that you want to do with it.
Depending on how long you’ve been embroidering and stitching for, you might already have your preferred way to work these pieces, but here are a few popular ones anyways, that people tend to create different variations of to make it work within the stitching style already going on with the piece.
- Satin Stitch: If you need it to look a little more polished, a simple, straight, and soft line all the way down, the satin stitch is a great option for you. It’s also really easy to do!
- Weave Stitch or the French Knot: These two are not synonymous, but ultimately they kind of go together in my head because of how textured each of them is. They’re a different kind of texture but if you’re looking for something bubbly and textured, here you go!
- Seed Stitch: This is so simple and not really a filler, but it’s a filler in its own right. It still allows all of the area for negative space, a design element that’s a favorite of mine. It’s fun to play around with little patterns within the seed stitching, not to mention it would be a really cute and unique way to fill the background of your embroidery piece too.
While there are no few right answers to making a filler in an area on an embroidery piece, there’s totally favorites that each of us has. And these are some of mine. There are honorable mentions like the chain stitch that just always has a fun feel to it, but ultimately, these are my favorites.
Add some variations and find different ways that you enjoy these in your pisces to figure out if they’re for you!
Background Stitching
Background stitching is going to be very similar to but still very independent from the space fill stitching like this beautiful design above created by Create Whimsy.
It’s all about the image itself and what’s going to make it pop. There are options to not add color necessarily but more texture, or add color and no texture, there are so many ways to do a background stitch.
Refer to the space fill stitches. These are all perfect for filling the large background space as well, not just the empty space of an object. If you want to add texture but the color of the background isn’t an ideal change to make, then I recommend using something like the french knot or the weave stitch to create texture, but do it in white or off white, or whatever color the background of your embroidery picture is.
You can always put your own flare on this too and create your own patterns and such. Since it’s all filler, there’s nothing technically correct that you have to do here. It can be anything you want it to be. Have fun with it and get creative.
Filling empty space can be plain and simple, or it can be unique and creative. Especially since this isn’t a common practice with every piece that you finish, there’s a lot of room for figuring out what you want to do with this concept. There’s no right or wrong ideas here, however we did discuss a little bit about using techniques that flow with the rest of the image.
Using these stitch background embroidery tricks is really going to elevate your images and give you a really personal touch to your embroidery pieces that people are going to recognize in your work. It will leave a mark that you can claim as your own detailed work that others pass on, maybe just because it’s tedious or maybe because it’s not a required part of the practice. But either way, this makes it new and unique to you, and that’s what matters.
If you need some more stitching tips and tricks, here are my three favorite stitches for embroidering words and letters. Check it out.
I’m Victoria Hudgins and I believe in learning embroidery to express all the fun and joy that is within you. With the right instruction you can be sure your next threaded project is one you’ll love to keep or gift.