diagonal · Flat · intermediate · large areas · pattern · quick to work up ·

Alternating Continental Stitch

The Alternating Continental Needlepoint Stitch is a variation of the Continental Stitch. It creates a more textured and visually interesting effect. In this tutorial you will find 2 versions of the Alternating Continental Stitch, so we recommend that you choose the one that best suits your project.

Stitch Details

Stitch Structure: Variation, Openwork
Related Stitches: Tent Stitch, Skipped Tent, T-Stitch
Recommended for: Large areas

Alternating Continental Stitch - v1 Instructions & Diagram

You can see the diagram of this stitch below.

From top left to bottom right, make a reverse tent stitch, then go two fabric intersections diagonally down to the bottom right, and make another reverse tent stitch, continue until you finish that diagonal row
Once you have finished the last reverse tent stitch, move the needle two canvas threads down
This time we will create a sequence of parallel tent stitches, where the top stitch will be in the same canvas hole as the top or bottom stitch of the row made in step 1
At the end of the previous row we will move the needle two canvas threads down and repeat the process starting with step 1

Alternating Continental Stitch - v2 Instructions & Diagram

You can see the diagram of this stitch below.

Make a tent stitch diagonally down to the right, then move the needle one canvas thread up and one to the right, and insert the needle from back to front
Make a tent stitch diagonally downward to the left, then move the needle one canvas thread down and one to the right
From this point make a reverse tent stitch, at the end move the needle one canvas thread down and one to the left
Make a tent stitch to finish the pattern
Repeat the process as many times as necessary