How to Embroider a French Knot: 6 Step Beginner Tutorial

The needle matters more than any other tool for French knots. Use a milliner needle (also sold as a straw needle) - the shaft is the same width as the eye, so the needle slides through the wrapped thread without catching.

A regular embroidery needle has a longer, wider eye that bulges out from the shaft. That bulge snags on the wraps when you try to pull through, which is why beginners' knots fall apart or never form. Milliner needles solve the problem in one step.

Bring your threaded needle up through the fabric where you want the knot to sit. Pull all the slack through so the working thread is taut against the back of the fabric.

Hold the thread between the thumb and forefinger of your non-stitching hand a couple of inches from where it exits the fabric. You'll keep this hand on the thread the whole time - tension is what makes the knot form cleanly.

Lay the needle horizontally against the working thread, then wrap the thread around the needle two full times. Two wraps gives a knot about the size of a small bead - plenty for most projects.

One wrap makes a tiny knot that can pull through the fabric. Three or more wraps makes a sloppy floppy knot. Two is the sweet spot for almost everything.

Take the tip of the needle down into the fabric right next to where the working thread came up - close, but not in the same hole. A few fabric threads' worth of distance is enough.

This is the most common French knot mistake. If you go down in the same hole, the knot pulls right through to the back as you tighten. Going next to the exit point gives the knot a tiny bridge of fabric to sit on top of.

With your non-stitching hand still holding the working thread, pull the needle through the fabric and through the wraps. Keep just enough tension on the working thread to hold the knot's shape - don't yank.

Too much tension chokes the wraps onto the needle and the needle won't pass through. Too little and the wraps unspool. Light steady tension is the goal - the knot should stay neat as the needle pulls through it.

As the needle pulls almost all the way through, let go of the working thread. The last bit slides through and the knot drops onto the fabric surface as a tight little bead.

If you hold tension to the very end, the knot can pull tight enough to deform. Releasing in the final inch lets the knot relax into its natural shape. Practice a few times in a corner of your fabric before using French knots on a real piece - it's a stitch that gets easier fast once your hands learn the rhythm.