Tutorial: Pinhead Stitch on Linen or Evenweave

The pinhead stitch is a method of anchoring a stitch using only the space occupied by that stitch! It's great for isolated stitches. The pinhead stitch is also helpful in areas where you have many color changes, so that if you anchor your floss by running it under 2 or 3 stitches the back of your work can become very thick and crowded. It is essentially a figure 8 which will be covered by the cross. Here's how to begin stitching with a pinhead stitch as anchor on linen or evenweave fabric (stitching over 2). See Pinhead Stitch on Linen (End) for a tutorial on ending with a pinhead stitch (it's different from the starting stitch).

1. Follow this diagram for making a pinhead stitch over 2 threads. This assumes you make crosses by coming up at 1, down at 2, up at 3, and down at 4. A, B, and C are the points where the pinhead stitch will be worked. The following steps refer to these locations.

If you want to begin the cross somewhere other than the lower left corner, rotate this diagram so that 1 is where you want to begin the cross.

2. Begin the pinhead stitch by coming up at A and going down at B. Hold the tail of the floss on the underside.

3. Continue by coming up at C and down again at B, above the previous thread.

4. Still holding the tail tightly on the underside, pull the needle so that the stitch tightens. Now come up at 1 to begin the cross. Notice that this pulls against the pinhead stitch and keeps it tight.

5. The completed cross covers the pinhead stitch. With 2 strands of floss the pinhead stitch does not show. Snip off the floss tail on the back.

This is a completed pinhead stitch and cross on 32-count linen with 2 strands of floss.