When I first heard the term Candlewicking, I thought we were going to be making actual candles; installing the wick into wax. I was completely intrigued and thought, “Sweet! Now I can do something with the leftover wax from my last candle.”

After I got over my moment of excitement, I wondered how candlewicking fit into sewing. What do candles and sewing have to do with one another? Alas, I learned the true meaning of candlewicking — a big French Knot or Colonial Knot and an outline stitch of your choice, primarily tone on tone color scheme.

You might recognize this type of stitching from your grandmother’s house when you were a child. You know, the pillow that you were never allowed to sleep on (not that you would want to with all those bumps!) or the bed spread that were never allowed to sleep under. That’s all candlewicking!

During the Colonial days, settlers didn’t have the money or the means to get the fine fabrics of the time. So, being the resourceful pioneers that they were, they created their own fine fabric using the Colonial Knot and, traditionally, a backstitch. And, instead of normal thread, they used a soft spun cotton thread, which at the time was used for the wicks of candles. Thus Candlewicking was born!