Skip to content
Stitch
Start with the basics
Stitch Library

Straight Gobelin stitch

Straight upright stitches worked in even rows — fast, elegant coverage for borders, bands, and calm backgrounds. “Gobelin” can mean the straight or the slanted version; this page teaches Straight Gobelin, the upright one.

Framed needlepoint canvas spelling GOBELIN in straight upright gobelin stitch
The beauty portrait — the stitch spelled in its own texture. Same frame and crop across every stitch in the library.

What the texture looks like

Worked up close: even upright stitches over two threads, lined up in rows like soft vertical ridges. (This is the unpadded version; some stitchers lay a horizontal thread underneath — “tramming” — for extra plumpness. That’s an optional variation.)
Difficulty
Beginner  A quick, satisfying straight stitch.
Appearance
Even upright rows — soft horizontal ridges.
Coverage
A quick straight fill. Because the stitches are upright, choose thread thick enough to cover.
Good for
Backgrounds · skies · borders · bands.
You'll need
Tapestry needle · one thread color · 13-mesh canvas (canvas with 13 holes per inch).
Exactly how to make it

One upright at a time

Completed stitches are shown in blush, the stitch you're making now in red, and the next hole to come up through is circled in blue. Numbers mark where the needle comes up and goes down.

1
Step 1 — Come up at 1, go down at 2 — a straight upright stitch over two canvas threads.12
Come up at 1, go down at 2 — a straight upright stitch over two canvas threads.
2
Step 2 — Come up at 3, go down at 4 — the next upright, right beside it, the same height.34
Come up at 3, go down at 4 — the next upright, right beside it, the same height.
3
Step 3 — Come up at 5, go down at 6 — a neat, even row of uprights.56
Come up at 5, go down at 6 — a neat, even row of uprights.
4
Step 4 — Come up at 7, go down at 8 — keep them all exactly the same length.78
Come up at 7, go down at 8 — keep them all exactly the same length.
5
Step 5 — Come up at 9, go down at 10 — the row reads as a soft ridge.910
Come up at 9, go down at 10 — the row reads as a soft ridge.
6
Step 6 — Come up at 11, go down at 12 — start the next row directly below, aligned (not offset like brick). Where the new row meets the row above, take the needle down into the shared, occupied hole — don’t come up through a hole that already holds a stitch, or you can disturb it.1112
Come up at 11, go down at 12 — start the next row directly below, aligned (not offset like brick). Where the new row meets the row above, take the needle down into the shared, occupied hole — don’t come up through a hole that already holds a stitch, or you can disturb it.
This is normal: straight stitches show the canvas more than diagonals do. If a little peeks through, add a ply of thread — coverage is a thread-thickness fix, not a skill problem.
What yours should look like

Front and back

Front — even upright ridges in aligned rows.
Back — short steps between one upright and the next.

Common mistake — and the fix

Align each new row directly under the last, not offset. Offsetting the rows by a hole turns Straight Gobelin into brick stitch — a different stitch entirely.

Keep going
Pairs well with: BrickSatinTent
Written for absolute beginners, in plain language.
Spot something we could make clearer or more precise? Report a correction →