featherstitch

[feth-er-stich]

noun

1. an embroidery stitch producing work in which a succession of branches extend alternately on each side of a central stem.

verb (used with object)

1. to ornament by featherstitch.

featherstitch

/ ˈfɛðəˌstɪtʃ /

noun

1. a zigzag embroidery stitch

verb

1. to decorate (cloth) with featherstitch

Word History and Origins

Origin of featherstitch¹

First recorded in 1825–35; feather + stitch ( def. )

Example Sentences

As if a fiend from the pit had been trained to do featherstitch!

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Sew the seams, then fell them and featherstitch the outside of the seams in colored linen.

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I can never featherstitch any more, Alison.

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And when she found how neatly she could hemstitch and do such beautiful featherstitch, and darn, and read so plainly that it was a pleasure to listen to her, she had to admit that Hannah Ann was a real credit, and, she confessed in her secret heart, a very sweet little girl.

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As it extended, I brought out a line of goods suitable for kings, and a nobby thing for duchesses and that sort, with ruffles down the forehatch and the running-gear clewed up with a featherstitch to leeward and then hauled aft with a back-stay and triced up with a half-turn in the standing rigging forward of the weather-gaskets.

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