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Surrey stitch icon
Surrey stitch

Surrey stitch main image

This canvaswork stitch consists of two buttonhole stitches which form two sides of a square.  They are pulled tight to anchor a loop which is left on the surface.  The loops can either be cut to form a piled surface or left as loops.

The stitch was invented as a rug-making stitch in the middle of the 20th century.  Unusually, we know the name of the creator: Bessie Hawker-Smith.  She was apparently a member of a Surrey branch of the Women’s Institute and according to her 1959 book, Thrifty rug making, also taught the technique.  Writing about Surrey stitch, she indicates that “Each stitch is entirely independent, so that it is quite easy to make a pattern by keeping several needles threaded with the colours required”. 

Structurally, this stitch is like eastern stitch with the addition of the raised loops.

add_circleMy Stitches
Looped Piled Filling Canvaswork Rug-making Turkey rug knot Short pile stitch Short pile stitch (variation 1) Short pile stitch (variation 2) Single knotted stitch Plush stitch Velvet stitch

Surrey stitch is generously sponsored by Jane Bullivant

Method

The thread doesn’t need to be secured at the start or end of each section of stitching; this is illustrated in the video where it is worked in two shades.

Subsequent rows should be worked above previous ones.  The step-by-step instructions show the stitches worked in line with those of the previous row and one horizontal canvas thread between them (rug thread is generally too thick to share holes with previous rows); the video shows them offset from those of the previous row and uses the ‘gap’ holes from the previous row so that they are more densely worked.

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1
Surrey stitch method stage 1 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 1 photograph
1

Begin at the bottom left corner and leave a tail on the surface.  Take your thread down through the canvas and bring it back up two holes below.

2
Surrey stitch method stage 2 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 2 photograph
2

Make a diagonal stitch across two intersections right and above; leave a loop on the surface and bring the thread back up two holes to the left (where it was first taken down).

3
Surrey stitch method stage 3 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 3 photograph
3

Slide your needle under the loop of thread and tighten to anchor both the tail and the working thread. This completes your first Surrey stitch.

4
Surrey stitch method stage 4 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 4 photograph
4

Take your needle down in the same hole as the top of the previous diagonal stitch and bring it back up two holes below.  Leave a 1cm loop on the surface - you may find it easier to keep your loops even by using a gauge.

5
Surrey stitch method stage 5 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 5 photograph
5

Continue as before, making a diagonal stitch which is pulled tight to hold the second half of the previous loop and the first half of the new one.

6
Surrey stitch method stage 6 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 6 photograph
6

Continue working stitches in a row.

7
Surrey stitch method stage 7 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 7 photograph
7

Work subsequent rows above previous ones.

8
Surrey stitch method stage 8 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 8 photograph
8

A completed second row.

9
Surrey stitch method stage 9 illustration
Surrey stitch method stage 9 photograph
9

The reverse of Surrey stitch.

Surrey stitch

Structure of stitch

Looped Piled

Common uses

Filling

Embroidery Techniques

Canvaswork Rug-making

Variant Stitches

Turkey rug knot Short pile stitch Short pile stitch (variation 1) Short pile stitch (variation 2) Single knotted stitch Plush stitch Velvet stitch

Identifying Surrey stitch

This stitch is one of several piled stitches although this version was purposefully designed for rug-making.  It can be distinguished by the diagonal stitch which anchors half of the previous loop and half of the new one.  From the back it is formed by what appears to be a row of horizontal back stitches, with parallel vertical stitches which adjoin the horizontal stitches.

References

  • Mary Thomas, Jan Eaton, Mary Thomas’s Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches (Revised Edition) (1989) , p.158
  • Bessie Hawker-Smith, 'Thrifty Rug Making', http://messybeast.com/ (1959). Available at: http://messybeast.com/rugmaking/rugmaking-6-thrifty-rugmaking.htm (Accessed: 11 October 2022)
  • Sibyl I. Mathews, Needle-Made Rugs (1960) , p.38-40