How to Satin Stitch - Embroidery Tutorial for Beginners

Learn how to Satin Stitch in Hand Embroidery. This stitch is perfect for creating smooth, shiny surfaces in your embroidery - and it's great for showing off beautiful thread colours.
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For full instructions and more inspiration, visit www.paraffle-embroidery.com
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Find me on Instagram: paraffle_embroidery
Embroidery kits and patterns are available at www.paraffle-embroidery.com
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I'm Sammy, founder of Paraffle (which means 'embroidery' in Scots!). I've created these videos as a tool, to help people begin their embroidery journeys.
Whether you're teaching yourself or using an embroidery kit, I hope these can make the process even more enjoyable!
Feel free to comment if you have any questions, or if there's other stitches you'd like tutorials on - I'm here to help!

[@MariaMartinez-jb3zn]

That’s a neat trick to space out stitches to stretch out the floss to make straight…🙏🏽🙋🏻‍♀️👍🏽Mia

[@Paraffle]

Thanks! I find it so much easier that way! 😊

[@totallydomestic433]

Very helpful! This is a hard stitch for me. Those guide stitches will surely help thanks! I will try this.

[@aevanezekielvelarde9821]

I thought im gonna be dead bc our teacher assigned us to do this ._. thx for the tutorial it really helped me

[@Paraffle]

Aaw! Glad it helped, let me know if there's any other videos I can make that will be useful :)

[@ingridsaab5413]

Thanks, very nicely explained.

[@powerbuzzed]

Thank you for This quick and easy to understand explanation

[@yasmeenshahzad3576]

What a nice trick, thank you.

[@riobird1363]

This was very helpful! Thank you!

[@Paraffle]

You're welcome, thanks so much! 😊

[@LotPotHindiKahaniyan]

Very good explanation Thank you...

[@yvonnevanderwerf8392]

Thank you!

[@Holyhunoli]

Thank you! This was very helpful. My satin-stitches were awful, but learning to put guide stitches first has made them perfect 😃

[@Paraffle]

Oh brilliant! So glad this was able to help! ❤️

[@sabrina_boymom0517]

Brilliant!! 👏

[@Paraffle]

Thank you!! ❤

[@Sistersembroiydery]

Amazing ❤❤

[@Sheywh12]

Thank you I usually do cross stitching and want to branch out into embroidery 🪡

[@ggukedkim3587]

Its so helpful it even help me for my school.I get all the ideas good from her.Thank you very much.:)

[@Paraffle]

Thanks, Louisse! Glad to hear it :)

[@ggukedkim3587]

@@Paraffle You're welocome my teacher gave me A plus in my project thanks

[@Paraffle]

Amazing, well done!

[@ggukedkim3587]

@@Paraffle Thanksss

[@relvieclementyneremas8556]

This helped me. I did the same shape using the satin stitch for my project.

[@Paraffle]

Oh good! I'm glad it was helpful! 😊

[@bp717]

Very helpful. Thank you. This is my first video so I might find this info soon, but I was wondering if there are guidelines re: the stitches running vertically, horizontally, or even diagonally…as long as they’re parallel, how do you decide? I have this scallop border that I just tried, and it’s a bit of a hot mess. I need to practice more to see what looks best and fastest. Maybe satin stitch isn’t the best option even though that’s what’s showing in the sample bc I downsized it quite a bit for my project.

[@haritimakrishna2576]

Thanks

[@carolinepoblete-ioannidis3292]

Perfect🥰

[@Paraffle]

😊❤

[@maebhpyles4079]

This helped soo muxh thx

[@Paraffle]

You're so welcome!!

[@afrozembroideryandart5527]

Very nice 👍👍👍

[@Paraffle]

Thank you!

[@noor-enazma6628]

Thank you mam.

[@Paraffle]

You're very welcome - thank you! :)

[@kittenoffic]

Thanks! Helpful!😊

[@Paraffle]

Glad it was helpful! :)

[@yvonnesimwinga7019]

Nice

[@sandrawadsworth7357]

Hi there. Could you do a tutorial for leaf stitch? I'm new to embroidery and your videos are fab

[@Paraffle]

Hi Sandra, thank you! I've got lots more in the pipeline - so will add leaf stitch to the list :)

[@ingridsaab5413]

👏🏼👏🏼❤😍🤗

[@EveMeighen]

Great video, thanks! How many strands did you use?

[@Paraffle]

Glad it was helpful! For the video I used all 6 strands, but I normally use 2 when working on smaller pieces 😊

[@sarastars5743]

Whenever i do my school embroidery i usually use three strands.

