As you can see I am back from our little break in New Zealand and Jerry has got some trip notes up before me. I will write more and post some photos later but for now its time to announce this weeks stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday. This week I propose people explore Pekinese stitch. The basic stitch can be found in my stitch dictionary here. Pekinese comes in a few variations so I thought I would include two of them as well.
Double Pekinese is the first variety. As with regular Pekinese work foundation rows of back stitches in a fairly loose manner because the threading will tighten them. Instead of working 1 row of back stitches work 2.

A second contrasting thread is then threaded as illustrated. To create a neat textured line, tighten slightly after each threaded loop is created.


As you move from stitch to stitch do not pass the needle through the ground fabric.Use a blunt ended tapestry needle to avoid splitting the foundation stitches. Experiment with contrasts of texture and weight threads. Contrasts such as thick thin, bright dull and colour all work well.

When worked double Pekinese stitch creates an interesting heavy braided line which can follow a curve well. You can also extend this stitch by doing the same thing with 3, rows or as many rows of back stitch you like.

Laced Pekinese is a stitch that has a great braid like texture yet unlike many of the heavy embroidery stitches it can follow a curved line well.

First work two lines of between two to five rows of back stitches and lace them as you would Pekinese stitch or double Pekinese stitch. In a heavier thread lace the loops pf the Pekinese stitches as illustrated.

I have illustrated this stitch using two parallel rows of foundation stitches but these do not have to be running side by side they can be wavy and move towards and away from each other. This makes the stitch very versitile and interesting. I hope you enjoy it!

As you can see Pekinese is an interesting stitch with loads of possible uses. I hope you enjoy it!

That’s it for this week. Remember to swing by and leave a comment preferably on this page, so that people can follow the link and see what you have done. There is a Take a stitch Tuesday flickr group which you can browse

For anyone enjoying this challenge or who enjoyed the Sumptuous surfaces class, you will possibly enjoy the Develop a Personal Library of Stitches starting tomorrow. Crazy quilters will be pleased to know that the Encrusted Crazy Quilting is being offered again starting on November 9.