How To: Do the Couching Stitch
Couching is another easy embroidery stitch in hand embroidery, and a great way to create decorative line stitches that scroll and twirl about. It's also widely used for filling areas, and historically was used to great effect during the Middle Ages and Renaissance in a technique called Or Nue. Here's a video from Needle 'n Thread that demonstrates couching a single thread for an outline.