Embroidery Basics: The Straight Stitch

The Straight Stitch is the most basic of all stitches, used both in hand sewing and embroidery. It is considered by many to be the most important stitch to learn and feel comfortable with first. Knowing how to do a straight stitch is a fundamental. A total novice who has never held needle and thread in hand can create a straight stitch - and once you have the spacing down, you can use this single stitch to create a wide variety of effects in your embroidery.

Materials Needed: A Needle (Any sewing needle will work but as you move on to floss you will need embroidery sewing needles) Thread or Embroidery Floss Printing Paper (for card practice) OR Fabric and Embroidery Hoop The materials above are for practicing the straight stitch using the Print & Practice Card provided. You can print as many copies as you like and practice until you feel comfortable. Then, you should move on to using embroidery floss and fabric. It is recommended that you use an embroidery hoop at this point, but not vital.

Print & Practice Cards are wonderful little tools that I love designing and teaching with. They allow you to practice the stitch with guidance before moving on the more scary-feeling thread into fabric. So, first, open the image below by clicking on it. Then, right-click it and save it to your computer. Print it on printer paper.

Alternatively, capture your chosen fabric in an embroidery hoop.

Cut a length of thread or embroidery floss about 15 in. long. If using embroidery floss, carefully separate 3 strings from the length and pull them together from the skein.  Standard embroidery floss has 6 strands of thread. Gently untwisting the thread will reveal the strands.   To unravel the strands for embroidery, separate 3 strands to one side and 3 to the other. Gently tug down the length so that the one thread turns into two. You will be working with one of these - set the other aside for later. Thread your needle using the separated skeins or the thread you have chosen. Gently tug your thread (or skeins, but we'll just refer to it as thread from here on out) so that you have about 2 in. on one side of your threaded needle and the remaining length tailing off it. At the end of the tail, create a simple knot to prevent the thread coming right through your fabric (or, when starting out, the Print & Practice Card). To the left, about 2 inches of thread hangs loose. At the end of the other length, make a simple knot. Bring your needle up from behind at Point A, the starting point, and pull until the knot stops gently at the backside. Move your needle forward and push back through the front to the back at Point B. Keep pulling until the thread is smooth and flat against the surface. Your needle and long length of thread will be at the back again. One straight stitch has been made. Move your needle to the next Point A and push up, pulling the needle and thread toward you to the front of the surface again. Move the needle to the next Point B (keep going from left to right - don't go backward) and push through to the back again. Each time you pull the needle and thread to the front or the back, make sure that the thread lies flat against the surface. Two straight stitches have been made. Straight lines of running stitch just keep on going from left to right. Continue from left to right, up at Point A and down at Point B. Using the Print & Practice Card, you can see how each stitch should be as close to the exact same size as the one before it. When you have completed a line, wrap it around a stitch on the back side and knot it off. First, slip your needle under the last stitch on the back. Pull enough thread through that you have a small circle. Thread your needle through this circle and begin to tighten. Once tightened, the knot will be secured around the last stitch made. Cut close to the knot. The trick to different effects comes further down the card - your stitches don't have to be spaced the same width as your stitch itself. It is just the stitches that need to be uniform. Continue down the card - or practice on another one - until you're comfortable with the method. Once you feel comfortable that you can make your top stitches even and the spacing between stitches uniform, try your hand at the Straight Stitch on fabric. An embroidery hoop isn't absolutely necessary, but using one will help you keep everything even and tidy.