Couching: How to Do It Step by Step

Couching is a hand embroidery stitch that makes thick or delicate thread laid on the surface and tacked down. Makers reach for it for metallic threads, yarn and cord, bold outlines. It is rated beginner here, so it is a good stitch to learn early and practice on a small swatch before a real project.

1. Bring the laid thread up at the start of the line, or lay it on the surface. 2. Arrange it along the design line. 3. With a second, finer thread, come up on one side of the laid thread. 4. Go down on the other side, making a small tacking stitch over it. 5. Repeat at even intervals, then take the laid thread ends to the back and secure. Work slowly for the first few repeats, keep your tension even, and check the result against the steps before continuing across a whole row or motif.

The most common problems are: tacking stitches too far apart on curves; pulling tacking stitches tight enough to crush the laid thread. Most are easy to spot if you pause after a few repeats and compare your work with the steps. Good light helps a great deal, especially with dark yarn or thread.

Stitches closely related to couching include Satin Stitch, Running Stitch. Learning them together makes patterns easier to read, because many designs switch between related stitches to change texture, height or line. Each has its own step-by-step page in the stitch dictionary.