For projects that call for embroidery, I’ll use a darning needle to work the surface (slip) stitch. Using a crochet hook to work the surface slip stitch creates the same look (from what I can tell); but, to be honest, I haven’t tried using the crochet hook method so I can’t speak much to the differences. What I can offer from research and my personal opinion 😉 is: using a darning needle is great for making this stitch on amigurumi and other stuffed items since you won’t have access to the other side of the work, whereas the hook method requires access to the source of the yarn on the other side. Make sense?

I know, that was a really long sentence.

Either way, this surface stitch creates a nice, clean embroidery and is simple and quick to work up. You can freehand your stitching or use tracing paper to create a template to pin on, and stitch through the paper. The paper tears off easily once finished.

(click the photo to enlarge)

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