Palestrina stitch
Embroidery is one of the prevalent means of adorning and beautifying clothes and has been practiced since centuries ago when clothing first came into being. Various patterns of embroidery originated in different countries of the world and are practiced even today. Portugal has incorporated many such embroidery patterns and today it is one of the premier countries known worldwide for their exquisite embroidery techniques.
The Palestrina is a common embroidery pattern observed in Italy and many Italian types of embroidery are composed of the Palestrina stitch. The Palestrina stitch is characterized by a kind of knotted line formed by the thread and it is significant to note that the use of this stitching technique is not confined to even-weave fabrics but on the contrary it can be used on a variety of fabrics. The designs of the Palestrina stitch work are in the form of a line and are commonly used for bordering purposes. The knotted line effect is the most important and striking feature of the Palestrina stitch and while threads of different kinds and quality can be used, the best option is to use the pearl cotton threads which are twisted threads and are able to produce the knotted effect perfectly. The knot formation in Palestrina stitch is aided by another kind of embroidery pattern known as the buttonhole stitch. It is interesting to notice that all the knots need to be placed at equal distances from each other and from a distance they seem to be arranged in a linear fashion following a curvature. There can be two major kinds of Palestrina stitch. If the lines above the knots enlarge upwards it is known as Long Armed Palestrina stitch while if the lines below the knot moves downwards it is called Long Legged Palestrina stitch. The Palestrina stitch is referred to by various other names like tied coral stitch, Smyrna stitch, double knot stitch etc.