How to Make a French Knot

Learn to make a French knot, with Kseniia Guseva

The French knot is one of the oldest, simplest, and most useful decorative stitches in embroidery. The technique is also known as the forbidden stitch: legend has it that, centuries ago, young Chinese women were not permitted to use the stitch because the fine embroidery it was used for in China would strain their eyesight.

Today, in Europe, the stitch is not so delicate: it is typically used to fill particular areas of a piece such as the centers of flowers, or anywhere a single dot is required.

Kseniia Guseva (@faimyxstitch) has been embroidering every day since 2016, creating stitchwork cityscapes—an interest shaped by the architecture of her hometown of Saint Petersburg—while also feeding her other passion: upcycling. In this tip, she shows us how to make a French knot:

1. Pull the needle and thread up through the fabric and hold it with your free hand.

2. Wrap the thread around your needle one time, keeping it relatively taut.

3. Then, bring the thread back down through the fabric through a different hole: if you go through the point you originally pierced, the thread will just fall out.

4. To make a larger knot, simply wrap the thread around your needle more times.

If you want to learn more about how to customize your clothes with embroidered architectural patterns, check out Kseniia Guseva's online course Upcycling with Embroidery.

You may also like:

- Embroidery: Clothing Repair, a course by Ofelia & Antelmo
- Introduction to Raised Embroidery, a course by Adriana Torres
- Painting with Thread: Textile Illustration Techniques, a course by Gimena Romero