Round things are everywhere, and when they appear on your needlepoint canvas they can seem tricky to stitch—because needlepoint grids are square!
We have some ideas for stitching round objects in needlepoint.
1. Straight Stitches
It might seem counterintuitive, but a straight stitch is a great way of stitching a round object.
The type of straight stitch will depend upon the area you want to fill.
It can be a Satin stitch (simply, straight stitches of the same or varied lengths laid in parallel), like on the reindeer's cheek...
Or, a Brick stitch, which is a straight stitch that offers a more patterned effect. The Brick Stitch can lie horizontally or vertically. We have drawn a Brick stitch in red on the yellow flower centers of this Shin-Bijutsukai Parasols design (available as a needlepoint kit).
You can also use an open straight stitch where the canvas shows through and the stitch just adds some texture. We have drawn this idea onto the hubcaps of the truck on this Christmas Truck needlepoint ornament (available as a kit).
2. Eyelet Stitch
The Eyelet stitch when stitch as a round is a handy little stitch for wheels, flower centers, or anything else that has a central point. We show it here on the flower center of this IDGAF needlepoint kit design.
With the needlepoint Eyelet stitch all stitches lead to a central hole, so if your thread is pliable, you might want to thin it. If your thread is not pliable, don't let that stop you trying this stitch as you might be surprised at how many threads will fit into a single hole!
Here is the eyelet stitch used on the Girl With A Pearl Earring...
3. Circle Rhodes Stitch
The Rhodes stitch creates a 3-D effect. It forms a small "hill", so it is great for animal noses, buttons, and ornaments.
We used the Rhodes stitch on this reindeer nose.
You can work this stitch clockwise, or counter-clockwise, it doesn't matter. The only thing to be aware of is that the last layer of the Rhodes stitch will be the most prominent. On the reindeer this stitch lies vertically and so we started just beyond the vertical. But if, for example, you want your top stitch to lie horizontally, start just beyond the horizontal.
We hope you have found these needlepoint stitch ideas for round objects useful. Happy round stitching!
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