Rice Stitch and Seed Stitch Fills
I use the hand embroidered Rice Stitch, the larger stitch around the outside of this shape, in many different ways in my Mixed Media Textile Art pieces. It's a great stitch for filling areas while adding visual interest and texture.
It is also possible to create a blending or gradation of color when applying this stitch to your work. You can do this by altering the density of the stitch, the size of the stitches, or the color of threads you use. The smaller Seed Stitch was used in the center of the oval shape.
In the picture below of a linen Art Tech Satchel I made a few years ago, you can see how I blended different colors of embroidery floss to achieve a color shift.
Looking closer, you can see that my stitches are much smaller in size. I probably used 2 or 3 strands of floss on this section of stitching.
Here you get a better view of the front of the project and the overall impact of the stitching.
This piece was constructed in the following order:
- All pieces were cut, then painted with my original stencil designs.
- The hand embroidery was all completed so I didn't have to stitch through multiple layers of materials.
- The separate parts were machine quilted, and then the bag pieces were sewn together.
- If you want to see the other side of the bag, look here: Front Side of the Emperor Moth Bag, with French Knots