Chenille stitch types

The two basic stitches created by chenille embroidery machines are moss and chain stitch. The looped pile look on letter jackets is created with the moss stitch which can vary from low, compact stitches to high, plush stitches producing different effects. The chain stitch is a flat stitch traditionally used as a border or outline for moss stitches.

Moss and Chain are machine functions and are treated as object properties in Wilcom ES, in the same way as color. You can use both Moss and Chain stitch for outlines or fills. The Moss and Chain tools set the fill only.


Moss stitch

Moss stitch is a looped stitch which give a dense cover. This stitch produces the typical Chenille raised stitching. It works best with simple shapes. Moss stitch is used to fill in areas and create depth. Moss can be stitched using different needle heights: lower for run around and higher for fill.



Chain stitch

Chain stitch is a decorative style of stitching which looks like the links of a Chain. It is used for outlining and bordering designs as well as in monograms. It can be used to produce a more delicate look.

In conjunction with Chain stitches, the design builds up in height from the edges to the middle.

Chenille Run stitch

Chenille Run stitches are similar to Run lockstitches except that the stitch length is constant. To stitch single lines use Run with Chain or Moss. One or two offset run-arounds with Chain and Moss provide a clear edge for filled areas. You can also use Double Run and Backtrack to produce outlines.

Note Needle points do not have to be forced on sharp corners for compound chenille area fill because sharp corners are defined by the offset runs.