Take a Stitch Tuesday - Chevron Stitch - Week 6

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), the featured stitch is the chevron stitch.

According to the Art of Threads, the chevron stitch, it is a "...variation of the herringbone stitch, and it is also made with the same movements of the hands as the herringbone stitch is made."

Photo Source

So, what's a "chevron" and how does it relate to embroidery?

On Wikipedia, it says that a chevron "...is an inverted V-shaped pattern." It also notes that "The chevron occurs in early art including designs on pottery and rock carvings. Examples can be found approximately 1800 BC in archaeological recovery of pottery designs from the palace of Knosos on Crete in the modern day country of Greece."

Photo Source

Another definition of a chevron is "...a series of  bones on the ventral (under) side of the tail in many reptiles, dinosaurs  (such as Diplodocus; see picture below), and some mammals such as kangaroos and manatees. 

"Their main function is to protect critical elements in the tail such as nerves and blood vessels from being damaged when the animal either supports its weight on its tail, or pushes it against a hard surface to propel itself."

Diplodocus chevron

Photo Source

A third meaning of a chevron as it relates to geology is "...a chevron-shaped fold in stratum layers. Chevron folds are generally close to tight (interlimb angles 70 to 10 degrees) with straight limbs and small angular hinges."

Chevron folds with flat-lying axial planes,

Millook Haven, North Cornwall, UK

Photo Source

All three of the images are reflected in the Chevron Stitch - the "V" shape and/or the straight lines. With those images in mind, I decided to use Aida cloth so the stitches would be more precise than if I was using fabric and estimating where to place the needle and embroidery floss.

I did three rows of stitching - the light blue, gold, and purple are all the Chevron stitch. The orange, dark blue, and green are just different backstitches that I added to the top and bottom parts of the Chevron stitch.

I enjoyed this stitch, even though initially it looked a bit confusing to do. It's a bit slower-going than the feather or herringbone stitches (two other stitches I've learned as part of TAST).

The potential for embellishing the stitch could go much further than what I've taken it. If this sampler wasn't going in my journal, I think adding beading to it would be a nice decorative element.

As I've done in past weeks, I included a brief re-cap of what happened during the week and a gratitude list along with my embroidery samplers. The background are random inverted "V"s done with crayons to represent chevrons in colors similar to the embroidery floss.