How to Make French Knots

French knots are a pretty common embellishment in cross stitch patterns that might be used for eyes or to add texture like polka dots or stars on a project. If you delve into other genres of needlework you’ll find French knots coming up in all sorts of ways, and you can even stitch up whole projects that are just made out of French knots!

It’s worth it to take some time to explore French knots, how they’re made and how you can get a different look based on how many threads you use and how many times you twist the thread around the needle to make the knot.

Generally the pattern you are working on will tell you exactly how they made their French knots so you can make yours look the same. If the pattern doesn’t specify, use the same number of threads as you were using to stitch the rest of the project.

I have always defaulted to wrapping the thread around the needle three times to make a French knot, but you can play with it too see how changing your technique changes the look.

I actually did this and shared the results over at Our Daily Craft. I used from one to six threads and did from one to five wraps so you can see how petite or how bold your French knots can be. I still think I like the ones with three wraps the best, regardless of how many threads are being used. What do you think?

And if you want to take your French knots beyond cross stitch, I also collected some ideas for using French knots in different ways. From little accents of texture to the focal point of projects, to full designs, there are so many different things you can do with French knots!

Tips for Stitching Perfect French Knots

French Knots or Candlewicking Knots Video

Book Review: Free Spirit Stitching

One of the easiest ways to make a cross stitch project more personal is to add text to it. Whether you’re adding the names of people getting married to a generic floral cross stitch design, birth information to a project on theme with the new baby’s room or just adding a word or phrase that’s meaningful to you, adding words to cross stitch projects make them that much more special.

But if you’re not working with a project that already has text built in, or you want to change the text that’s there, that can feel a little daunting.

Caterpillar Cross Stitch has a great guide to adding names and words (as well as numbers) to projects, which talks you through what to consider and how to actually go about adding text to a cross stitch project successfully.

You’ll need to think about what kind of font you want to use and if you’re using back stitched letters or larger filled letters, how much space you need and how the letters work together in the text you’re planning to make sure it’s readable.

Their post includes common pitfalls such as running out a space or ending up with text that’s off center and how to avoid them (spoiler: chart out your text before you stitch!).

The whole post is really helpful if you’ve never added lettering to a project before and don’t know where to start. I like to use block letters in back stitch when learning how to add text to cross stitch, but of course there are tons of lettering options. Check out this collection of cross stitch fonts if you want to see some different things you can try.

And head over to Caterpillar Cross Stitch to get more tips for how to successfully add lettering to your cross stitch projects. They also have their own alphabet and number charts you can buy to add text to your stitching.

Have you ever added text to a cross stitch project? I’d love to hear how it went!

[Photo: Caterpillar Cross Stitch]

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