How to work back stitch
The best first stitch: a solid, even line for outlines and lettering.
Step by step
- Bring the needle up one stitch length along the line from where it starts.
- Take it back down at the very start of the line, making one stitch backwards.
- Come up again one stitch length ahead of the end of that stitch.
- Go back down into the same hole as the end of the previous stitch, so the stitches touch.
- Repeat, keeping every stitch the same length. Make them shorter around curves.
Pinny's tip
Shorter stitches follow a curve far more smoothly than long ones.
Shorter stitches follow a curve far more smoothly than long ones.
Watch
How to do back stitch | Beginner Embroidery Techniques (3:48)
By Clever Poppy · Open on YouTube
Chosen from its title and channel: a 3-minute video from Clever Poppy on the same topic as this guide. Embedded from YouTube with credit; we don't host it. It only loads when you press play.
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Sources
All checked November 1, 2026. We read these; we did not test the products ourselves.