Sewing is a skill that at least one person in the house needs to know. The world of sewing is very diverse; being an age-old art and necessity, it is practiced all over the world and each different place has its unique ways of sewing and stitching. With all these different ways of sewing, there are hundreds of types of fancy stitches, but for learners, we are going to discuss the five basic stitches you need to have in your sewing arsenal. You can learn more about sewing on this site.
Cross-stitch
In cross-stitching X-shaped stitches are made when two stitches cross each other. Cross stitching is commonly employed to make decorative embroidery. The way to make one is to insert the thread bearing needle from the bottom, pull the thread all the way up, and insert it back in a diagonal position and then pull the needle all the way to make one diagonal stitch, repeat this process again to cross the second and make an X. Repeat this process to create the required design.
Running Stitch
Straight stitch or the running stitch is the simplest and quickest way to stitch. Used to stitch two pieces of cloth together, you can use this technique to patch up holes and make very basic embroidery. It works just the way it looks, the thread alternating between the two sides of the joint fabrics, looks like a dashed line. One characteristic of the running stitch is that it involves no overlapping of threads to make it look as simple and clean as possible. A simple way to remember this one is “running in and out”, as you just need to pass the thread in and out of the plane of the fabric.
Whipstitch
The Whipstitch is a good way to stitch two pieces of fabric together at the edge. When two fabrics are joined together at the edges, whipstitches are made by crossing the thread through them in a spiral shape. Slanted stitches are produced, which can be short or long depending on how close together you’ve made the stitches. Short stitches are stronger and more common in making stuff that needs to be tough.
Backstitch
The backstitch is pretty much the same as the running stitch. More commonly used as a decorative stitch because of its neatness, the backstitch is done by penetrating the cloth from the backside. After that, the thread is moved in and out just like the running stitch. It is upon you to decide what proportion of the stitching thread should be hidden behind the cloth and how much should be exposed.
Ladder stitch
This type of stitch is not much used in decorative work but mostly in tailoring. The ladder stitch looks like a ladder, a series of bars of thread that is transverse to the edge of fabrics being stitched together. Also called the blind stitch, it’s great for finishing seams invisibly.
