Detailing and embellishing costumes is one of my favourite parts of creating dolls. I could sit for hours and embroider tiny ornaments, attach beads and sparkly elements to the dapper dresses. Embroidery can elevate your creations to the next level since you’re creating one-of-a-kind garments for your dolls. Sure, you can purchase pre-embroidered fabrics but nothing enhances the doll as custom embellishments made just for that particular creation. So today I want to talk about my favourite embroidery stitches and share some tutorials so you could easily apply them to your dolls!

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My favourite embroidery stitches

Split stitch

I probably use this one the most. It’s very easy to learn and useful for outlining your embroidery design. The split stitch resembles a tiny chain so looks quite decorative but can be easily manipulated into all kinds of swirly shapes.

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial.

Satin stitch

Very common embroidery technique to fill in the areas of your embroidery design. For example flower petals, leaves, etc. At first, it might be tricky to keep the stitches and thread spaced out evenly but if you draw your design carefully first, you should get the hang of it pretty quickly!

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial.

French knot

This decorative stitch is perfect for embroidering the centre of the flower, buds of a plant or just decorate other areas like collars, sleeves, shoes. I love this stitch for simplicity and for the embossed look it gives to the fabric.

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial.

Bullion knot

Another decorative stitch that has the embossed look. Usually used to create beautiful flowers, roses, leaves. It’s more advanced of the bunch, but still very doable. I love how you can manipulate the size of the knot and create different designs with it.

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial.

Beading

I think that beads probably deserve their separate article but I’d like to touch on it really quick. There are so many incredible and difficult techniques of beading - most couture houses use them - it’s embroidery on a completely different level, haha. But despite that, you still can use beads to enhance your embroidery. I’ve used beads for every art doll I ever made. It’s such simple yet stunning detail to add.

The needles I use for beading

Beaded backstitch

When I want to embroider a motif using beads, I usually apply this technique. It’s very useful if you want to outline something or create some sort of ornaments from beads.

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial.

Adding beads one by one

Sometimes when you want just to embellish just some parts of your embroidery, you can add beads one by one leaving the actual stitching in the backside of the fabric. The scattered beads can look very lightweight and elegant depending on the design.

To learn this stitch visit this tutorial

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If you want to learn more about creating costumes or doll making in general, visit my online doll making classes where I share all the techniques I know for creating art dolls.