Fishbone Stitch in hand embroidery tutorial (Step by Step & Video)

Fishbone stitch is a beautiful stitch which works great for leaves. This is the basic stitch in the fishbone category. You might have already seen the raised fishbone stitch that I shared before.

This is a very commonly used stitch for leaves. This looks so pretty and is so easy to work, that you will find yourself working it again and again.

What you will need?

Any fabric.
Embroidery hoop, 15cm (6″) (Bigger if you are working on a larger design) ( You can purchase a set of 6 hoops from Amazon for your basic needs.)
Tapestry needle (
Embroidery thread (You can buy this pack of 36 shades of the DMC embroidery floss.)

How many strands of floss do you need for making the fishbone stitch?

You can use all 6 strands of the floss. But if you are working on a finer design, then start with 2 strands of floss and increase the number of strands according to your design. In the below tutorial I have used 2 strands.

Step by Step Pictorial Process of making the fishbone stitch

1. Start by the bringing the needle from beneath the fabric at point A. Make a straight stitch at point B. Without taking down the needle, insert at point C and bring the needle out with the thread. Insert the needle on the other side from point D to E.