Witchy Stitches: Running Stitch

Next up in Witchy Stitches repertoire is the Running Stitch. Used as a filler and sometimes an outlining stitch, it fills in and looks good at the same time. It also works very well for more rustic items, like the example I’ll be showing you at the end.

Step One: Just as before, until you get comfortable with how much you draw on your thread, you can anchor your stitches with a small knot with the tail trimmed close to the knot itself.

Step Two: Start out by taking the needle up through the fabric and down a stitch length to the right.

Step Three: Go a stitch length from your stitch and go up through the fabric, then take it down a stitch length to the right.

Continue this until you have a nice little stretch.

If you’re comfortable with your stitching, you can take the needle and go through the fabric. Instead of pulling the needle all the way through, just go a bit through the material and then come up a stitch length to the right.

Just like this! I can usually pick up three to four stitches in this method, even with my short little hook. You do need to be careful when doing the running stitch like this, as you can get knots at the back of your stitches that will stop you dead in your tracks as you pull the thread out.

And yeah, every now and then you’ll get irregular stitches, but I think that’s what gives it a rustic look.

You’ll end up with a line like this.

To end your stitches, take a stitch at the end, flip your piece over and thread your thread back through the last stitch. When you pull almost all the way through, stick your needle through the loop you’ve created and then pull through and knot.

Kinda like the bottom example I’m showing here.

Like I said before, the running stitch works great for “rustic” types of projects. Here I used it as the “siding” for this rustic barn piece I made for my mom. Worked fabulously.

One word of warning… When doing a running stitch, you might want to take care to look at the weight of your fabric. Why you ask? The thinner the fabric, the more likely you are to see the thread through the fabric on the blank spots. So you’d want to use a paler thread with a thinner fabric. On this piece I used duck, or a very thick cotton fabric, so it’s not as noticeable.

Witchy Stitches: Back Stitch

The first few stitches I will show you will be super easy. They’re usually used as outline stitches for your projects.

Your first stitch will be back stitching. As you see here, it’s used as a border, but also as a filler stitch, using three different colors of floss to make the bubbles.

Most of Witchie’s stitches in her hat, the cat, her eyes, eyebrows, mouth and face are back stitching.

Step one. Start out your thread with a teeny tiny little knot at the end and snip off any tail that might be left. When you’re first learning how to embroider, knotting the end is the best bet to secure your stitches. As you become more familiar with it, you can leave the end strand loose and just stitch it into the back of the piece you’re doing. I’ll show you how to do that another time.

Go up through your fabric.

Then go down one stitch length behind your beginning hole.

Pull the thread taut.

Go up through the thread one stitch length from the first beginning stitch and down through the fabric right next to the first beginning stitch.

Pull taut and continue until you have your first few rows of back stitching.

To end your line and tie off your stitches, turn your hoop over and using the needle, go through the last stitch.

Pull your thread carefully through and when you have a small loop, thread your needle through.

Pull taut and snip your tail.

You’ve just finished your first stitch!!! Keep a look out for our next stitch, the running stitch, shown here: