Summer Stitch School Week 6: Spider Web Stitch

Welcome to week 6 of summer stitch school here at The Floss Box - half way through now. This week stitch is a fun one: spider web stitch. It can add a lot of nice texture too. It can be stitched both as a detail-type stitch or used to fill an area.  The stitch is made in two steps.  First a set of spokes are bars is made, followed by another length of thread which wraps around each of the spokes or bars.


The stitch
First make spokes radiating outward from a central point. You can either make straight stitches from the center or make stitches that go over the whole diameter of the area to be stitched. If you are making a 5 point stitch, then you can make one fly stitch and two spokes.

Next bring the needle up close to the center. Slide the needle under the first spoke and then over and under it again. You can slide the needle under the next spoke in the same movement.

Continue until the spokes are filled.

Bring the needle down near a spoke, so that the whole stitched area is even.

Variation 1 and 2
This shows the basic stitch. You can change colors as you go along, or perhaps use threads of different thickness for the spokes and wrapping stitch. Also, you can make how many spokes you like, even or odd.

Variation 3
You don't have to fill up all the spikes. It can be quite effective with the spokes partially filled.

Variation 4
The spider web stitch can be used to fill different kinds of irregular areas too. First make your spokes or bars. Then wrap the threads around them as before. You can bring the thread down at the end of the row, then up again in position for the next row.

These are just a few ides to get you started. This really is a great stitch, so pick up your needle and give it a try!