Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 52: Underside Couching

Welcome to an evening lesson at Sunday Stitch School where we will be learning another ancient way of using precious thread in a thrifty way.

Underside Couching was used to embellish the surface of fabric, while saving both the thread and fabric from wear and making the most of the expensive gold or silver thread.

French name: Point de Couchure (Thank you, Mattia)

I found the instructions in A-Z of Embroidery Stitches 2 to be clear with good pictures.

Still I wanted to add my own pictures where I have couched down a brown thread with a yellow one on a piece of Aida.

 Working from underneath, take the yellow thread out and into the same hole over the brown thread until you have a 'lasso'.

 Give the 'lasso' a bit of a tug until a bit of the brown thread enters the back.

continue in the same way.

Here you can see the Underside Couching on the back of the fabric.

Ha, that was more difficult than I first thought!

Here is perfect proof that Aida is not the best fabric to do the couching, and that the two threads should match in colour!

Lesson learned? Prove it by doing your homework properly!

The homework will be to:
Add a couple of rows on the SSS Aida sampler (be careful!)
Add Underside Couching to the SSS Reference Chart
Fill in a shape on the orange piece of fabric.