Easy Tutorial: How To Do Embroidery Back Stitch for Beginners

Welcome to the world of hand embroidery! The back stitch is a core technique, a true cornerstone among basic embroidery stitches that every beginner should learn. It’s super helpful because it makes a solid line, perfect for outlining shapes or writing words on fabric. Think of it as drawing with thread. This simple stitch forms the backbone of many designs and is a fundamental part of any good embroidery tutorial for beginners. Learning this one stitch opens up many possibilities for your first projects.

Why Start with the Back Stitch?

So, why begin your learning hand embroidery journey with the back stitch? It’s easy! The back stitch builds a line by working backward, connecting stitches seamlessly. This makes a clean, solid line that stands out. It’s much better for outlining than a simple running stitch, which has gaps.

This stitch is a must-know for several reasons:

It makes clear lines: Great for outlining pictures or shapes.
It’s perfect for text: You can stitch letters that are easy to read.
It’s simple to learn: The steps are not hard to follow.
It’s a base for other stitches: You can use it as a foundation.

Mastering this basic stitch means you’re well on your way to tackling more complex designs and other hand embroidery stitches.

Gathering Your Supplies

Before you start stitching, you need to get a few things together. Having the right tools makes a big difference when you’re learning something new. Here is what you will need for this embroidery tutorial for beginners:

Fabric Choices

Picking the right fabric is important. For beginners, choose fabric that is easy to work with.

Cotton: This is a great choice. Look for medium-weight cotton. It’s stable and holds stitches well.
Linen: Another good option. It can be a bit more expensive, and the weave might be looser.
Aida Cloth: This is usually for cross stitch, but you can use it for simple embroidery. It has easy-to-see holes.

Avoid fabrics that are too stretchy or too thin. They can be tricky for beginners. A simple cotton fabric like calico or quilting cotton is usually perfect. Think about your embroidery fabric guide!

Picking Your Thread

Embroidery thread types can seem confusing at first, but for the back stitch, you will most likely use embroidery floss.

Embroidery Floss: This is the most common type. It’s usually made of mercerized cotton. A standard strand of floss has six smaller strands twisted together. You can use all six strands for a thick line or separate them for a thinner line.
Pearl Cotton: This thread is twisted tighter and has a shiny look. It cannot be separated into strands. It’s also good, but standard floss is more common for the back stitch.

For this tutorial, we will use standard six-strand embroidery floss. Start with a color that shows up well on your fabric.

Choosing Your Needle

The right needle size matters. You need a needle with an eye big enough for your thread and a point sharp enough to go through your fabric easily.

Embroidery Needles (Sharps): These have sharp points to pierce fabric tightly woven. They come in different sizes. Higher numbers mean smaller needles.
Chenille Needles: These are like sharps but have larger eyes. Good if you use more strands of floss or thicker threads.
Tapestry Needles: These have blunt points and larger eyes. They are for fabrics with open weaves, like Aida cloth or canvas, where you pass between threads, not through them.

For standard cotton fabric and embroidery floss (say, 2-3 strands), an embroidery needle size 7 or 9 is a good start. If you use more strands or a looser fabric, you might go up a size (meaning a lower number, like 5 or 6).

Here’s a simple table for needle sizes and common uses:

Needle Size	Typical Thread Amount (Embroidery Floss)	Fabric Type	Notes
9	1-2 strands	Fine cotton, Linen	Smallest commonly used sharps
7	2-3 strands	Medium cotton, Linen	Good all-around for beginners
5	3-4 strands	Medium/Heavy cotton, Linen, Lightweight wool	Handles a bit more thread
3	4-6 strands	Heavy cotton, Canvas	For thicker lines or more strands
24 (Chenille)	3-6 strands, Pearl Cotton size 8	Medium cotton, Linen, Aida cloth (if piercing)	Large eye, sharp point
22 (Chenille)	6 strands, Pearl Cotton size 5	Heavy cotton, Canvas	Even larger eye, still sharp point
24 (Tapestry)	Any amount that fits large eye	Aida cloth, Evenweave (for cross stitch or surface stitching between threads)	Blunt point, large eye, for open weaves

Holding Your Fabric

An embroidery hoop keeps your fabric tight like a drum. This helps your stitches stay even and neat. Hoops come in wood or plastic and different sizes. A hoop that is about 6-8 inches across is good for starting.

Other Handy Tools

Small sharp scissors: For cutting thread cleanly. Embroidery scissors are often small and sharp.
Water-erasable pen or pencil: To draw your design on the fabric (optional, but helpful for practice).
Needle threader: Can be helpful if you have trouble getting the thread through the needle eye.

