It is worked by the thread emerging at one point and then travelling along the required outline making running stitches and leaving spaces between, and all of an equal length. At a certain point the needle is turned back for its second journey, this time filling in the spaces between the existing stitches.
This style of embroidery was well known in Europe and the Middle East. Some medieval examples were found at the Lebanese archaeological site of the Qadisha valley and date from about AD 1284. The stitch's alternative name 'Holbein stitch' is named after Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), a German portrait painter known for his paintings of Henry VIII of England, his children and members of the royal court.
Also known as: chiara stitch, Holbein stitch, line stitch, Spanisshe Stiche, square stitch, stroke stitch, two-sided line stitch, two-sided stroke stitch, and sometimes Roumanian stitch.
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