Inside: The 3 best embroidery stitches for letters.
Stitching isn’t all pictures and characters, when you’re playing around with different formats and mediums to stitch on, you may come across the desire to stitch typography or letters. And while it seems pretty simple, and you can totally do it the simple way, there are a few stitches you can learn if you haven’t already that are going to make your letter stitching so much better.
If you’re wondering what the best embroidery stitches for letters are, I got you. These are pretty simple stitches you may already use for a hundred other projects and ideas, but using them for scripts and fonts in your embroidery is a game changer!
There are different aesthetics and vibes that each one gives off, but learning how each one is best utilized will get you far. You’re going to love these.
Changing the way you see the possibilities of your projects and thinking outside of the box will take you on a new creative adventure.
Where Do You Use Letter Embroidery
You can use letter embroidery anywhere and everywhere.
While patterns exist for a reason and they’re made to be followed, you’re also very allowed to put all of your own creative spin on them as well. If you want to freehand something or just add a little extra detail, this is the way to go.
If you make that little embroidery piece of some kittens and you want to add a little “meow” detail, why not?
If you’re making some gifts for your nieces and nephews and you want to personalize each one with a name, go for it!
Or what about making some spirit wear for school spirit and you want a cool vintage font look?
Or even just one large embroidered letter?
The sky’s the limit! So we’re going to talk about the three most popular embroidery stitches for you to embroider some letters!
How To Embroider Letters
Truly when it comes to stitching, while there’s wonderful technique that can be involved, it’s all about your creative vision.
There are three really popular fonts you can use when embroidering letters and fonts, but if you have an idea you like better or want to try, or if you’ve got the vision for the beautiful big initial type of project, do you! These are simply suggestions and tips for using some common embroidery stitches for letters.
Chain Stitch– A cute version of the back stitch that simply looks like a chain. Adds detail and texture to a simple stitch.
Back Stitch– Doing the backstitch, you’re simply doubling back on the stitch itself, creating a thicker visual of the stitch you’ve been working on.
Stem Stitch– Almost a rope-like vibe, the stem stitch is just another simple forward and backward stitch easy for adding something a little extra to your embroidered letters.
Chain Stitch
The chain stitch is my favorite embroidery stitch for letters.
It’s easy but has so much character, and when used for creating script fonts it has a total vintage feel to it. It reminds me of vintage varsity jackets and sweaters that you find in a cool old store, full of memories and history. Cute!
Here are some examples of the chain stitch for letters.
1. Script G
2. “Home Sweet Home”
3. Spirit Wear
How to do a chain stitch:
The chain stitch is pretty easy, just a little bit of back stitch type of deal.
On your starting point, come up from the bottom of the fabric, and then go back down the exact same hole. But before you pull the thread all the way through, leave a loop.
You’ll bring your needle up a normal stitch length apart through the center of the thread, then pull the thread through to tighten the loop.
It’s my personal preference how tight to leave the loop around the thread of the next stitch, but it shouldn’t be too tight so the loop is still visible! Repeat.
Back Stitch
The back stitch is the simplest texture type of straight stitch. It’s a fuller look for a plain running stitch type of feel. You likely have already used this stitch a hundred times, but if you haven’t, I’ll talk you through it.
Using the back embroidery stitch for letters is a fun one– with it being pretty plain and simple, you can do so much with the design and patterns around it without feeling like it’s all too much.
I collected some examples of the back stitch in action as letters.
1. Simple Script
2. Straight
The back stitch is super similar to a basic running stitch.
Start with a normal stitch in the fabric. Skip a stitch length and move forward so that there’s a gap.
When going back down, you’ll move backwards a stitch, closing that gap. Continue at this same pattern, almost creating a normal stitch line but leaving gaps to fill with the back stitch.
Enjoy this simple but fuller effect!
Stem Stitch
The stem stitch is a little more detailed, but still just as simple of an embroidery stitch for letters!
It’s so easy, it’s a great stitch to add to your arsenal of tricks for any kind of embroidery, not just letters. It’s almost a rope-like texture when completed. I think you’re going to love this stitch– check it out.
1. Stem Letter Outline
2. Cutie Fonts
3. Close Up
To execute the stem stitch, you’re going to create a forward stitch a little bit farther apart than your regular forward stitch.
Before you pull the thread all the way through, come up from the bottom of the fabric in the middle of the stitch length. Pull the thread through and go forward a normal stitch length.
When bringing that thread up, come up through the same hole that your first stitch length went DOWN through.
Got it? It can be a little tricky, but it’s all about the various stitch lengths and splitting them.
Large Initial Letter Embroidery
I love large initial embroidery letters, especially for decorating a room or as a wedding or engagement gift.
There are so many beautiful patterns for them that you can dig into, and I wanted to give you a few of my favorites as well.
But side note, even if you like a really plain embroidery letter but want to add something a little more creative than what’s in the pattern, go for it! It will be perfect and cute no matter what you decide to do with it.
You’ll love these patterns! Check them out.
1. Full
2. Floral
3. Negative Space
I hope you learned some new stitches today from this post! I absolutely adore the way that these stitches look as fonts, and I know you will too!
Whether it’s on personalized gifts or little reminders to yourselves on the hems of your jackets, this is a great idea to embroider a little something special. Embroidery stitches for letters open up a new way of seeing some of the same stitches you might have already been using and not thinking about them as possible lettering stitches.
Adding words and phrases to your work is a cute way to make it a little more personal and make it a little more unique.
Plenty of Christmas patterns I’ve used have a little “Ho Ho Ho” across the picture of Santa, but how much more can you do when you really nail these embroidery stitches for letters?
Another elevated method is the outline stitch! 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.