First project: a blackwork sampler of fillings
Small squares, each a different pattern.
Step by step
- Mark out a grid of small squares with an outline stitch such as Holbein or back stitch.
- Fill one square with rows of running stitch where stitches and gaps are equal.
- Fill another with crosses spaced so the gaps match the crosses.
- Try a brick pattern: a second row of running stitch between the first, then vertical rows.
- Design your own filling by doodling on graph paper, or copy paving or brickwork.
Watch
Embroidering a Blackwork Pattern from a 16th Century Italian Sampler (3:33)
By Lynne Fairchild · Open on YouTube
Chosen from its title and channel: a 3-minute video from Lynne Fairchild on the same topic as this guide. Embedded from YouTube with credit; we don't host it. It only loads when you press play.
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Sources
All checked 1 November 2026. We read these; we did not test the products ourselves.