Couching

Couching is a wonderful technique. With it, you can use ANY thread, even ones that can’t go through the canvas. With it, you can make really curly areas, like sheep’s fleece or Santa’s beard, without making endless French Knots. With it, you can actually make a true curve or circle on the grid of needlepoint canvas.

But while the theory is simple — lay a thread dow and make tiny stitches to attach it to canvas — you may find it hard to visualize.

Thanks to Denise over at Craft Gossip, I found this delightful tutorial on couching from big B and her 100 Stitches Project. While the tutorial shows couching done on fabric with floss, the procedure is exactly the same for needlepoint and for any thread.

What makes this tutorial really great is the detailed pictures. Not only does her sample design have single lines of couching separated by white fabric, she has also put the couched and couching threads in slightly different shades so you can really see the two stitches.

In real life, with both the same color, this is really hard to see.

Great work, great technique!

About Janet M Perry

Janet Perry is the Internet's leading authority on needlepoint. She designs, teaches and writes, getting raves from her fans for her innovative techniques, extensive knowledge and generous teaching style. A leading writer of stitch guides, she blogs here and lives on an island in the northeast corner of the SF Bay with her family

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