Here’s an example of the Mountmellick stitch I used on my grandson’s Baptism outfit.  It’s perfect for a little boys outfit.

 

Depending on the size of your stitches, and the weight of the thread, this stitch can vary a lot in appearance.  It can look like a line of surface stitching with spikes on one side, or it can look like little arrowheads as shown in the photo.  I used a Perle Cotton size 8 for a nice plump stitch that forms the little arrowheads.

First, decide how wide you want the stitch to be.  I chose 1/8″.

Then you have to decide where to place the stitching.  Since I was placing this between 2 hemstitched tucks, I placed my ruler between the tucks and centered the 1/8″ increment between the tucks.

The stitch has two parts.  It basically forms a right triangle.  I pulled a thread where the left vertical leg of the triangle would be on the fabric.  This will help to keep the stitches straight.

 

 

Next, I have to find out how many threads will be covered by the 1/8″ width.  The photo below shows that 5 threads will be covered for the width.

Next, decide how far apart the stitches will be.  I chose 4 threads apart.  So the right triangle will be 5 threads wide and 4 threads high.

Now it’s time to stitch!  The fun part!

First, bring the needle to the front of the fabric in the space where the thread was removed.  This will be the straight line of the stitch, the vertical leg of the triangle.

Next count over the width of your stitch.  Here I’m using 5 threads.  Then count down the number of threads that will be used between each stitch.

Insert the needle at this point and bring it out horizontally over at the drawn thread line.

 

Pull the thread through to make a diagonal stitch.

Slide the needle under the diagonal stitch from top to bottom.

 

Pull the thread to the right to make a little knot.

 

Now make the vertical leg of the stitch, which is basically a chain stitch.  Insert the needle into the starting point.  This will be in the middle of the chain on the previous stitch.

 

Bring the needle out vertically down where the horizontal stitch enters the drawn thread line.  Loop the thread under the needle.

 

Pull the thread to make the chain loop.

 

Here’s the finished stitch.

 

It’s such a quick, easy stitch to master.  Have fun experimenting with different weights of threads and different stitch lengths!