The French Knot embroidery stitch always impresses! It can be a little tricky to master, but once you have it down, you will go back to this stitch again and again.
It’s a classic in heirloom embroidery projects. Delicate when stitched with a single thread. Bold or whimsical look in modern projects when stitched with multiple strands in cheery colors.
The French Knot is part of the knotted family of embroidery stitches. It can be used singularly or arranged in a group to provide great texture to a piece. The twisted knot sits slightly raised from your embroidery piece. Stitch them in rows for lines, massed together for fillings or singly for powdering. When using this stitch for a line, stitch from right to left, or whatever direction feels easiest. We recommend using a hoop to hold your material, so it stays taut.
The French Knot can fill a space on its own. It is also a great combination stitch to use with other stitches to add texture and interest.
Some people are scared to try the French Knot. Once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly and you’ll love it! The trick is to hold your thread tightly around the point of your needle once you’ve made your two wraps of thread.
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Here is our French knot tutorial:
How to embroider a French Knot
One of the basic embroidery stitches, the French Knot stitch can fill a space on its own. It is also a great combination stitch to use with other stitches to add texture and interest.
Once you get the rhythm of wrapping the thread around the needle, the French knot will become one of your favorite embroidery stitches. The twisting of the thread around the needle will become second nature.
Materials
- Fabric marked with your embroidery design
- Embroidery floss or thread
Tools
- Embroidery needles suitable for your thread choice, I like to use a milliner needle
- Embroidery hoop
- Embroidery scissors
Instructions
- Hoop your fabric with your design. Check out our article with 7 ways to transfer your embroidery design to fabric. Using a hoop for your hand embroidery helps keep your fabric taut, making it much easier to make nice stitches.
Pull your thread up where you want the knot on the front of the fabric.
- Next, wrap the thread around the needle 2-3 times, close to where you brought the needle up. For a more delicate knot, only wrap once, or if you are looking for a bold knot, wrap five times. I've wrapped twice for this tutorial. See Step 6 below for a bold, five-wrap French knot.
- Then hold the thread taut with one hand, and put the needle down through the fabric, close to where the needle came up, to form a knot. But don’t go back through the same hole – your knot might disappear to the back of your work.
- Gently pull your thread to the back side of your fabric.
- And, with that you have a finished knot!
- Bring your needle up where you want your next French Knot, and do it all again! This time we'll do a bolder and bigger knot and wrap the working thread around the needle five (5) times.
- Again, make a very small stitch, putting your needle down near where it came up out of the fabric.
- Gently pull the thread through from the wrong side of the design.
- Here is a finished French knot with #8 perle cotton embroidery thread with two wraps, and one with five wraps.
Play around with different thread sizes and number of wraps for different looks. - Use variegated threads to add more visual interest to your embroidery. Here is an embroidered heart using #3 variegated perle cotton.
Notes
Play around with "messy" French knots and see if you like the look. To make a "messy" French knot, don't be as gentle pulling your embroidery thread to the back and let your knot "mess up" a bit! It gives an interesting texture to your projects.
Vary the number of threads for different looks.
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Here is a quick video showing you how to do this:
Why does a French knot pull through?
There are several reasons why a French knot might pull through from to the back of your work.
First, be gentle pulling your thread to the back when forming a French knot. Stop as soon as your knot looks like you want it to.
Second, if you don’t have a thread or two between where you brought your needle up and then take your needle back to the underside of your design, there is not much holding the knot to the top of your embroidery design.
Thirdly, if you are using too big of a needle, you might be making a too-large hole on your fabric that it is easy for your knot to slip through.
How many strands of floss are needed to make a French knot?
Whatever you’d like! That is the fun part. Play around with one to six strands on a scrap of the fabric you’ll be using for your embroidery design and see what you like! Also, play around with different sizes of Perle cotton embroidery thread, even some yarns! Have fun and make it yours!
What are ideas for using the French knot?
- Use several small knots as flower centers.
- Use them as decorative elements with them lined up in a row, as a circle, or scattered.
- Janice Gatti used lots of French knots in her Sisters piece below.
Is there a perfect French knot?
My opinion is every one is perfect! The first time you make one it might be a bit wonky. It will show the hand of the maker! Just like with everything else, with a little practice, your embroidery skills will improve. You’ll find your perfect knot, and it will be all yours!
French Knot Gallery
See more of Janice’s work in her interview on Create Whimsy.
Browse through more of Sharon’s amazing embroidery in her interview on Create Whimsy.
Susan uses French knots to add visual interest to the border of this small embroidery piece. Enjoy more of Susan’s work in her interview on Create Whimsy.
See my favorite 10 Easy Embroidery Stitches to Embellish Your Projects.
Check out all of the hand embroidery projects on Create Whimsy.
Browse through more stitch tutorials.
