Hand Stitches 101
A beginner’s guide to a few basic stitches for sewing by hand
Hello friends! Today I am going to give you a quick tutorial on sewing by hand. If you are a beginner, you may on occasion find yourself needing/wanting to hand stitch something, and there are a few different stitches you can use. This will by no means be an exhaustive list, as there are many, MANY, stitches a person can do by hand. This also does not cover all the beginner embroidery stitches. This is a quick review of the basic stitches one would use for sewing simple seams by hand. Let’s go!
Practicing
When you are first learning these stitches, grab a scrap of fabric. You don’t even need to sew two pieces together, just practice on a single piece until you get really good at straight even stitches. I suggest using a ruler to draw some straight lines across your fabric, and using them to guide your stitches. This will help you get the hang of sewing in a nice straight line.
Basting Stitch
A basting stitch is used for exactly what is sounds like: basting. Basting is the process of temporarily tacking a seam to hold things in place more securely than pins, before sewing the final seam. It is very helpful when sewing multiple layers, as it keeps everything exactly where it should be. You will often find instructions for basting in Boo and Lu patterns, and while we frequently use a machine for this, basting by hand can be useful too!
Bring your needle from the back side of the fabric up to the right side. Making a long stitch (3/8″ (1cm) or so), bring the needle back down from the right to the wrong side of the fabric.
Bring the needle up again, about 5/8″ (1.5cm) from the end of the first stitch. Continue in this manner. You will have a long line of stitches, with the gap between the stitches being roughly 1.5x the length of the stitch itself.
Running Stitch
A running stitch is similar to a basting stitch, but the stitches will be closer together. The length of the stitch and space between the stitches will determine its function. For example, for a seam that joins two pieces of fabric, you would use a short stitch with a shorter space. For using as gathering stitches, which then get pulled tight to create gathers/ruffles), you would use a longer stitch.
The method for the running stitch is identical to the basting stitch, with an adjustment of stitch length. Practice this stitch often with different lengths, working to get nice even stitches.
Backstitch
A backstitch is a very strong stitch. It is ideal for seams that need strength and longevity. Any seam that will be subjected to much pulling will benefit from a backstitch.
Begin the backstitch by creating one stitch that goes from the back side of the fabric, up to the right side, and back down again (just like the first stitch of a running stitch).
Next, bring the needle back up to the right side of the fabric, one stitch length over.
From here, take the needle down right into the end point of the first stitch.
Bring the needle up one stitch length over. Repeat the process.
This creates a very strong reinforced seam.
Whip Stitch
A whip stitch is a fast way to join two pieces of fabric at the edge of the fabric, partially enclosing it. This is a quick and easy way to sew two edges together. You can also use a whip stitch as a way of enclosing the edge of a seam, by first sewing the seam using a short running stitch or a backstitch, and then doing a whip stitch along the edge using close tight stitches to prevent fraying.
To sew a whip stitch, begin by bring the needle from the wrong side of the fabric up to the right side, by the fabric edge. You can determine the distance from the edge based on how long you would like the stitches to be.
Bring the needle around the edge of the fabric, and then back up from the wrong to the right side of the fabric.
With a whip stitch, every stitch will begin on the wrong side, and then come up through the right side, wrapping around the fabric edge as you go.
That’s it! Four very simple new hand sewing stitches for you to practice.
Hand stitches are very easy once you learn them, but they can take some practice to get just right. Take your time to practice stitching in straight lines, and even stitches.
For our next hand sewing tutorial, we will go over progressions of these stitches, and the beginnings of decorative stitches!
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