Smyrna stitch is a form of cross stitch used in
needlepoint
Needlepoint is a type of canvas work, a form of embroidery in which yarn is stitched through a stiff open weave canvas. Traditionally needlepoint designs completely cover the canvas. Although needlepoint may be worked in a variety of stitches, m ...
. It was popular during the Victorian period and again, later, in the 1950s and 1960s. It comprises a cross stitch worked over two, or more, threads with a straight cross stitch worked over the top.
Thérèse de Dilmont in the ''Encyclopedia of Needlework'' gives the following description:
:''Make a plain cross stitch over four threads, each way, and then over that, another cross stitch, standing upright. The same stitch can be made over six or seven threads; if you work over more than four threads, it follows that you increase the number of stitches accordingly.''
[Thérèse de Dilmont]
p. 133
Notes
References
* Gordon, Jill ''Take Up Needlepoint'' 1994 London, Merehurst
* de Dilmont, Thérèse
Encyclopedia of Needlework' 1884, accessed 16 December 2010
Embroidery stitches
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