Basic Stitches You Should Know

Having a complete sewing kit is great, but for the beginner sewist, that kit is rendered useless until Craft a Gnome you know how to sew. But don’t worry, it’s not difficult to learn the basic stitches and when to use them.

By the end of this article, you will understand how to do ten basic stitches both by hand and on a machine. Let’s get you sewing!

The Running Stitch
This stitch is the most basic of all the hand sewing stitches and if you have any experience with sewing at all, you likely already know how to perform this stitch. It’s a great stitch to know for quickly mending clothing.

Start by taking your threaded needle through the back of the fabric (the wrong side)
Once the knot at the end of the thread has hit the fabric, make a stitch by putting the needle back down in the fabric about a centimeter away in the direction you want to stitch and pulling all the way through
Bring the thread back up through the fabric and repeat
The Basting Stitch

2. The Basting Stitch
   This stitch is just the running stitch but longer. Instead of making your stitches a centimeter apart, make them ¼ inch to ½ inch apart from each other.

The basting stitch will go even faster than the running stitch once you get into a flow.

3. The Cross Stitch (Catch Stitch)
   You’ve probably have heard of cross-stitching before. Cross-stitching is suitable for finishing hems and for designs that are front-facing. This stitch is slightly more nuanced than the running or basting stitches, but it’s simple once you get the hang of it.

All you’re doing with a cross stitch is making X’s in the fabric:

Pull the thread up through the back of the fabric until the knot catches on the fabric
Make a diagonal stitch to the left about a centimeter away
Bring the needle up through the back of the fabric, about a centimeter backward from the where the thread went in last, and a centimeter to the left of where the last stitch began
Make a stitch diagonally across the last stitch, so it makes an X
Pull the thread through and repeat.
Make sure you keep these stitches loose and even.

4. The Backstitch
   Before the age of sewing machines, this stitch was used to create all clothing. Layer after layer of back stitches created a pattern of threads that people could wear. It’s a strong stitch.

Start by making a small stitch
Insert the needle back into the end of that stitch, where you just pulled the thread out
Make another stitch and repeat.
These stitches should look like they’re overlapping.

5. The Slip Stitch
   This stitch is useful when you’re trying to sew hems so that you can’t see stitches. It’s good for patchwork.

This stitch is meant to be through the fold of fabric. Even if you’re just working with one fabric, you can fold the bottom of the fabric up underneath
Pin your hem to make sure you sew in a straight line
Bring the needle through the fold of the hem and then up through the top crease of the fabric

Pull the needle through just a few threads at the same point, but don’t pull the needle all the way through the fabric like you would with the other stitches
Pull the needle back into the fold near where you drew it out the first time staying parallel to the fold
Repeat steps one through five.
You’ll want your stitches to be about a ½ inch apart and loose.