Among the many traditional embroidery stitches, some are far less well known today than stem stitch, satin stitch or the French knot. Burden stitch is one of these somewhat forgotten stitches that nonetheless deserves a closer look.
A filling stitch, it lets you cover a surface while creating a regular texture reminiscent of a small weave or a brick pattern.
What is Burden stitch?
Burden stitch is a filling stitch made of horizontally laid threads held down by regular vertical stitches.
The small tacking stitches are offset from one row to the next. It's this offset that creates its characteristic pattern, close to a brick bond.
Depending on the spacing chosen, the result can look very different:
-
with stitches placed close together, the embroidery becomes dense and almost fully covers the fabric;
-
with more space, the background fabric stays visible and the stitch becomes much more graphic;
-
by using several colours, it's also possible to create effects of depth, shadow or gradient.
Burden stitch is therefore particularly useful for filling large areas without using classic satin stitch.
Why is it called “Burden stitch”?
Contrary to what the English word “burden” might suggest, the stitch's name doesn't describe its technique.
It comes from Elizabeth Burden, a British embroiderer of the 19th century.
Elizabeth Burden was the sister of Jane Morris, wife of William Morris, and worked herself within the Arts & Crafts embroidery world. She also taught at the Royal School of Art Needlework, known today as the Royal School of Needlework.
In the 1870s, she taught there and helped pass on several decorative embroidery techniques.
The stitch was later named Burden Stitch in her honour.
How to work Burden stitch
The principle is fairly simple once you understand how it's built.
Start by laying a series of long, parallel horizontal threads over the area you want to fill, evenly spaced.
These threads form the base of the stitch.
They are then held down with small vertical stitches that cross or straddle the laid thread.
On the next row, the tacking stitches are offset by about half a stitch length.
This gradually builds up this very regular structure:
This offset gives Burden stitch its characteristic look of small interlocking bricks.
Regularity matters a great deal here: the more consistent the rows and spacing, the more the finished pattern reads as a woven textile.
Which threads should you use?
Burden stitch can be worked with many kinds of thread.
With stranded cotton, you get a fairly fine result, ideal for contemporary or figurative embroidery.
With crewel wool or embroidery wool, the stitch takes on more volume and recalls historic English embroidery.
Silk, meanwhile, gives a more luminous, precious-looking surface.
It's also possible to use two different threads: one for the laid lines and another for the tacking stitches.
It's a simple way to add contrast and highlight the stitch's structure more clearly.
Where can you use Burden stitch?
Burden stitch is particularly well suited to backgrounds and large filled areas.
It can also be used in figurative embroidery to add texture to certain parts of a design.
Today, it can easily be repurposed for contemporary embroidery.
It works especially well for embroidering:
-
clothing or textile elements on a figure,
-
landscapes and hills,
-
leaves or large plant shapes,
-
decorative backgrounds,
-
geometric shapes,
-
surfaces you want to give a woven effect.
In a botanical embroidery, for example, it can bring a texture very different from satin stitch and create an interesting contrast with smoother areas.
Playing with colour
One of Burden stitch's great strengths is how well it takes to multiple colours.
You can keep the horizontal threads in a single shade and only change the colour of the tacking stitches.
But you can also gradually shift the colour of the laid threads to create a gradient.
This technique lets you work in shading and depth effects while keeping a very visible graphic structure.
What to call it in other languages
As far as I know, there's no sufficiently established historical translation to replace the English name unambiguously.
To avoid creating an artificial or misleading translation, the simplest approach is to keep its original name:
Burden Stitch.
This is also the name under which you'll most easily find it in English-language books and resources on embroidery stitches.
An old stitch that stays thoroughly modern
This is probably what I love most about historic stitches: they can seem very traditional when you discover them in old books, yet become completely contemporary as soon as you change the colours, the materials or the design.
Burden stitch is a great example of this.
Its regular construction creates an almost graphic textured surface, while staying simple enough to use in both traditional embroidery and much more modern creations.
If you enjoy experimenting with filling stitches, this is one to add to your repertoire.
And above all, the next time you come across the term Burden Stitch, you'll know it's a historic stitch named after Elizabeth Burden, an embroiderer who helped pass on this technique in the 19th century.