[@Paraffle]

Three strands work too! Totally depends on what you're making!

[@LadyOrion2012]

Helpful video for keeping stitches perfectly parallel. However, it creates a mess in the back of the work. With my small project I had to go over my stitches again to make the back neater.

[@Paraffle]

Hi, thanks for commenting! Usually with this technique, my work has minimal thread at the back (just a couple of lines around the edge of the shape), so it shouldn't be too messy! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help out with it :)

[@Josephine111096]

Any advice on keeping the fabric stretched on an item? I am planning to stitch on an 8x10cm coin purse that I purchased, there's no way to put a stretcher (not sure what's it called..) Also, appreciate that you guide every single person in the comments section on their projects! You've gained a sub :)

[@Paraffle]

Thanks, Josephine! Ooh that's quite a tough one on the coin purse - I've stitched on small items without an embroidery hoop (or something to keep it stretched out) before, but it was a very simple design - and was still a bit fiddly! It might help to use some water soluble stabiliser to stiffen the fabric up a bit, making it easier to work with - or another option is to embroider a patch first, and then apply it to the coin purse afterwards! Let me know how you get on with it :)

[@Josephine111096]

@@Paraffle Thank you so much! I think it'll take some time but I'll try :)

[@tillysergio6047]

What sort of thread is being used here please. Im wanting to embroider on my babies onesies what would you recommend? Im a beginner and literally atarting from scratch i usually sew..can you buy large rolls or do they always come in the little "single use" packs. Thanks alot. Great video!!

[@Paraffle]

Thanks so much! I almost always use DMC stranded cotton - other brands like Anchor stranded cotton are also good, and they would work for a baby's onesie too. Stranded cotton comes in skeins of 8 metres, which is usually plenty for a project like a onesie! The thread contains 6 smaller strands, so rather than using all 6 you can split it down and use 2 or 3 strands at a time to make it easier to work with 😊

[@terrilivingstone5969]

Great video. What material are you using?

[@Paraffle]

Thank you! This video was done with a drill cotton - but my favourite fabric for embroidery is Klona cotton! It's just the right thickness for easy stitching without stretching 😊

[@liammlee07]

May I know what kind of fabric you use? I think I'm using a weak fabric for this kind of stitching and I hope I can use what appropriate for the thread :)

[@Paraffle]

Sure! Most medium weight cottons work fine - but my favourites are Klona cotton or calico :) they tend not to pucker or stretch too much under lots of stitching!

[@liammlee07]

@@Paraffle Thanks!! I just finished practicing mine and I'm so careful because I'm afraid that it will come loose and I almost run out of the thread but I managed to fill it. I will buy a better fabric next time, thank you very much!!

[@Paraffle]

@@liammlee07 no problem! Happy to help! :)

[@deeeznuts483]

Thank you for the video! It was very helpful! But I'm a beginner so can you please tell me how to secure it? I searched a lot but still don't know how, do you make a knot? I'm very confused, so, if you can, please tell me how!

[@Paraffle]

Sure! I just tend to tie a knot at the back, by tucking the needle under a previous stitch! 😊

[@deeeznuts483]

@@Paraffle Ok! Thank you so much!

[@kiranklare1414]

hey there, i am really struggling with doing a satin stitch at the moment. When I take off the hoop I have lots of slack on my design even though I pulled them taught when stitching. Could this be due to the material stretching when in the hoop and then releasing the slack once removed? I need some help to prevent this from happening :,(

[@Paraffle]

Hey!! What kind of fabric are you stitching on? And will it be framed, or hanging loose (like a piece of clothing)? If the fabric is thin or stretchy, or if there's nothing to hold it in shape (like a hoop) then it can help to apply some iron on interfacing/stabiliser - this should keep the fabric in shape a bit better 😊

[@kiranklare1414]

@@Paraffle AH THANK YOU!! it's a t-shirt collection I'm doing and the material is very slightly stretchy, I did think to put the interfacing on first but wasn't sure it was the right thing to do 😊 x

[@Paraffle]

No problem at all! 😊

[@Fjgdghs]

What kind of pen did you use to draw the outline? I want to sketch my ideas but have no idea what to search for.

[@Paraffle]

Hi Ellie! This one is a water soluble fabric pen - you can draw on fabric and then just splash it with water and the colour lifts right off! Some people use Frixion pens too (which you can sometimes find in the supermarket) - these ones disappear when you apply heat - although they weren't designed for use on fabric so sometimes the marks can come back :) I hope that helps a bit!

