Pinhead Stitch for starting and ending stitching

Hamsteren09

Taken from Beth Katzs Needlework

Liz Turner Diehl has been showing her students this method of starting stitching without a knot. It was for use with at least two strands of thread over two fabric thread. However, several people have been successful with one stitching thread.

The basic idea is to make a figure eight around the fabric threads, pull the little stitch very tightly, and cover the little stitch with the regular legs of the cross stitch. The tail of the little stitch can be trimmed closely to the fabric. It seems to be secure. However, if a piece was going to be handled a lot or even washed aggressively when finished, Id use another method of anchoring the thread. Also, if I were stitching for competition, I would be concerned that the pinhead stitches would show. Your mileage may vary, but if you like a neat back, the pinhead stitch greatly decreases the amount of thread on the back.  Shay Pendreys Needleworkers Companion mentions the pinhead stitch as the "Securing L". The book is available off her web site or with ISBN: 1-931499-07-1. Supposedly her version differs a bit, but not much, from what I describe here. This book sounds like a good thing to have.  This is a picture of fabric where you are stitching over two threads. Im assuming you are completing each stitch as you go (stitching English) so that you will come up at A, go down at B, come up at C, and go down at D to create your stitch. If you are stitching Danish (doing many bottom legs and coming back stitching the top legs), this approach should also work. To start your thread using the pinhead stitch, you will be using the holes between the ones you use for stitching. They are noted as 1, 2, and 3 in this diagram. If you decide to try this on Aida fabric, youll need to pierce the fabric. I havent tried it.


This picture shows the stitch.
Bring needle up at 1 and leave a short tail that you hold on the back. Put the needle down at 2 and come up at 3. Put the needle down at 2 again and above the earlier thread. Holding the thread on back tightly, pull the thread tightly around the fabric thread between 2 and 3.


This picture shows the stitch after pulling tightly.
Come up at A to start your cross. Trim the tail just below the fabric at 1. Stitch normally.


This picture shows how the regular crosses cover up the pinhead stitch.
The pinhead stitch is barely noticeable. With two strands of floss, it almost disappears.


This is a diagram for ending stitching using the pinhead stitch.
Use this diagram of the fabric to end your stitching. Id practice on a margin or keep the tail long for a bit before I trusted it, but Im paranoid. This stitch is more difficult because you are working underneath an existing stitch.


As in the top diagram, come up at 1, go down at 2, come up at 3, go down at 2. Pull the stitch tightly without distorting the last stitch you made or distorting the fabric. Trim the tail closely.

I found that you can start with: down at 2, up at 1, down at 2, up at 3, down at 2, cut the starting tail of the floss, and do the x as usual. The start of your stitching will be very secure, regardless how many strands of floss you are using to stitch ( 1, 2, 3, etc.). Also, the pinhead stitch for starting and ending the thread is the best choice when stitching the isolated and confetti stitches using the one strand of floss style to make them.

nadinex

i have never seen this method. thanks for sharing :)

StitchAndi

I have never seen this before, thanks for sharing

dizzydi

Thanks for sharing this information.

Alexis

I started using this stitch halfway through my last project.  You can see how the top half is a bit messier than the bottom half.  :)

I probably wouldnt use it on a high count fabric where your stitches are larger, but when your stitching will completely cover the canvas, it works wonderfully.  Plus, no flipping your project over to thread in ends. Also, its great for those isolated stitches out in the middle of nowhere, where there arent any nearby stitches to tuck your tail ends under.

                               
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mafalda123

I´ve never seen this method, very useful, thanks!

scaredy-cat

I use this method since a couple of months, but only for starting and it is great.
Im going to try it for ending. Hope it works out as good.

rumaymum

I will only use this for isolated stitches and when I stitch for a RR as theres a tendency the other participants will check how neat is the back of your work.

koorkoor

its so hard to understand for me.. hehe

sallyrose

Thank you for explaining the pinhead stitch for me. This is something new to me.
I will give it a try.