How to do blanket stitch wheels

The middle bird on my chirpy birds embroidery design has blanket stitch wheels, also known as buttonhole wheels, on its breast markings.  If you prefer, you can swap these for stars. They're also used on the blue cat in my cat embroidery design.

Here's a blanket stitch wheels tutorial complete with illustrated embroidery stitch instructions and an embroidery stitch video.  

Blanket stitch wheel tutorial

• Bring the needle through the fabric on the outer edge of the circle at 1, pushing it back through at 2. 
• Keep the thread behind the needle and pull it through at 3. 
• Leave a loop of thread, push it back through at 2, then up at 4 on the outer edge with the thread behind to make the next stitch. 
• Continue stitching round the wheel.

Download my free stitch guide covering 10 basic embroidery stitches, including blanket stitch.

Blanket stitch wheel video