stem and outline stitches

We may as well start at the beginning with the most common and widely-used embroidery stitches—the stem (sometimes called crewel) and the outline. Both are used primarily for (you guessed it) stems and outlining and they are very similar in how they are worked. For stem stitch the thread is always kept below the needle; for outline it’s always kept above. They look pretty similar when completed, too.