The Buttonhole Stitch

Buttonhole stitches are used in Ponto Aria to make cloth or design elements.

You bring the working thread up at 1,

wrap it around the bar and the perle between stitches on the row above the bar or the couched thread if that is above the bar, then you take the working thread over the loop you just formed as shown in step 3 of the diagram.

Pull straight down on the working thread to form the stitch and close the loop.

The Bar
Stitchers take the working thread back across the design when the row of Buttonhole stitches is finished. I like to make a sideways buttonhole stitch on the couched thread of the design, bring the working thread up over the couching line and then take the working thread across the open space of the design and take it under the couched thread and make another sideways Buttonhole stitch.

This action moves the working thread down into place for the next row of stitches, it locks the bar in place so that it is not sliding too much. It's the suspenders when you don't trust just a belt.

The little dark smudges are where I want openings in the toile.  Where ever the smudge is I made an opening as shown in the diagram. 

You could sew on the veins if you didn't want to make openings in the toile

Copyright 2009, Linda Fontenot