By Show Me Step by StepPublished
Based on a video by Cutesy Crafts.
A bullion knot is a long, coiled stitch that sits up off the fabric like a tiny caterpillar. It looks hard. It is mostly patience. Cutesy Crafts walks through two straight practice knots and then uses the same move to build a small lavender bullion rose, so you learn the stitch and get a flower out of it.
A regular embroidery needle has an eye wider than its shaft. That bump has to squeeze through every wrap, and it drags the coil apart. A milliner needle (sometimes sold as a straw needle) is the same width from end to end, so it slides out of the wraps cleanly. It is also long, which gives you room for 15 or 20 wraps. You can practice with what you have, but buy a pack of milliners before you start a real project.
Cotton floss is the easy choice. Use all six strands for fat, bold knots like the ones in the video, or split it to two or three strands for fine, delicate work. Floss that is too thick for the needle is the most common reason a knot jams. A firm, tightly woven fabric in a hoop helps too. Keep the fabric drum tight so the wraps have something to push against.
There is no magic number. Wrap until the coil, pushed snug against the fabric, is the same length as the gap between your two holes. Too few wraps and the thread shows between the coils. Too many and the knot humps up and curls. Add two or three extra wraps on purpose when you want a curved knot, as you do for the outer petals of a rose.
Bullions sit well next to other raised stitches. Learn the French knot for the rose center, and if you are starting a new piece, see how to transfer an embroidery pattern onto fabric first.
10 steps · about 6 minutes.Check off each step as you go and your progress saves automatically.
Start with the right needle. A milliner needle has an eye the same width as the rest of the shaft, so it slides out of the wraps without dragging them apart. It is also long enough to hold a lot of wraps. A regular embroidery needle works for a practice knot or two, but the milliner makes the whole stitch a lot easier and saves you from fighting every coil.
Tip
Size 3 to 5 milliners suit six-strand floss. Go finer for two or three strands.
Draw a short line where you want the knot. Bring the needle up from the back at the start of the line. Then go down at the far end, but do not pull the thread all the way through. Leave a good sized loop of floss on top of the fabric. That loop becomes the wraps, so give yourself plenty to work with.
Tip
Mark the line with a water soluble pen so the guide rinses away later.
From the back, bring the needle up again at the very start of the line, right next to where the thread first came out. Stop when the needle is about halfway through the fabric. Leave it standing there. The loop should still be lying on top, and the needle point is now where you will wrap the thread.
Tip
Coming up a hair away from the first hole keeps the knot from pulling back through.
Take the loop of thread and wind it around the needle, close to the fabric. Push each wrap down so they stack neatly side by side. Keep going until the coil of wraps, pressed snug, is about as long as your drawn line. For a straight knot like this one, that might be 15 to 20 wraps with six strands of floss.
Tip
Wrap firmly but not tight. Very tight wraps grip the needle and refuse to slide.
Hold the wraps lightly between your thumb and pointer finger. Push the needle up from the back as far as it will go, then pull it out through the top, still pinching. The thread slides through the middle of the coil. Keep your grip on the wraps the whole time so they do not unravel or bunch.
Tip
If the needle sticks, wiggle it gently instead of yanking.
Keep pulling the thread off to the side the knot will lie, here to the right. The coil tightens and settles onto the line. Use a fingertip to smooth the wraps straight. Then take the needle back down in the hole at the end of the line to lock the knot in place. That is one bullion knot. Make a second one to practice.
Tip
Pull slowly at the end. A sharp tug can twist the coil out of line.
Once the straight knots feel comfortable, try a rose. Cutesy Crafts starts it with a French knot in the middle of the drawn circle. Bring the needle up at the center, wrap the thread around it a couple of times, and go back down right next to the same hole. This little bump is the bud that the bullion petals curl around.
Tip
Two wraps make a neat, small center. Three gives a bigger, puffier bud.
Bring the needle up near the top of the French knot and down near the bottom, leaving a loop. Come back up at the first point and wrap. These first knots are short, so they need fewer wraps. Pinch, pull the needle out, and pull the thread in the direction the knot should lie. Then go down at its end.
Tip
Pulling toward where the knot will rest keeps it hugging the center.
Rather than start each new knot in a fresh spot, start it near the end of the last one, slightly to the outside. Each knot overlaps the one before, so they spiral around the center like a pinwheel. As the rose grows, make the knots longer and add a few more wraps so they curve. Skip over small ones when you need to widen the circle.
Tip
Extra wraps on a knot make it bow outward, which is what forms a petal.
Keep adding knots until the rose fills your drawn circle, then tie off on the back. Here is the finished lavender rose beside the two straight practice knots. Do not worry if yours is a little lopsided. The creator redid hers about three times. Bullion roses take practice, and you can make them as small or as large as you like.
Tip
Snip the tail on the back close to the knot so it cannot pull loose.
Keep going
How to Sew Sashiko Stitches to Mend Jeans (Visible Mending)
How to Do a Bullion Knot (Plus an Easy Bullion Rose)
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Five hoop sizes plus a pack of needles, so you can mount any project and start stitching. Smooth bamboo that grips the fabric without marking it.
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DMC Embroidery Floss, 36 Popular Colors
The industry-standard 6-strand cotton floss in a ready color range, with needles included. Colorfast and smooth, so it will not fray as you stitch.
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