Free Handwork Curriculum: Chapter Five: Stem Stitch

Learn To Embroider The Stem stitch

Welcome to the free handwork curriculum. We are learning embroidery that’s perfect for busy Waldorf and Charlotte Mason homeschooling mamas. It’s FREE, easy, and fun!

Stories help guide and excite your children in each lesson. Photos guide you through each tutorial making the lessons easy to follow and may even be done without you there, depending on the age of your children.

Our main characters are Charlotte and Willow. It was a lucky day when Charlotte, our eager young learner, came upon Willow, a wood nymph who loves to embroider. They have many adventures together while learning to embroider.

This free handwork curriculum not only will help you fit handwork into your day, but it will give you times your children will remember long after they forgot what math work sheet they worked on.

Click here if you would love to start from the beginning.

Today’s lesson is how to sew the stem stitch. Enjoy!

Tutorial for stem stitch homeschooling embroidery sampler curriculum

Chapter 5 Off To Learn The Stem Stitch

William continued to try to tease the surprise out of his younger sister Charlotte. Unfortunately for him, Charlotte just kept shaking her head and smiling.

“Be patient.” she would insist.

Charlotte had been going into the woods behind their home a lot more recently, and she promised to take William with her next Saturday.

Now this doesn’t mean that Charlotte was being patient. Oh no, she was just as impatient as William but she was determined to not ruin the surprise for her brother. It took every ounce of control but she was doing It! She was rightly proud of herself with this huge feat of self control!

At last Saturday afternoon came, the day William would no longer needed to be patient. That morning the two of them went through their morning chores at double speed, just to be sure they would have their afternoon free.

“Wow, I never seen you two work so hard. What’s going on?” asked dad.

William hesitated but Charlotte quickly said,

“William and I are going on an adventure in the woods this afternoon. Who knows we might see dragons, hobbits, or something smaller…” Charlotte smiled a teasing smile at William.

“Ah, I see, ” replied dad, “With your work done you can take a lunch with you and go on your adventure sooner if you like.”

It’s Tough To Be Little

With great excitement the two children jumped up and down and flew to the kitchen to make their lunch. Mom came in just then with baby Lucy and 3 year old Charlie.

“A storm has come into our kitchen and is making food. How did this happen?” laughed mom.

The awaiting adventures were explained.

Mom kissed them and said, “Have fun but clean up after yourselves!”

“We will!” promised William and Charlotte.

“I come too?” pleaded Charlie with the sweetest begging look on his face.

“Not today Charlie” said Charlotte.

As is the fate of the younger sibling, Charlie felt left out and began to cry.

William and Charlotte comforted him as best they could. “I will play a special game when I get back.” assured Charlotte.

Charlie felt a little better. Just then dad grabbed him and threw him into the air. Soon they were wrestling and having a good time.

Charlotte and William finished up quickly and started to leave.

“Be back by dinner” reminded mom.

“Ok”

Wood Nymph’s Can’t Be Real!

And off they went. Charlotte took out her sandwich and began to eat. William followed her example. Both were quite as they ate their lunch.

At last William said,

“How much further and why are we eating our lunch while we walk?”

“Trust me, you will forget you have a lunch once we get there. We are almost there. be patient!”

“I am patient!” mock yelled William. Both laughed.

At last they came to the clearing. On the other side was the only Willow tree in the whole forest. This was Willow’s home.

They came close to the willow tree. Williams mouth dropped open. He saw balcony’s, stairs, doors, chimney pipes, tiny gardens and more.

“What is this? Have you been making all these?”

“No.” Smiled Charlotte.

William Meets Willow

Woodland nymph Willow — Wood nymphs are quite adorable aren’t they?

“Charlotte, how good to see you again!” a tiny little mother came out of the front door holding an even tinier baby. “Willow is in her room. I’ll get her.”

But that wasn’t necessary. Willow poked her head out of her bedroom window and called out, ” Hello Charlotte! I will be ready in a minute!”

William continued to stare with his mouth wide open. Charlotte laughed heartily and said, ” I wonder if I looked like that when I first met Willow?”

“This can’t…this can’t… be real” whispered William.

“I did tell you about my wood nymph friend remember?” whispered Charlotte

“Yea, but… it couldn’t possibly have been real.”

“I used to think so too.” understood Charlotte, ” But when someone who couldn’t be real keeps talking to you, at some point you have to know it is true.”

Willow was soon out the door holding her embroidery basket and greeting her friend. She noticed William and asked.

