The fishbone stitch is similar to a satin stitch, but it creates a visible spine in the middle. This makes for a simple, realistic way to fill in leaves.
How to do the fishbone stitch:
- Bring your needle up from the back to the top of your leaf at point 1, and bring your needle back down at point 2.
- Bring your needle back up just to the left of point 1. This will be point 3. Bring your needle back down just to the right of the center, at point 4.
- Bring your needle back up just to the right of point 1. This will be point 5. Bring your needle back down just to the left of the center, at point 6.
- Keep working back and forth just like you did in steps 2 and 3. About halfway through your shape, you will see the spine start to form in the center. Keep going!
- Once you have filled in all of the stitches going down the center, you may notice the entire leaf is not filled in. If so, fill in the remaining space with a few satin stitches to complete your shape.
Tips:
- Use a pencil or a vanishing ink pen to draw your shape before stitching. Draw a line in the center of your leaf. This will help keep your center aligned for a pronounced spine effect.
- The center line doesn’t have to be in the middle! Move it to the side to change the shape of your leaf. In the picture, the leaf on the right shows how it looks with the line moved to the side.
