How To Do The Backstitch
Download the PDF version of these instructions
To start the backstitch, bring your needle up from the back of the fabric. Then put your needle back down through the fabric again, about 1/8″ – 1/4″ from where you just came up. Then simply pull your embroidery floss snug against the fabric, making your first stitch. Now bring the needle up again, about 1/8″ – 1/4″, away from your first stitch. Whatever length of stitch you make is fine and not too important, but just make sure that you keep them consistent.
Now send your needle back down in the same spot where your first stitch ended. This is the “back” part of the backstitch.
Again, bring your needle up from the back a consistent space away from your previous stitch. And then simply stitch back again as you did in step 2.
The backstitch is a simple and easy embroidery stitch that will create a solid line when completed.
• How To Make Backstitches Look the Same on Both Sides •
The front side of the backstitch looks like a nice embroidered line. The back side however, is a more bulky and unattractive line that obviously doesn’t match the front. Usually this is fine because the back of your project doesn’t show, so it doesn’t matter. But if your project calls for a backstitch that will be viewed from both sides and you want both sides to match and look like a perfect line then try this technique, described below, which is really quite easy.
To make both sides look like the front of the backstitch, simply use the double running stitch. Just sew the full distance in the running stitch, and then turn around and do the running stitch back, only this time, offset your stitches so they are now filling in all the gaps from before, creating what looks like a backstitch on both sides. Now both the front and back stitches will look the same and can be viewed from either side.