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Straight stitches · Beginner

Long stitch

Straight stitches that each run from one edge of a shape to the other, so the outline sets every length. Quick to work, and what long stitch kits are named for.

Long stitch: the finished stitch on canvas, 18 stitches, all upright, in two colors
The finished stitch on canvas. One color is a hill and the other the sky above it; where they meet, two stitches share a hole. In the steps, new stitches are red, and the numbers give the order: up at an odd number, down at the next even one.

How to work it

  1. Stitch from edge to edge

    Long stitch, step 1: the first stitch on the canvas. Numerals 1 and 2 mark its ends, in working order.

    Bring the needle up at one edge of the shape and take it down at the opposite edge, straight across. The shape here is a hill, begun at its bottom left corner: up on the base, down two threads above it.

  2. Let the outline set each length

    Long stitch, step 2: nine stitches on the canvas, the eight this step adds in red. Numerals 3 and 4 mark the ends of the first new stitch, in working order.

    Come up in the next hole to the right along the base and go down where the outline crosses, three threads up. Continue across, one stitch in every column of holes: here five, six, six, four, three, two and two threads.

  3. Begin the next shape at its bare edge

    Long stitch, step 3: nine stitches on the canvas, and a dot in the hole where the needle comes up next.

    For the sky above the hill, come up at the top, where the canvas is still bare: eight threads above the base, straight above the hill's first stitch.

  4. Stitch into the shared holes

    Long stitch, step 4: 18 stitches on the canvas, the nine this step adds in red.

    Go down six threads below, into the hole where the hill's first stitch ends. Continue across: up at the top, down where the hill's stitch in that column ends.

At a glance

Used for
whole pictures; landscapes; filling a shape of any outline
Coverage
Full, with a thread a little thicker than for tent stitch
Direction
Upright, horizontal or slanted (upright in the pictures)
Stitch length
From edge to edge of the shape (2 to 6 canvas threads in the pictures)

Because the stitch takes any outline, plain areas of color filled this way build a whole picture, such as a landscape, and a change of stitch direction alone sets one area off from the next. A long stitch kit is such a picture, with the design printed on the canvas and a diagram of which stitches are upright and which horizontal.

For a well-covered back, bring the needle up at the same edge for every stitch of a shape, as the steps do. To save thread on a shape with bare canvas at both edges, come up instead beside the hole the last stitch went down in, which leaves only short stitches on the back. Beside a finished shape there is no choice: always come up in the bare hole, or the needle drags fibers of one color into the other.

Upright Gobelin is the same stitch at one fixed length, and bargello steps stitches of one length up and down in a line that every row repeats.

Tips

  • Stroke a stranded thread flat with a laying tool or the needle as each stitch is pulled through.
  • Thread for long stitch can be cut longer than the 18 inches (45 cm) that suit tent stitch, because long stitches use it up before it wears thin. One seller of long stitch kits, which come with a soft matte cotton, gives 32 to 40 inches (80 to 100 cm). That length is for long stitches in a thread of that kind: a knot stitch wraps the thread around the needle, and for knots 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm) is far less likely to tangle.
  • Start with an away knot, on the front of the canvas off to the side, far enough away to leave a tail you can thread. After a few stitches cut it off, thread its tail and run it under the back of the stitches, then back the other way. End every thread with the same two passes: long stitches grip a tail loosely.

When it goes wrong

Canvas shows between the stitches.
Add a strand or ply, trying it in the margin first, or slant the stitches, which covers better.
The stitches sag or catch.
They are too long: a stitch is held only at its two ends. Divide the area into bands of shorter stitches that share a line of holes, or into small squares stitched upright and horizontal in turn.
The canvas puckers.
The stitches are too tight, and the canvas will not stretch flat again. Hold it flat while stitching, by hand or on a frame, and let each stitch lie without pulling.
A thin gap shows where areas stitched in different directions meet.
End each new stitch in a hole that the edge of the neighboring area already covers, so the new stitches tuck under it.

Questions

Is long stitch the same as satin stitch?
They are made the same way. The stitch is called satin stitch where it fills a small smooth shape among tent stitches, such as a petal, a leaf or a narrow border, and long stitch where it fills a whole picture.
How long can a long stitch be?
On a pillow, a bag or a belt, which get wear, keep each stitch to a few canvas threads. On a framed piece or an ornament, stitches over six or eight threads are safe and about twenty is the limit.

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