Five Tips for Back Stitch
Perfect your back stitches with these five easy tips.
Back stitch is one of the most common embroidery stitches. It is easy to do and can be used alone in a project, like this picture.
But even though back stitch isn’t difficult to do, it is sometimes challenging to get your lines as smooth as you want.
These five tips will help you get your back stitches looking just the way you like them.
See it All
Below you will find:
- video tutorial
- step-by-step written tutorial with pictures
Video
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Caveats:
- If you are happy with your back stitch, then I’m not trying to tell you that you are wrong and doing a bad job. I’m not the embroidery police. But if you wish it looked different or more like pictures you see, then I will explain how these little tweaks will help.
- This is not an exhaustive list of tips. There are lots of other methods and back stitch variations. But I believe these five tips are the most foundational and will make the biggest impact.
- No matter what techniques you use, the biggest improvement comes with practice. You will naturally improve over time just like with any other skill. You can use the right tools, materials and techniques, but nothing can replace practice and time.
Tips
If you need a refresher, check out my detailed back stitch tutorial.
The first sample piece is just stitched without using any of these tips. I just used three strands of floss as they came off the skein without any special treatment. It looks fine, but these tips can help make it better.
1. Use the “stab” method
Instead of using the traditional “sewing” method, use the “stab” method to stitch.
Pull the needle and thread right through to the back and then right through to the front.
2. Separate the strands of thread
Separating the strands of thread before stitching will help them lay parallel to each other as you stitch. This will help the line look smoother.
As you stitch, you can keep the threads parallel with your fingers or a laying tool.
Want more tips like this? Check out Ten Tips for using Embroidery Floss.
3. Keep consistent and plan ahead
Keeping the size of the stitches consistent will help the line be smoother.
This will require you to plan ahead so that you don’t end up with a short or long stitch at the end of the line.
In lines with curves, you will probably want shorter stitches.
4. Pay attention to the back thread
This is a technical tip, so if you are a beginner, feel free to ignore it.
As you stitch, pay attention to the thread on the back of the fabric and hold it so that the needle doesn’t pierce the thread.
5. Wrap the back stitches
If all else fails, wrap the line of embroidery stitch. This will guarantee a smooth line.
Wrapping is easy to do and will cover any gaps or crooked stitches.
These tips make very small changes, but they might be the difference you are looking for.
As I said in the caveats above, you might not care about the small differences in stitching and that is fine. Embroider in the way that makes you happy.
More Embroidery Resources
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Embroidery Stitches
Check out the Embroidery Stitch Directory for lots of inspiration.