How-To: Back Stitch

by Jenny Hart

"1" is where your needle comes up through the fabric, "2" is where it goes down again.

Give this simple stitch a try! It’s a total cinch to work. Make a single, straight stitch (1-2) as long or short as you want. (I make mine approx 1/4" or a bit shorter.) Continue along your pattern line, but come up a space ahead (3) and bring your needle back down into the same hole at the end of the last stitch you made. Get it? You are bringing your stitch back to the end of the last one. Now you know what to do to make a neat, clean line. This is also useful to create a crisp corner. For example: make a back stitch whenever your pattern takes a quick turn, even if you’re working in another stitch. Wanna see what it looks like? Here you go!

Looks like this: Pattern : Labyrinths (stitched using all six strands)

Ain't nuthin' but back stitches. You don't have to learn any more stitches beyond this one if you don't want to. You could embroider for the rest of your life using only this one sweet stitch.

What's that you say? You want to learn another basic stitch?

x - x - x - x - x - x

Text, photos, diagrams and instructions by Jenny Hart ♥ © 2002 - 2014 Sublime Stitching ®. All Rights Reserved. No part of this tutorial may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from its author.