[@user-jm2zk1ec8r]

Is it better to do a back stitch around the shape first? I only know a little about embroidery

[@Paraffle]

Hey! Thanks for commenting 😊 I don't normally back stitch around the edge - but you can totally do that then satin stitch over the top, if you think it'll help! It gives the satin stitch more of a raised effect with back stitch underneath, which can look good 😊

[@user-jm2zk1ec8r]

Paraffle Embroidery ok thanks for the tip, that really helped!!

[@ganseblumchen7929]

I was wondering the same thing, thanks for bringing it up!

[@jackaplierpie889]

Hi! I just wanted to know how thick your strings are, im new to this and i just wanted to know if the strings have measurements on how big it is? Idk lol hope someone can help out, thanks!

[@Paraffle]

Hi! Embroidery skeins/string normally have 6 strands that you can separate out - in the video I've used all 6 strands, just to make it show on camera - but I usually use only 2 strands - I think it makes tidier :)

[@jackaplierpie889]

@@Paraffle thank you sm!

[@teddydoods]

Did you have to re-thread to finish? I feel like I am running out of thread so quickly

[@Paraffle]

Ooh I can't remember if I had to re-thread for this one - but Satin Stitch does use quite a lot of thread because it's so dense! It's fine if you do have to re-thread and continue, makes no difference to the overall effect 😊

[@lilwhiteboi0449]

does it matter how long the stitch is?

[@Paraffle]

Hi! Yes - you want 1 stitch to cover the whole width of the shape - to go from one side to the other. If they're shorter (e.g. only going halfway across) then you'll lose the shiny effect :)

[@alexhetherington8028]

Do you do the same for really small details ?

[@Paraffle]

Hi Alex! Yep, I do the same for small details - although I might only have space for two tiny guide stitches when they're really small. If a tiny shape ends in a point, I'll sometimes cheat and do a perpendicular stitch to create the shape :)

[@alexhetherington8028]

@@Paraffle Thanks I'm just learning embroidery , never done it in my life and your video was a great starting point to learn this particular technique. I'm finding it hard to keep the thread consistent in regards to keeping it tight and lined up with the edges. Although I am using polyester thread and not embroidery floss does that matter ?

[@busterlove412]

Thanks, but is it possible to have the text in a darker colour?

[@Paraffle]

Sure thing! I'll alter it next time around. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! 😊

[@naifah54321]

What fabric did you use in this video to embroider on?

[@Paraffle]

I use a medium weight cotton fabric (an organic & ethically sourced one)! 😊

[@naifah54321]

@@Paraffle thanks so much! 💜

[@josspa6558]

Should I be using one strand(?) Of the 6 strand yarn or more strands? And can someone tell me what is the right world in this situation my embroidery hobby is so new that my embroidery language is laughable 😂 but I started with hedgehog and now I'm doing some other Forrest animal and to make them look good and as realistic as possible I have used 1strand or two, but this thing I can't really get to work with so thin yarn..

[@Paraffle]

Hey! Strand is the right word 😊 I normally use 2 for satin stitch, but it depends on the size of your project and how big the area is that you want to fill - sometimes it's just trial and error!

[@josspa6558]

@@Paraffle Okay! 😊 Thanks!

[@maryamdaud3688]

Can this be done on a canvas?

[@Paraffle]

Hi Maryam! Yep, this can be done on a canvas - you might want a different needle and thicker thread, to deal with the thicker material - but otherwise it would work fine :)

[@kailynthompson1305]

All of my satin stitches still come out loose and overall terrible looking. Im not sure what im doing wrong... I've made sure the fabric is tight, I've kept tension even, not too much not too little, I've added a stabilizer, its still super loose and messy 😭 any advice??

[@Paraffle]

Oh no!! How many strands of thread are you using at a time? And also are you crossing over a lot on the back? Sometimes if the back has a similar amount of thread than the front then it can weigh down your fabric and warp it (unless you're using quite a thick fabric). I try to keep the amount of thread on the back really minimal so that the fabric doesn't stretch! 😊

[@aditi6229]

Wish me luck I am a begginer

[@Paraffle]

Good luck! 😊 you'll do great!

[@rutabatariq4728]

Hi whenever i use 6 strands, my work ends up being too messy. (Flowers and leaves) so can i do this with 3 or 2 strands?

[@Paraffle]

Yes! Honestly, I almost always work with 2 strands - like you say, I find 6 too thick/messy! 😊

[@loriritchie7124]

White font on a white background doesn't help. but the video is good.

[@Paraffle]

Yep, I see what you mean about the white background - noted for next time! Glad it was helpful though!

[@tridentsauthor579]

Thank you!

[@Paraffle]

You're welcome! I hope it was helpful 🙂