Last year I talked about using straight stitches in our foundations of crazy quilting. This year, I want to demonstrate examples of alternative straight stitching techniques you can use for your next project.

Straight stitches are the most basic of stitches!  But here are some alternative straight stitching techniques that can take your project to the next level.

I particularly like adding them to embellish a herringbone or Cretan stitch. Simple and easy. The seam on the right was stitched entirely with straight stitches. I started by tracing the diamond shape, then added the flower beads backed with tiny straight stitches. The center of the diamond was stitched with varying lengths of straight stitches and then looped to gather them in the center with a square bead. The points of each of the diamonds were embellished with straight stitches.

In previous posts, I’ve also talked about laces, and you can see two examples of a narrow cotton lace and another wider one at the top. Lots of opportunities for embellishing with stitches, beads, buttons etc..

My silk ribbon rose motif features prominently in this section.

The seam in the lower left started with a single row of herringbone stitches, then a second row. I added detached chains and French knots at the tips.

In the last post, I discussed the black brocade fabric in my blocks as my “feature” fabric. Each block contains one piece of this brocade. In this section, I added some French knot red flowers with yellow centers to enhance the existing pattern in the brocade. Don’t forget to utilize patterns in fabrics by repeating them in seam treatments or highlighting the pattern, as I’ve done here.

I’ll repeat it; straight stitches are very versatile. Don’t be afraid to play around and experiment with different variations of this technique!

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