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Lace stitch filling icon
Lace stitch filling

  • Lace filling stitch
  • Point d'espagne
Lace stitch filling main image

This needlelace stitch is similar to detached buttonhole stitch with the addition of an extra twist.  It is always worked from left to right, and then the thread is whipped along the row just worked to start again from the left.

The twist structure is the same as that for hollie stitch, although the working action is different and this version is whipped rather than corded.

It is similar to twisted buttonhole stitch as it is always worked in one direction and the thread whipped back along the length of it, although this stitch is less twisted.

N.B. the alternative name of point d’espagne is also used for hollie stitch.

Lace filling stitch first appears in print in the 1920s, although it is almost certainly much older.

add_circleMy Stitches
Looped Buttonhole Detached Open Filling Needlelace Stumpwork

Lace stitch filling is generously sponsored by Sarah Luginbuhl

Method

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1
Lace stitch filling method stage 1 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 1 photograph
1

Outline your design area with a needlelace foundation and bring your needle up on the left hand edge.

2
Lace stitch filling method stage 2 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 2 photograph
2

Make a loop with your thread keeping your working thread uppermost, then insert your needle under the top edge from top to bottom and through the loop.  Pull taut to create your first lace filling stitch.

3
Lace stitch filling method stage 3 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 3 photograph
3

Continue making stitches in this way.

4
Lace stitch filling method stage 4 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 4 photograph
4

When you reach the edge of your design area, slide your needle under the outside edge and then return to the start of the row by whipping the thread between each stitch.

5
Lace stitch filling method stage 5 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 5 photograph
5

To start the next row, slide your needle under the left outside edge and then work the stitches as before.  Continue in this way to fill the area.

6
Lace stitch filling method stage 6 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 6 photograph
6

Anchor the final row by sliding your needle under the needlelace foundation after working each stitch.

7
Lace stitch filling method stage 7 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 7 photograph
7

Whip the thread along the bottom edge to finish.

8
Lace stitch filling method stage 8 illustration
Lace stitch filling method stage 8 photograph
8

A completed area of lace filling stitch.

Lace stitch filling

Structure of stitch

Looped Buttonhole Detached

Common uses

Open Filling

Embroidery Techniques

Needlelace Stumpwork

Related Stitches

Single Brussels stitch Twisted buttonhole stitch Hollie stitch

Identifying Lace stitch filling

This needlelace stitch has an extra twist when compared with single Brussels stitch.  Structurally, the stitch is the same as hollie stitch; both stitches are worked in the same direction, but this stitch is whipped around the base of the previous row rather than being corded like hollie stitch (when the thread is laid straight back across to the start of a row).
It has similarities with twisted buttonhole stitch but is slightly less twisted.

References

  • Mrs Archibald Christie, Samplers and Stitches (1921) , p.113
  • Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches (1934) , p.141
  • Ros Hills, Pat Gibson, Needlelace stitches - classic and contemporary (1989) , p.34