Split stitch hand embroidery tutorial

Split stitch

One of the basic simple embroidery stitches that I highly recommend learning for beginners is a split stitch.

A split stitch is perfect for any pattern that involves outlining or lettering. Also, this stitch is a go-to when you need to outline for satin stitches as it has a smooth surface of the line and will support a clean edge for the satin stitch.

Thick rows of split stitches can be used for fill stitching too.

Other names of the split stitch

Sometimes you may find the names of the split stitch and split backstitch used interchangeably or referring to the same stitch. Keep in mind that these two are completely different stitches. In split stitch, we divide the previous stitch from down up and in a split back stitch – from the top.

Applications of split stitch in hand embroidery:

  • Outlines
  • Lettering
  • Filling

More stitches from the Stem stitch family:

Video tutorial

Watch a video tutorial below and learn the split stitch.

What’s next?

In case you need more guidance, sign up for my hand embroidery online course – “The top 10 hand embroidery stitches to learn”. This course is totally free and teaches all the stitches from the list of the best embroidery stitches. Besides that, a free pdf embroidery pattern download is included in the course.

Looking for some other stitch? Head to the Stitches and Techniques part of this blog and choose the stitch you want to learn!

N.B. Some of the links may take you to the EasyToMake designs blog. This is my older hand embroidery blog. While I’m dedicating all of my energy to the Practical Embroidery blog, the previous version still has a lot of great content!