Stitch Study: It's so fluffy!

Neither of today's stitches are traditional surface embroidery stitches. Both Turkey work and velvet stitch come from other types of needle crafts, specifically canvas work and needlepoint (and stumpwork). Each stitch is meant to create texture and a raised effect in a finished piece. I've been seeing these types of stitches in pieces on social media recently, so I thought I do a little research and find out about each one.

Turkey work is based on Turkish knots, ghiodes knots, that are commonly used in rug making. It was popular in English weaving in the 16th century. It's a pretty easy stitch, basically a series of back stitches and loops. The loops can be left as loops, often used in embroidery for flowers, or can be cut and trimmed. The cut and trimmed version create plushy surfaces that are super fun. They're used for plants, grasses, hair and fur, and to add texture in more abstract pieces.

Velvet stitch (excellent stitch diagrams in this post) was popular in 17th century raised embroidery and is used in canvas work. Like Turkey work, the stitch is pretty simple, a cross stitch, and loops. The loops can be trimmed or left as is. I tried both stitches last night and the result is pretty similar. The anchor stitches are the main difference.

In my samples, I only did a few rows, so for today's piece I decided to try four rows for each type. I also played around with size, drawing a guide line for the first row to set the area for the stitch. None of the tutorials I watched or read did this, but I found it helpful to set my space. I used a needle and an eyelash brush to fluff the threads once I trimmed them. Both tools work well, but the eyelash brush is amazing. It separates the threads so well and makes everything fluffy.

I may have gotten carried away with the purple flower, but it was fun to make (Turkey work on that one with a satin stitch at the center. I love these stitches. I've thought of a few ways to incorporate them into my water theme this month, and I'm pretty sure they'll just randomly turn up in other pieces from time to time.