Know your stitches

Remember doing these at school? Refresh your memory with this handy-to-keep guide!

1. STRAIGHT STITCH

A simple short separate stitch.

2. RUNNING STITCH

Bring your needle through from the back side of the fabric to the front at your starting point. Go back down a short distance from the first point to complete a single stitch. Come up again a short distance and continue, repeating to the end of the stitching area.

3. BLANKET STITCH

Poke your needle down from the top. This should be about 5mm (¼in) over from where the thread first came up, and about 5mm (¼in) up from the edge. To complete your first stitch, bring your needle up from the back, and through the loop of thread.

4. BACKSTITCH

Make a single, straight stitch as long or short as you want. Continue along your pattern line, but come up a space ahead and bring your needle back down into the same hole at the end of the last stitch you made.

5. WHIPSTITCH

Starting between the 2 pieces of fabric to hide your securing knot, insert the needle at a right angle and draw the needle through to the top layer. Insert the needle into the bottom layer of fabric, slightly to the left of the first stitch, and bring up through both piecs of fabric. Continue to work from the right to the left until the 2 edges are joined. Slanted stitches will be produced.