Preparing Your Project Space

Find a comfy spot with good light. This will save your eyes! Gather all your supplies so they are within easy reach.

Place your fabric over the inner ring of your hoop.
Place the outer ring over the fabric and inner ring.
Push the outer ring down.
Tighten the screw on the outer ring.
Pull the fabric gently around the edges to make it tight in the hoop. It should feel snug, not saggy.

Now your fabric is ready for stitching!

Getting Your Needle Ready

Threading your needle might seem tricky at first, especially with multiple strands of floss.

Cut a piece of embroidery floss about 18-24 inches long. If it’s longer, it can get tangled easily.
Decide how many strands you want to use. For a medium line, try 2 or 3 strands. Carefully pull the number of strands you need away from the main piece of floss. They separate easily.
Hold the end of the strands together.
Wet the end slightly with your lips or a little water. This helps keep the strands together.
Pinch the very end of the thread flat between your thumb and finger.
Push the pinched end through the eye of the needle. A needle threader can make this much easier if needed.
Pull the thread through, leaving a tail about 4-6 inches long. Do NOT tie a knot at the end of the thread yet!

Starting Your First Stitch

Knowing how to end embroidery stitch neatly is important, and the way you start can help with that later. For beginners, starting without a knot on the back is a good skill to learn. This makes the back of your work look tidier.

Here is a simple way to start without a knot:

Thread your needle as shown above, leaving a tail of about 4-6 inches. Don’t knot the long end.
From the back of your fabric, bring your needle up through the fabric where you want your first stitch to begin. Leave that tail on the back side.
Make a very small stitch (maybe 1/8 inch) forward along your line. Go back down through the fabric.
On the back, hold the small tail you left down against the fabric.
When you make your next few stitches, make sure they pass over this tail on the back. This traps the tail under your stitches, holding it securely without a knot.

If this no-knot method feels too hard at first, you can make a small knot at the end of your thread. Just be aware it will show on the back. Place the knot on the back of the fabric where your first stitch will be. Bring the needle up from the back right at the knot.

Stepping Through the Back Stitch

Okay, let’s do the stitch! Remember, the back stitch works backward. You will make a stitch, then come up ahead of it, and go back to meet the end of the last stitch.

Here are the steps for making the back stitch:

Start: Bring your needle up from the back of the fabric at point A. This is the beginning of your line. If you used the no-knot method, your tail is on the back being held down. If you used a knot, it’s snug against the back.
First Stitch: Move the needle forward a short distance along your line (say, about 1/4 inch or the length you want your stitches to be). This is point B. Push the needle back down through the fabric at point B.
Move Ahead: Bring your needle up again from the back of the fabric. This time, come up a stitch-length ahead of point A. Let’s call this point C. So, C is a stitch-length past A, in the direction your line is going.
Go Back: Now, take the needle and go back down through the fabric at point A. This is the end of your first stitch. You are literally going back into the same hole where the first stitch ended.
Repeat: Bring your needle up again from the back, one stitch-length ahead of point C (let’s call it point D). Then, take the needle back down into point C (where your last stitch ended).

You keep repeating step 5. Each new stitch starts by coming up a stitch-length ahead, and then goes back into the hole where the previous stitch finished. This creates a solid line.

Think of it this way: Up (ahead), Down (back to meet). Up (ahead), Down (back to meet).

Visualizing the Process

Imagine your path as a dotted line you want to cover.

Come up at dot 1.
Go down at dot 2. (You made your first stitch from 1 to 2).
Come up at dot 3. (Dot 3 is ahead of dot 2).
Go down at dot 2. (You went back to meet the end of the first stitch).
Come up at dot 4. (Dot 4 is ahead of dot 3).
Go down at dot 3. (You went back to meet the end of the second stitch).

And so on. You are always working backward into the hole you made for the end of the previous stitch. This connection is what makes the back stitch a solid line, unlike a running stitch.

Grasping Stitch Length

Keeping your stitches the same length makes your back stitch line look neat and even. For beginners, shorter stitches are usually easier to control and look tidier. Try to make each stitch about the same size, maybe 1/8 inch to 1/4 inch long.

If you are following a drawn line on your fabric, try to keep the needle coming up and going down right on the line.

Practice making straight lines first. Then try curves. Curves can be a little trickier. Make your stitches shorter on curves. Shorter stitches help the line curve smoothly. If stitches are too long on a curve, the line will look jaggy.

