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Old Florentine stitch icon
Old Florentine stitch

  • Old Parisian stitch
Old Florentine stitch main image

This stitch consists of horizontal rows of alternating pairs of long and short stitches which give the effect of a woven basket.  It is similar to Parisian stitch, but the stitches alternate in pairs rather than singly.  When worked horizontally the stitch resembles a brick wall with alternate headers and stretchers.

The stitch is normally listed as a canvaswork stitch, but can also be used as part of counted thread and pulled work.

The 18th century Dresden work fichu from the RSN Collection (shown at the end of this entry) illustrates a pulled work variation of the stitch.

add_circleMy Stitches
Parallel Pattern Filling Shading Pulled thread filling Canvaswork Pulled Thread Counted Thread Parisian stitch brickwork and mortar stitch

Old Florentine stitch is generously sponsored by Barbara-Honorine & Corey Plazak

Method

The small stitches are one third of the length of the long stitches. The following example shows the pattern worked over six and two threads of the canvas; it can also be worked over nine and three threads of the canvas.
The stitch may be stitched vertically or horizontally.

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1
Old Florentine stitch method stage 1 illustration
Old Florentine stitch method stage 1 photograph
1

Work a pair of parallel stitches vertically over six threads of the canvas.

2
Old Florentine stitch method stage 2 illustration
Old Florentine stitch method stage 2 photograph
2

Work a shorter pair of vertical stitches over two threads of the canvas. These stitches should align with the centre of the previous pair.

3
Old Florentine stitch method stage 3 illustration
Old Florentine stitch method stage 3 photograph
3

Continue alternating long and short pairs of stitches along the row.

4
Old Florentine stitch method stage 4 illustration
Old Florentine stitch method stage 4 photograph
4

Work subsequent rows so the stitches fit neatly into the previous row.  Long stitches should line up with short stitches and vice versa.

Old Florentine stitch

Structure of stitch

Parallel Pattern

Common uses

Filling Shading Pulled thread filling

Embroidery Techniques

Canvaswork Pulled Thread Counted Thread

Variant Stitches

Parisian stitch brickwork and mortar stitch

Identifying Old Florentine stitch

This stitch can be identified by parallel pairs of long stitches (normally over 6 or 9 threads) interspersed with parallel pairs of short stitches (normally over 2 or 3 threads).  On subsequent lines, the short stitches align with the centre of the previous long stitches.

References

  • Jennifer Campbell, Ann-Marie Bakewell, Guide to Embroidery Stitches (2004) , p.210

Examples of Old Florentine stitch

Dresden work fichu, RSN Collection No. 106

A version of old Florentine stitch has been used for the leaves of this flower. The stitches are worked in groups of three pairs (long, short, long) to form blocks which are offset from each other.

RSN Collection #73

https://collections.royal-needlework.org.uk/object-col-73