Maidenhair stitch is a very decorative stitch which can be accompanied with other stitches like the french knot

or oyster stitch to create beautiful designs. This stitch is a bit different from from the other kinds in feather stitch family. Intead of taking a V shape each time, it finishes a set of half Vs on one side before moving to the other. Lets say that it follows, more or less, the single feather stitch technique, with the stitches on both sides. I will work on three parallel stitch lines A, B,C. It is advised that stitch lines be drawn to avoid asymmetry.

Fig 1: First, make a singe V as for a regular feather stitch. Bring the needle out through A. Putting in the needle through C, bring it out through B.

Fig 2: Now, take the needle in through a point in a straight line and closer to A, as shown. Bring the needle out through B.

Fig 3: As done before, take the needle in at yet another point in a straight line closer to the previous point. Again, bring out the needle diagonally

Fig 4: Now, we begin a similar procedure on the other side. Take the needle in through C, bring it out through B, and with the thread under

through B and pull it out with the thread under it.

the needle, pull it out.

Fig 5: We keep on with this procedure, alternating between both sides after every set of stitch. B will always remain the stitch line from where the needle will always emerge out.

Fig 6: A finished portion of maiden hair stitch will look like this. You may add as many branches on the sides as you wish, but the farther you go towards the sides, the longer the stitch gets and the higher the chance of the thread loosening.

Feather stitch is a decorative stitch, usually, used to accompany it with embelishments or other forms of stitches like the French knot. This stitch can be used liberally to make beautiful borders, horizontal or vertical fillings, or even designs with curves. It looks like a series of interconnected Vs. It is always advised to make stitch lines to avoid any asymmetry. I have made four parallel stitch lines, A, B, C, D. The stitches will fall between these lines and the needle will pass through these lines.

Fig 1: Begin by bringing up the needle from B. Now, put the needle in through D and bring it out from C. Note that the points on B and D falls on a straight line, and C lies diagonally to both B and D. Pull the needle out with the thread under it, as shown. We would form our first V.

Fig 2: We now move to make our next V. Continue to put the needle in through A and bring it out through B. Pull the needle out with the thread under it as shown, to make the next V.

Fig 3: Now, continue the procedure by putting the needle in through the outer stitch line and brining it out from the inner stitch line. We keep alternating between the left and right side to make the Vs- putting in the needle through A and bringing it out from B; putting the needle in through D and bringing it out from C.

Fig 4: Once a small portion of feather stitch is done, this is how it would look like.