Craftuary Academy · embroidery guide
To make a French knot, bring the needle up, wrap the thread around it once or twice, hold the wraps snug, and take the needle back down right beside (not into) the hole you came up through, keeping tension until the knot sits on the fabric.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Knot vanishes to the back | Go down beside the exit hole, not into it. |
| Loose, loopy knot | Keep tension on the wraps until the needle is fully through. |
| Knot too small | Use more strands of floss, not more wraps. |
| Knots in different sizes | Use the same number of strands and wraps every time. |
Flower centres, berries, eyes, snow and textured fills. The free Christmas Holly hoop uses them for berries and the Wildflower Sampler for flower centres.
New to embroidery? See free beginner embroidery patterns and the embroidery for beginners guides.
The needle went back down the same hole it came up. Go down one or two fabric threads away.
Once or twice. For a bigger knot use more strands of floss rather than more wraps; extra wraps make the knot loose and loopy.
Both make a raised dot. A colonial knot wraps the thread in a figure of eight and holds its shape a little more firmly; a French knot wraps straight around the needle.
A thin needle the same width along its length (a milliner's needle) slides through the wraps easily; a size 7 embroidery needle also works.
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