Typical Stitches Used

Silk Shading and Thread Painting use a limited number of stitches including Back Stitch, Bullion Knot, Eyelet Stitch, French Knot, Long-and-Short Stitch, Running Stitch, Split Stitch, and Stem Stitch. More advanced pieces may include Satin Stitch and Random Stitch.

Piece to the left is an original design adapted from a watercolor painting by W. Tate.

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Long and Short Stitch

All silk shading and thread painting use long-and-short stitch. In natural silk shading, the direction of the stitch may vary depending on the curve of the design, shape, or figure.

According to the Royal School of Needlework (2025), long-and-short stitch is also used in crewelwork, stumpwork, whitework, surface embroidery, and Elizabethan embroidery. This stitch is also known as long-and-short satin stitch, shading stitch, plumage stitch, feather stitch, or cushion stitch.

Consists of a series of long, medium, and shorter straight stitches that are densely combined to fill and smoothly cover an area of fabric. Using different coloured threads enables blending, shading, and realism (RSN, 2025).

Random Stitch Embroidery: Chinese

Random Stitch Embroidery ´“uses strategically placed layers of purposefully sized cross stitches and discerning selection of colour and thread size to create a highly realistic effect with great depth of colour and dimensional perspective (Dowdy, 1999 [check])"

During the 1950’s, the Suzhou government set up an embroidery unit to research and teach embroidery: Suzhou Embroidery Research Institutes (SERI).

Ren Hui Xian (1916-2003): stitched portraits of world leaders

Over the years, the ´technique was further developed and advanced. Larger pieces were designed for cultural exchange and gifts, including life paintings, cats, dogs, lions, still life paintings, and portraits from paintings (Dowdy, 1999, [check]).

In the Mid-1970’s: American photographer, Robert Ketchum, collaborated with the SERi to reproduce photographs into stitched art as published in the Threads of Light (1999).