Using Back Stitch as an Outline Stitch Embroidery

The back stitch is the most common stitch used for outline stitch embroidery. When you draw a shape, like a heart or a flower, the back stitch is perfect for tracing that shape with thread. It gives the shape a clear edge.

To use it as an outline:

Draw your shape on the fabric using a water-erasable pen or pencil.
Start stitching at one point on the outline.
Follow the line you drew, making back stitches. Keep your stitches even and follow the curve or angle of the line.

Back stitch is also often used for filling shapes with color by stitching rows close together. But for outlines, it’s number one.

Tips for Clean Back Stitch

Use enough thread, but not too much: About 18-24 inches is good. Longer thread tangles more.
Don’t pull stitches too tight: If you pull too hard, the fabric will bunch up and look puckered. Stitches should lie flat on the fabric.
Keep stitches even: Try to make each stitch the same length. This takes practice!
Check the back: As you stitch, peek at the back of your work. Make sure your thread isn’t getting tangled or making big loops.
Use the right needle and thread for your fabric: This goes back to our embroidery needle sizes and embroidery thread types guide. A too-thick needle can leave big holes. Too thin a needle is hard to thread.
Practice! The more you stitch, the better you get.

Troubleshooting Common Beginner Woes

Even with a simple stitch like the back stitch, you might run into small problems. Don’s worry, this is normal when learning hand embroidery!

Thread gets tangled: This happens! If you get a knot in your thread while stitching, stop. Try to gently work the knot out with your needle tip. If it’s too tight, you might have to cut the thread and start a new piece, making sure you know how to end embroidery stitch properly first. To prevent tangles, use shorter lengths of thread and don’t pull too fast.
Stitches are uneven: This is common for beginners. Your eye and hand need time to learn to make consistent stitches. Just keep practicing! Measuring your stitches with a ruler or having marked dots on your fabric can help train your hand.
Fabric is puckering: You are probably pulling your stitches too tight. Relax your tension. Stitches should lay gently on the surface of the fabric, not pull it. Make sure your hoop is also tight enough, as loose fabric is harder to stitch on evenly.
Hard to go back into the last hole: Make sure you are using a sharp needle (embroidery sharp or chenille, not tapestry). If the fabric is very dense, it can be tricky. Wiggle the needle a tiny bit to find the hole. Sometimes, lifting the fabric slightly can help you see where the last stitch went down.

Finishing Your Stitch

Knowing how to end embroidery stitch securely is just as important as knowing how to start. You don’t want your beautiful work to unravel! The goal is to secure the thread on the back of your fabric without a big knot that might show through or get caught.

Here’s a common way to end your thread neatly:

When you are near the end of your thread, or you have finished your line, bring the needle to the back of the fabric.
Thread the needle underneath several of your already-made stitches on the back. Try to go under 3 or 4 stitches. Pass the needle through the loops of thread on the back.
Pull the thread through gently. Don’t pull so hard that it makes the stitches on the front look tight.
Repeat step 2 and 3, passing the thread under the same or nearby stitches again. Doing this twice makes it extra secure.
Trim the leftover thread close to the fabric, but be careful not to cut the stitches you just secured!

This method hides the thread end and locks it in place under the existing stitches on the back. It keeps the back of your work looking tidy, which is part of a good embroidery stitch guide.

Trying Your First Projects

Once you feel okay doing the back stitch, you can try some simple projects.

Initials or a simple name: Draw letters on fabric and outline them with back stitch.
Simple shapes: Stitch around the outline of a star, heart, or flower.
Straight lines: Practice making rows of back stitch. Try different thread colors or numbers of strands.
Geometric shapes: Stitch around squares, circles, or triangles.

These small projects help you get more comfortable with learning hand embroidery and using the back stitch on different shapes and lines.

Expanding Your Skills

The back stitch is a wonderful starting point. It’s a key part of the collection of basic embroidery stitches. As you get more practice, you can:

Vary your stitch length for different effects.
Combine back stitch with other basic hand embroidery stitches like running stitch, stem stitch (which looks similar but is made differently and makes a rope-like line), or lazy daisy stitch.
Use different embroidery thread types to see how they change the look of your back stitch.
Experiment with different embroidery fabric guides – try stitching on linen or even felt.

Think of this back stitch tutorial for beginners as your first step in a much bigger embroidery stitch guide! There are so many stitches to learn and explore.

Grasping Stitch Direction and Flow

When you are stitching a line or an outline stitch embroidery, think about the direction you are going. For straight lines, it’s simple – just keep going!

