Want to create a colourful design on top of knitted fabric, without having to do intarsia? Then duplicate stitch is the perfect technique. By duplicate stitching you embroider colourfull stitches on top of each knit stitch, so that it looks as if it is a colourwork design. In this tutorial I will explain step by step how to do it.
For this tutorial, you will need:
- A piece of knitted fabric you want to create your design on
- A yarn in the colour that you like for the design, at least as thick as the knitted fabric. A little bit thicker is also possible.
- An embroidery needle
Step-by-step instructions
This is how you duplicate stitch step-by-step. To prepare, cut a piece of the yarn you want to do the duplicate stitch with and put it the end through the loop of the embroidery needle. You can either choose to tie a knot at the other end of the yarn, or you can just leave it and weave it into your work when you are done.
- Find the stitch you want to duplicate stitch over, look for a ‘V’-shape. From the back of the work, insert your embroidery needle in the bottom point of the V shape, and pull it through. Leave a bit of yarn at the back, don’t pull it all the way through.
- Now find the stitch that is on top of the stitch you are working. From the front, insert your needle behind the two legs of the V-shape of that stitch, and pull through. You can do left to right, or right to left, depending on what direction the next stitch you want to work is.
- Now, find the bottom of the V-shape again where you inserted in step 1. Insert your needle into that same spot, but go back down this time.
This is your duplicate stitch. Find directly find your next stitch and repeat the process. Typically, duplicate stitching is worked one colour at a time. It’s also easiest to work per row or per column of stitches, before moving on to the next.
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