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Buttonhole wheels icon
Buttonhole wheels

  • Buttonhole stitch wheel
  • Wheel stitch
Buttonhole wheels main image

This stitch uses a standard buttonhole stitch to form a circle; each stitch is taken down into the same hole in the centre. The stitch tension creates a small central hole. The hole could be off-centre for more informal look.

Buttonhole wheels have similarities with buttonhole couronnes but there are two main differences: firstly, couronnes are worked independently from the fabric and then applied and so will normally be slightly raised whereas wheels are stitched directly into the fabric; secondly, the central hole is normally smaller for a wheel than a couronne.

Buttonhole wheels is generously sponsored by Martine Carlier

Method

Mark a circle on the fabric and work anticlockwise.

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1

Bring the needle up on the edge of the circle, and then take the needle down in the centre.

2

Leaving a loop at the front of the fabric, bring the needle up on the edge fairly close to the starting point, inside the loop.

3

Pull the thread to make a buttonhole stitch. Take the needle down again at the same hole in the centre.

4

Come up on the edge again to work another buttonhole stitch.

5

Continue working buttonhole stitches around the circle anticlockwise.

6

For the last stitch, pass the needle under the first buttonhole stitch and then take the needle down at the centre to complete the circle.

7

A complete buttonhole wheel

Buttonhole wheels

Embroidery Techniques

References

  • Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches (1934) , p.26
  • Betty Barnden, The Embroidery Stitch Bible (2003) , p.66
  • Sarah Whittle, The Needlecraft Stitch Directory (2012) , p.161