“Is this William?”

“Yes it is! Don’t mind him, he’s in shock!” Both ladies laughed heartily. Willow was not at all offended.

Poor William was still in shock and could only manage to nod.

“I am so pleased to meet you,” said Willow. “Charlotte has told me about you.”

The Stem Stitch Lesson Begins

“Let’s get sewing!” said Charlotte excitedly. “Would you like to watch William?”

William nodded his head and they all sat down together.

“This is Willow, William. She has been teaching me how to embroider. See, I have made a needle book, and am working on my embroidery sampler. See this stitch here is called the straight stitch, and this one here is the running stitch. I also made a needle book. It’s cute huh, looks like a real book! This has been so much fun!”

“That’s great.” said William who was just starting to come out of his shock. ” What are you learning today?” he asked.

“The stem stitch!” answered Willow. Now talking to Charlotte, “It would be best to start with the border this time. We start with a straight stitch.”

“Oh that’s easy! I have already practiced the straight stitch twice since the running stitch is almost the same thing.”

“It’s basically two straight stitches side by side, not perfectly side by side though. I’ll show you. As before, go up from the bottom, then back down again. that is your straight stitch. What makes this the stem stitch is this. ”

Willow demonstrated on her own embroidery sampler, “You say excuse me please little straight stitch, I need to give you a friend” Willow moved her straight stitch to the left, brought up her needle in the middle of where her straight stitch just was, and pulled all the way through.

“Dear readers, I was having photo troubles and the photos I took for this part are not up to snuff, so please scroll down for the step by step tutorial for the stem stitch. The photos of the corn husk worked much better.“

“Now,” continued Willow, “come back down again which makes another straight stitch so your first stitch has a friend! Together they are the stem stitch!”

William and Charlotte both had a good laugh. “That makes sense,” said William, who was growing used to being with someone who was impossible, Also Willow had a gift for making folks feel at ease.

Stem Stitch Lesson Continues

“Remember when you were sewing the running stitch part of your border?”

“Oh yes. With each new side I need to knot and restart.” remembered Charlotte.

“Why do you need to do that?” asked William.

“If you have long pieces of floss across the back then they will show through to the front. Knotting and restarting each side keeps this from happening.” explained Willow.

“That makes sense” said William.

Charlotte started to try. She went up. Then down to make her straight stitch. Moved over the straight stitch to give him a friend, and then finished the friend. “It’s a little tricky to poke the needle in making the friend, but I am getting it!”

“Yes you are.” approved Willow.

“William, would you be interested in learning how to embroider?” asked Charlotte.

“Actually, yes.” said William, surprising himself with that answer.

“Oh goody! I would love to teach both of you!” exclaimed Willow.

“Charlotte suddenly had the urge to give William a big hug! “I’m so glad we can do this togeher!”

William smiled, a little embarrassed.

Once all was calm, the lesson continued.

“So that’s it,’ declared Willow. “Just keep making friends. For smaller things you can make smaller stitches, for bigger things bigger stitches. The stem stitch is called so because it is meant for sewing stems! You can sew bushes, flower stems, trees, and things like corn stocks like what’s on your sampler. It can also be used as borders. Really any embroidery stitch can become a border.”

Both ladies continued sewing while William watched.

Charlottes Favorite Handwork

“Finished with the border!” said Charlotte. “Now onto the corn.”

When Charlotte reached the first sudden change in shape, she was unsure how to continue. Willow showed her what to do. Look at the photos below so you will be able to do it.

“You see, ” said Willow, “It’s easy peazy because it’s just a straight stitch. The straight stitch helps you begin the stem stitch again. When one thinks about it, the straight stitch is really obliging!

It felt a little awkward at first to Charlotte, but the more she did it the more confident she became. She suddenly exclaimed,

“Embroidery is my favorite handwork!” Willow was pleased and said so.

When they were done, William said, “I didn’t bring my watch, but I think it’s near dinner time. We had better go.”

“I think you are right.” said Charlotte sadly.

“Thank you for coming William. It was a pleasure to meet you.” said Willow.

William, was just as amazed of Willow being a wood nymph as he was with her kindness. He already felt like they were friends.

“Hey, why don’t I teach you everything that Willow has taught me so far William?” asked Charlotte. “This way when we come next Saturday we can continue to learn together?”

All loved the plan and so it was decided.

On the walk home William couldn’t stop talking about what happened.

“Should we tell mom and dad about Willow?” asked William.

After some thought Charlotte replied, “Yes, but not yet”