How to work mountmellick stitch

Did you know that the name “Mountmellick” refers not only to a stitch but also to a specific embroidery style?

Mountmellick embroidery originated in Ireland among the low class and soon earned recognition even from the Royal Court! It is worked white on white (used to be matte white thread on satin white fabric, nowadays variations are possible) and features bold, dimensional elements and stitches. I, personally, really love the unique texture of this style.

Among the stitches used in this style are some of those that we already learned on Stitch Floral. Padded satin stitch, buttonhole stitch, french knots and bullion knots, plaited braid stitch and, of course, the one and only, Mountmellick stitch that we are going to learn today :)

Mountmellick stitch tutorial

It is very easy and fun to work, I promise!

In this tutorial I will be working a line vertically from top to the bottom, because it is more convenient that way. So, bring your needle up through the fabric at the start of the line and make a diagonal stitch – it should end a stitch length away to the side of the line (in my case, to the right side, and but you can mirror all of the actions to get the “spikes” facing left).

Come up through the fabric back on the line across from where the diagonal stitch ended. And then slide your needle under the diagonal stitch from the right to the left, following the direction of the arrow.

Like in palestrina stitch tutorial, I'm not using a blunt needle here so when there is a need to slide it under some stitches or weave it, I do that with the eye forward. It helps prevent grabbing on thread fibers. Please notice the position of the working end of thread here. The needle doesn't go inside the forming loop.

Here's what we should have so far.

Now insert the needle at the starting point of the stitch...

...and come up at its bottom point lying on the line.

Now make sure the needle is inside the loop.

Ta-dah!

Now you can make another one, following all of the previous steps. There is just one moment to mention here:

When you make the loop for every next stitch, you insert the needle inside the previous stitch.

Here is the finished line.

Maybe I should have worked it white on white too, to give credit to Mountmellick embroidery? Sometimes good ideas come late, huh!

Remember, that although this stitch originally belongs to a specific embroidery style, you are free to use it in any of your projects! You can stitch borders and outlines with it, work it in a spiky circle, increase or decrease the length of the first diagonal stitch for various effects – play with it however you want!

And here we end the stitch lessons for this month. We've learned Scroll stitch, Palestrina stitch and Mountmellick. Not bad! To see other stitch tutorials, head to the Stitch Library! It gets more and more complete with each passing month and it is something to celebrate :)