When it comes to filling shapes with thread, the satin stitch is probably the most well-known of fill stitches. This must-know stitch is foundational in hand embroidery and simple to learn, making it accessible to beginners. Yet even after years of embroidering, I find my satin stitching skills have room for growth! Whether you are learning the satin stitch for the first time, or looking to improve your technique, these tips will help you advance in your application of the satin stitch while creating beautiful stitches every time.
To begin, it’s important to know the proper way to do the satin stitch. While I’m normally not a stickler about “the right way” in stitching, some of the methods I’ve seen people use can lead to fabric tears or threads falling out, so this is one stitch that is helpful to do correctly. Watch the video below for a simple tutorial and then check out the tips below!
While stitching with pearl cotton or wool threads isn’t as smooth, their unique textures become part of the design. It all comes down to the look you want to achieve. Experiment with different threads and numbers of strands to see what might work best for your unique project.
2. Choose your stitch direction.
Part of the beauty of the satin stitch is the movement you can create with the direction of the stitch. Pay attention to how the shape you are filling fits in with the larger design. Does it make sense to stitch the satin stitch horizontally, vertically, or at a diagonal?
In the below photo of satin stitched flower petals, each of the petals has a slightly different angle of satin stitches because they are all oriented to be pointing toward the center of the flower.
Whatever direction you decide to stitch in, you can draw guidelines across your shape to help you line up your stitches as you go. To make it easier for yourself, start stitching parallel to a guideline rather than at the edge of your shape.
3. How to satin stitch large areas.
The satin stitch is an incredibly versatile stitch that can be used on all different shapes in your embroidery projects. But it’s also good to be aware of its limitations. In my opinion the satin stitch looks best when it’s filling shapes that are about 2 inches or less in diameter (about 5 cm or less). Why? Because the larger the area, the more difficult it is to keep your threads nice and smooth.
This doesn’t mean you can’t use the satin stitch on large shapes, but it does mean you may have to approach stitching them a little differently. If you have a long narrow shape, for example, try stitching across the shortest width of the shape with the satin stitch rather than down the length.
If you want to run satin stitches in line with the longer side of a shape, consider breaking the shape into smaller chunks and running all the stitches in the same direction.
4. Keep the threads taut…but don’t pucker the fabric.
One of the key factors (and biggest challenges!) for a beautiful satin stitch is keeping the right amount of tension on both the fabric and the threads. Your fabric needs to be as tight as a drum because of how you work the satin stitch. If you don’t continually maintain the right tension on the fabric, it will easily become pinched and puckered as you pull your threads taut.
Similarly it’s important to maintain just the right tension on the threads. Pulling too tight will pinch the fabric, whereas if you don’t pull tight enough, the threads won’t lay evenly and will look bumpy or floppy. The goal is to keep gentle, even tension on the threads so they lay neatly in place and create a smooth fill for your shape.
Keeping threads taut is especially tricky on larger shapes (see tip 3), and almost impossible if the fabric isn’t taut enough. Satin stitching larger areas doesn’t look great on a piece of clothing or blanket precisely because the fabric does not stay rigid. Plus, the loose threads are at risk of catching on something and that could ultimately damage your embroidery.
5. Keep your edges neat with this trick.
Another common challenge with the satin stitch is keeping the edges of your shape aligned as you stitch. If this doesn’t bother you, you can skip this technique, but if you are irked by uneven edges, there is a simple fix!
First, use a back stitch to completely outline the shape you are going to fill. You may want to stitch the back stitch just inside the shape because you are going to stitch the satin stitch along the outside edge, using the back stitch as a guide.
Next, embroider the satin stitch over and around the outside edge of the back stitch, using it as a guide. This technique takes extra time, but the results are nice, neat edges with no gaps in the thread.
Create this effect with the simple technique of lining up insertion points on one side of your curve more closely than the points across from them. (See the Diagram 2 below for a visual.) Notice on the outside curves of the “S” the threads are slightly farther apart and on the inside curves they are slightly closer together. In some cases you can even use the same holes on the inside of the curve to “turn” the thread. The key is to make very gradual, incremental changes as you stitch. This will help you move around a curved shape while also keeping your threads close together so no fabric shows underneath.
If you have the room and want to create a larger dimensional bump, you can even tack down a small piece of felt with some poly-fil underneath and then stitch the satin stitch over top. Again, it all depends on the look you want to achieve.
