kloster stich

Embroidery has been around for a very long time with some techniques still used today , and if you are into make period garb then these lessons will help .

Among the surviving monastery embroideries are a number of solidly embroidered wall hangings (often called tapestries) done predominantly in klosterstich or convent stitch. Also called “self couching,” this is a simple filling technique. A long thread is taken across the area to be filled, and then fastened down at intervals by small stitches in the same thread on a return journey. When worked in close parallel lines, this produces a smooth, solid colored surface, almost like weaving. Other names for this technique include figure stitch, brokatstich, and Bokhara or Roumanian couching.



Basic stitch in couching, which has been traced back to Scythian
embroideries of the 1st century, B.C. One thread is laid along the top of the owrk and is held down by another thread crossing it regularly at right angles or obliquely. It is used to outline designs or as a filling stitch and was much used in German and Swiss embroideries worked in the convents from the 15th to the 17th centuries"

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http://racaire.at/cms/class-handouts.html

http://racaire.at/cms/tl_files/racaire/Embroidery/Embroidery-Handouts/klosterstich.pdf

http://www.needlenthread.com/2008/01/bokhara-couching-embroidery-video.html