Hardanger Embroidery Tutorial Part 4 – Weaving and Dove’s Eye

After the fabric threads have been cut and removed, there are open spaces in the cloth.  The next step is to fill them in with stitching. This is what gives hardanger a beautiful lacy effect.

Weaving Bars

Begin

The first step is weaving bars. Using the size 8 Perle cotton (the same as the eyelets), bring the thread to the front in one of the corner holes.

Over and under

The groups of four straight fabric threads make bars. Weave the needle over two threads and under two threads on the nearest bar.

Back again

Pull the thread through then weave back in the other direction, over two and under two.

And so on

Continue going back and forth until the entire bar is done. End with the thread at the corner of the next bar.

Travelling

Weave the next set in the same way, and continue along to the next groups.

When you finish a bar, begin on the adjacent bar. Do not carry thread across the piece or it will be visible.

Chart

This is how the weaving would be represented on a graph.

The full chart is available as a bonus to my newsletter subscribers. Join the list (bottom of the page) to get access to that and many other great resources.

Dove’s Eye

There are other filling stitches that can be used in the open areas. A Dove’s Eye is the most common one, so we will save the others for a more advanced project.

Stop during weaving

We will put the dove’s eye in the middle square, so when you are weaving the last bar around that square, stop in the middle of the bar.

First corner

Take a stitch in the middle of the bar directly to the right, being sure to catch the thread underneath the needle.

Second corner

Moving to the right again, take another stitch in the middle of the bar, catching the needle under the thread again.

Third corner

Repeat in the third bar.

And back around

Coming back to the bar where it started, just slide the needle underneath the thread to catch it.

Then continue on with weaving that bar and the rest of the bars.

Chart

This is how a Dove’s Eye would be marked on a chart.

The full chart is available as a bonus to my newsletter subscribers. Join the list (bottom of the page) to get access to that and many other great resources.

Finishing

Now the embroidery is finished, so you have many options.  You can make it into a pincushion or pillow, frame the piece, or (because of the blanket stitches) you can cut the piece out to stand alone.

Carefully trim the fabric close to the blanket stitches, but be careful not to cut the stitches themselves.

Completed piece

You’re done!  Add a thread to hang it and it will make a nice Christmas decoration or window hanger.

Don’t be too OCD, but Hardanger should be neat on the back, especially if you are going to have it hanging up.  Even if you are making a pillow where the back won’t be visible, any loose threads might be visible because of the open work.  

Keep this in mind as you are stitching, and weave threads under the Kloster blocks to carry them from one place to another.  For the woven bars, begin and end the threads at the Kloster blocks.

Be sure to explore other designs with this beautiful technique.

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