Coral stitch
- Knotted stitch
- German knot stitch
- Beaded stitch
- Snail trail
- Scroll stitch
- Running knot
- Single coral
Coral stitch is a line stitch interspersed with evenly spaced knots.
Coral stitch has an ancient provenance as it is credited with being one of the stitches used by ancient Egyptian stitchers. More recently, it features on the earliest known English sampler, dated 1598, a late 16th century English headdress and was a popular stitch in 17th and 18th century English crewelwork.
It became an integral part of German Schwalm Whitework (Schwälmer Weißstickerei) in the late 18th century and early 19th century. It is also used in Sardinian knotted embroidery (Punt ‘e Nù), a form of counted thread whitework from Teulada, Sardinia.
Method
Bring your needle to the surface and lay your thread along the design line in the direction of travel.
Hold on to the thread and take the needle down through the fabric on one side of the laid thread.
Draw the thread through partway to create a loop, then bring the needle back to the surface on the other side of the laid thread and up through the loop.
Hold on to the needle in the fabric and draw the thread through from the underside, pulling the loop tight against the needle.
Bring the needle up to the surface to repeat. Continue along the line, producing knots at equal intervals.

Structure of stitch
Embroidery Techniques
Related Stitches
References
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Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches (1934) , p.52
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Anchor Embroidery, 100 Embroidery Stitches
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Kate Haxell, The Stitch Bible (2012)
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Jennifer Campbell, Ann-Marie Bakewell, Guide to Embroidery Stitches (2004)
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Sarah Whittle, The Needlecraft Stitch Directory (2012)
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Jacqui McDonald, RSN Essential Stitch Guides: Crewelwork (2010)
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Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 'Ancient Egyptian stitches', TRC Leiden (2017). Available at: https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/regional-traditions/middle-east-and-north-africa/ancient-middle-east-and-north-africa/ancient-egyptian-stitches (Accessed: 02 September 2021)
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'Jane Bostocke sampler', Victoria and Albert Museum (2000). Available at: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O46183/sampler-jane-bostocke/ (Accessed: 26 August 2021)
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'English embroideries belonging to Sir John Carew Pole, Bart', The Volume of the Walpole Society pp.43-65. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41830348
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Ada Wentworth Fitzwilliam, A. F. Morris Hands, Jacobean Embroidery: Its Forms and Fillings Including Late Tudor (1912) , p.xviii, p6, p20
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Luzine Happel, 'Schwalm embroidery history', Luzine Happel Schwalm Embroidery (2018). Available at: https://www.luzine-happel.de/?page_id=21&lang=en (Accessed: 02 September 2021)
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Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 'Schwalm embroidery', TRC Leiden (2017). Available at: https://www.trc-leiden.nl/trc-needles/regional-traditions/europe-and-north-america/embroideries/schwalm-embroidery (Accessed: 20 August 2012)