Bi-Colored Fly Stitch
Bi-Coloured Fly Stitch is a decorative variation of the Fly Stitch that can be stitched in various ways. Learn this hand embroidery technique to add variety and colors to your hand embroidery works!
In this hand embroidery tutorial, I demonstrate three ways to embroider a Bi-Colored Fly Stitch. Each method combines two colors differently, resulting in various visual effects. Besides different designs, these methods will result in diverse formations of threads on the back side of the fabric.
Other names of the stitch
Bi-Colored Fly Stitch can also be called Two Colored Fly Stitch or Multi Colored Fly Stitch – depending on how many colors you will mix into your design.
Applications of Bi-Coloured Fly Stitch
This decorative hand embroidery stitch is an excellent choice for embroidering decorative borders, making colorful textural filling, or mixing with other stitches. Decorative bands will look great on garments, home textiles, or as a part of surface embroidery design.
More stitches from the Fly Stitch family
Learn how to embroider Bi-Coloured Fly Stitch
Follow the step-by-step tutorial with detailed photos below, and you will learn three methods to stitch different-looking Bi-Coloured Fly Stitch variations in no time. If you are a visual learner, watch a video lesson in the tutorial or on the Practical Embroidery YouTube channel to learn this hand embroidery stitch faster.
How to embroider Bi-Colored Fly Stitch
Step-by-step hand embroidery tutorial
- First method
Choose two colors for the stitches. Mark three vertical parallel lines for guidance and make the first Fly Stitch.
- Second stitch
Make one more Fly Stitch below the first one. Leave a gap for one stitch between these two.
- Fill the row with the first color
Embroider equally distanced Fly Stitches one under another till you fill the entire row.
- Add the second color
Add a Fly Stitch of the second color between the first and the second stitches you made.
- Finish the band
Fill in the gaps you left when embroidering the first color with the Fly Stitches of contrasting colors.
- Second method
Mark two horizontal lines for guidance. Embroider the row of equally spaced small, straight anchoring stitches with one color.
- Add a second color
Take the needle with the second color thread up to the surface on the top left corner of the marked shape. Pass the needle under the first straight anchoring stitch you made in the previous step.
- Form a Fly Stitch
Take the needle down on the upper line. The anchoring stitch of the contrasting color is at the center of the V shape.
- Second Fly Stitch
Skip one anchoring stitch and repeat the steps to create one more V shape using the third anchoring stitch.
- Repeat the steps
Repeat the steps till you embroider the entire line, filling it with every second Bi-Colored Fly Stitch.
- Fill the line
Now move from the right to the left and make V stitches in the spaces you skipped on the first round.
- Third method
Mark three vertical parallel lines for guidance and embroider a Backstitch line on the central marked line.
- Add a second color
Take the needle with the second color thread up to the surface on the top right corner of the marked shape. Pass the needle under the first Backstitch. Then, take the needle down on the top left corner of the marked shape to form a V stitch in two colors.
- Form one more Bi-Colored Fly Stitch
Take the needle up on the left mark, one stitch below the first stitch. Pass the needle under the second Backstitch to form one more two-colored fly stitch.
- Embroider a two colored band
Keep lacing the thread under the Backstitches to create the entire band of Bi-Colored Fly Stitch.
Video tutorial
Tools and materials I used for this sampler
Disclaimer. To cover the cost of creating free embroidery patterns and video tutorials for this blog, I do sometimes link to products. Please assume these links are affiliate links. If you choose to buy through my links then THANK YOU – it will make it possible for me to keep doing this.
What’s next?
If you’re in the mood to explore more hand embroidery stitches, check out the Stitches and Techniques page for the list of other fantastic stitches available on my blog. From timeless classics to modern twists, a whole world of stitches is waiting for you to explore and master. So, grab your hoop and needle, and let’s stitch our way to creative bliss!
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Need More Guidance?
The top 10 hand embroidery stitches to learn is a free online course created for beginners.
