Brick stitch
Brick stitch is a variation of a Back stitch for filling. You can use it to fill spaces in your hand embroidery design.
The method of embroidering this filling stitch is simple. First, embroider the first line of an area you want to fill with a brick stitch with a backstitch. Then, embroider the second row of the back stitch close to the first one, but make the stitches offset from the first line. Adding rows of backstitches, one above the other, will create the visual effect of a brick wall.
Applications of Brick stitch
The brick stitch will best fill regular square shapes or straight lines.
If you want to use it for round or oval shapes, you will need to adjust the length of the backstitches to maintain the brick pattern all over the form you are filling.
Video tutorial
In this video tutorial, I used a double pearl cotton thread for embroidery. You can choose the thread that will match your pattern and design best. Keep in mind that you will need to embroider more rows of the backstitch to fill the area if you use a thin thread.
Watch this video tutorial and learn how to embroider a brick stitch.
More variations of the backstitch:
What's next?
Looking for some other stitch? Head to the Stitches and Techniques part of this blog and choose the stitch you want to learn!
N.B. Some of the links may take you to the EasyToMake designs blog. This is my older hand embroidery blog. While I’m dedicating all of my energy to the Practical Embroidery blog, the previous version still has a lot of great content!