For curves or corners:

Curves: Make your stitches shorter along curves. This lets the thread follow the bend smoothly. Stitch around the curve, always pointing your needle in the direction you want the line to go, but bringing it back to the previous stitch.
Corners: When you get to a sharp corner, finish your last stitch right at the point of the corner. For your next stitch, come up on the new line, a stitch-length away from the corner point, and go back down into the corner point you just finished at. This anchors the stitch right at the corner.

Thinking about where you are going and where your last stitch ended helps keep your line smooth, especially on turns.

Deciphering Thread Tension

We talked about not pulling too tight, which causes puckering. But not pulling tight enough can also cause issues. If your thread is too loose, your stitches can look bumpy or sloppy. They might form loops on the back.

Good tension means:

The stitch lies flat on the front of the fabric.
The stitch follows the line neatly.
The fabric doesn’t pucker.
There are no loose loops on the back.

Finding the right tension comes with practice. Gently pull the thread through until the stitch is snug against the fabric, but not tight enough to pull the fabric itself.

Composing with Back Stitch

Back stitch isn’t just for outlines. You can use it in creative ways:

Filling: Stitch rows of back stitch close together to fill an area with solid color. This can create a nice texture.
Bold Lines: Use more strands of embroidery floss for a thicker, more noticeable line.
Mixed Media: Stitch over other materials like felt shapes or paper for decoration.

As you get more comfy, try these ideas. It shows how versatile this basic embroidery stitch can be.

Taking Care of Your Stitched Fabric

After you finish your back stitch project, you might need to remove your design lines if you drew them on. Most water-erasable pens wash away with a little cold water. Check the pen instructions first!

You might also need to iron your finished piece to make it flat. Place the embroidery face down on a soft towel. Use a medium heat iron with steam. Press gently from the back. The towel gives space for the stitches so they don’t get flattened.

Knowing these finishing steps is part of a complete embroidery stitch guide for beginners.

Reflecting on Your First Steps

You’ve now learned how to do the back stitch! This is a fantastic step in learning hand embroidery. This basic embroidery stitch will serve you well in many projects. Remember that every stitch is practice, and it’s okay if your first stitches aren’t perfect. Keep going, and enjoy the process of creating something with your own hands. You’ve just mastered one of the most useful hand embroidery stitches!

Knowing how to do back stitch, how to end embroidery stitch, and having a basic embroidery fabric guide and embroidery needle sizes knowledge means you are well-equipped to start exploring the amazing world of thread and fabric art.

Frequently Asked Questions about Back Stitch

Here are some common questions beginners ask about the back stitch:

Q: What’s the main use of the back stitch?

A: The back stitch is mostly used to make solid lines. It’s perfect for outlining shapes, stitching letters, or creating stems and branches in floral designs. It gives a clean edge.

Q: How is back stitch different from running stitch?

A: The running stitch makes a broken line with gaps between stitches. The back stitch goes back to meet the end of the previous stitch, creating a continuous, solid line with no gaps.

Q: Can I use back stitch for filling shapes?

A: Yes! You can stitch rows of back stitch very close together to fill an area with color. This creates a dense, textured fill.

Q: How many strands of floss should I use?

A: It depends on the look you want and your fabric. For a thin, delicate line, use 1 or 2 strands. For a medium line (good for outlines), 2 or 3 strands are common. For a thicker, bolder line, use 4 to 6 strands. Experiment to see what you like!

Q: My thread keeps twisting while I stitch. What can I do?

A: This happens often, especially with multiple strands of floss. Let your needle and thread dangle freely every so often. This lets the thread untwist itself. Using shorter lengths of thread (like 18 inches) also helps prevent twisting.

Q: How can I make my stitches all the same length?

A: Practice is key! For beginners, drawing a line with small dots or marks on your fabric can help guide your stitch length. As you stitch more, you’ll get a feel for making even stitches without guides.

Q: Do I always have to end my thread by weaving it under stitches?

A: This is the neatest way, especially if the back of your work might be seen. If you are framing the piece or the back won’t be visible, you can use a small knot, but weaving is a good habit to build for clean finishing.

Q: What is the best fabric for practicing back stitch?

A: A medium-weight, tightly woven cotton fabric is usually best for beginners. It’s stable, easy to put in a hoop, and the needle goes through it easily. Calico or quilting cotton are good choices.

You’ve got this! Keep practicing, and enjoy the rewarding process of bringing designs to life with your needle and thread.