Ten basic stitches for hand embroidery

There are hundreds of embroidery stitches, and you do not need to know them all to begin. These ten are a good first set: running stitch, back stitch, split stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch, French knot, chain stitch, lazy daisy, blanket stitch, and long and short stitch. Between them they make lines, letters, fills, dots and edges.

Each stitch below links to its own page in the stitch library. Directions are written for right-handed stitchers. If you are left-handed, work the line stitches in the opposite direction. For stem stitch that means traveling from right to left with the working thread above the needle.

Which embroidery stitch to use for what

Before you start

Put your fabric in a hoop and use a sharp embroidery needle. Two or three strands of floss give a clear line. See how many strands of floss to use. Draw straight lines, curves and a few small shapes on a scrap of cotton and try one stitch on each. Keep the scrap, and you have a sampler to look back at.

The ten stitches

1. Running stitch

The most basic stitch: a dashed line made by taking the needle up and down through the fabric. Bring the needle up, go down one stitch length ahead, come up again after a gap of about the same length, and repeat. Keep the stitches and the gaps even. Use it for light outlines. It is also the stitch used in Japanese sashiko. Running stitch

2. Back stitch

A solid line with no gaps between the stitches. Bring the needle up one stitch length ahead of the start of the line, then go down at the start. Come up one stitch length beyond the stitch you just made, and go back down into the hole at its end. Each stitch travels backward to meet the last one. Use shorter stitches on curves. Back stitch

3. Split stitch

A fine line that looks like a tiny chain. Make one straight stitch. Bring the needle up through the middle of that stitch, splitting the thread, and make the next stitch the same length forward along the line. Repeat, always coming up through the stitch before. Use it for outlines and delicate curved lines, and as the outline under satin stitch. Split stitch

4. Stem stitch

A rope-like line that takes curves well. Work from left to right. Make one straight stitch and bring the needle up halfway back along it, on the line. For the next stitch, go down half a stitch length beyond the end of the first and come up at the end of the first, so that every stitch overlaps the one before by half. Keep the working thread below the needle every time. With ordinary cotton floss, if the thread swaps sides you lose the rope look and get outline stitch instead. Shorten the stitches on tight curves. Stem stitch

5. Satin stitch

A smooth, solid fill for small shapes, made of straight stitches laid side by side. Bring the needle up on one edge of the shape and go down across the shape on the opposite edge. Come up again right beside where you started, on the first edge, and repeat, so that the stitches lie side by side and touch. Start in the middle of the shape and fill to one end, then go back to the middle and fill the other half. Outlining the shape in split stitch first, and stitching just over that outline, gives a crisper edge. Satin stitch

6. French knot

A small raised dot. Bring the needle up and hold the thread taut with your other hand. Wrap the thread around the needle once or twice. Keeping the thread taut, put the needle tip back into the fabric very close to where it came up, but not into the same hole. Slide the wraps down against the fabric and pull the needle through, holding the thread taut until the knot forms. For a bigger knot, use more strands. French knot

7. Chain stitch

A line of linked loops. Bring the needle up, put it back down into the same hole and bring the tip out one stitch length ahead, with the working thread looped under the tip. Pull through gently to form a loop. Start the next stitch inside that loop, going down where the thread came out. Finish the row with a small stitch over the end of the last loop to hold it. Chain stitch

8. Lazy daisy

A single chain stitch used alone, also called detached chain. Make one chain loop, then take the needle down just outside the tip of the loop to hold it with a tiny stitch. Several loops around a center make a daisy. One loop makes a petal or a small leaf. Lazy daisy stitch

9. Blanket stitch

A row of upright stitches joined by a line along one edge, so that each stitch makes an L shape. Working left to right, bring the needle up on the edge line. Go down above the line and a little to the right, then come up on the edge line directly below, with the working thread under the needle tip. Pull through so the thread forms a corner. Repeat along the line, and finish with a small stitch on the edge to hold the last loop. Use it on the edges of felt and blankets. Blanket stitch

10. Long and short stitch

A fill for shapes too large for satin stitch, and the stitch used for shading. Work the first row along one edge of the shape, alternating a long stitch and a short one, so the row has one firm edge and one broken edge. Work each following row into the one before, bringing the needle up through the stitches of the earlier row. From the second row on, the stitches can all be about the same length. Changing to a nearby shade from row to row blends the colors, which is why it is also called shading stitch and is the stitch behind needle painting. Long and short stitch

Embroidery stitches for letters

Back stitch works well for simple printed lettering, with small, evenly spaced stitches. Two strands of floss in a size 8 embroidery needle is a setup to start from. Published needle charts differ a little: the two in the needle sizes guide give a size 9, or a 7, for two strands. Stem stitch suits cursive, because its rope-like line follows curves: shorten the stitches as you go into a tight curve and lengthen them again as you come out. Split stitch also works for lettering, and for very small text you can try whipped back stitch. For thick letters, outline each stroke in split stitch and cover it with satin stitch. A French knot can serve as the dot on an i or a j.

Do not carry the thread across the back from one letter to the next where they do not touch. It can show through from the front. End the thread and start again.

Common problems

• Back stitch has gaps. Go down into the hole at the end of the stitch before, every time.
• Stem stitch loses its twist. The working thread changed sides. Keep it below the needle when you travel left to right, and turn the hoop as you go so that you are always traveling the same way.
• Satin stitch has a ragged edge. Stitch over a split stitch outline and take each stitch just outside it.
• Satin stitch looks ridged. Use one strand of floss for the satin stitches. Two or more strands twist around each other and do not lie flat.
• The French knot pulled through to the back. The needle went down the same hole it came up. Go down very close to it instead.
• The French knot is loose and loopy. The thread went slack. Keep it taut the whole time the needle is going through.
• Chain stitch puckers the fabric. The loops are pulled too tight. This stitch puckers easily, most of all on curves.
• The fabric puckers under any stitch. Keep the fabric taut in the hoop and do not pull the stitches so tight that they distort it.

If you have not stitched before, read how to start first.