backstitch (partial backstitch and full backstitch)

The backstitch is one of the basic stitches used in many of our projects. It is a very tight and secure hand stitch that produce a relatively strong seam. It is also one of the most commonly used stitch across all needle crafts. I always use it to sew fabric pieces together, to secure the thread at the beginning and the end of the stitching instead of a knot, to do decoration, and sometimes I use it for hemming.

This method can be worked in two ways, either a partial backstitch or a full backstitch. The partial backstitch looks like the simplest running stitch on the right side and the full backstitch looks like machine stitching.

How I sew a partial backstitch 

The amount of space between the partial backstitches on the right side may be vary, depending on the length of the stitch that brought backwards. Some might like to make a quarter-backstitch and some might like to make a half-backstitch. To me, I like to make a three-quarter-backstitch in order to get long stitches with a small space in between.

 Thread the needle and tie a knot at the end. Bring the needle up from the underside of the fabric. Pull the thread through.

After bringing the thread through at A, insert the needle at B and come out at C.

This is the first stitch.

 Reinsert the needle back just in front of the first stitch (or any point in the space) and run the needle through as the previous step. Try to keep the distance same as the length of the previous stitch as possible as you can.

 Pull the thread through, and now you can see the two stitches standing very near.

Repeat these steps, continue to the end of the seam. Then you can see the outcome as the picture shown above.

How I sew a full backstitch 

The steps of making the full backstitch almost the same as you make the partial backstitch. The only difference is there is no space between stitches in a full backstitched line, so you have to send the needle back down through the fabric exactly at the end of the previous stitch when you make a full backstitch. Then, send the needle up through the fabric a stitch away from the previous stitch.

Send the needle back down through the fabric exactly at the end of the previous stitch. Then, bring the needle up at left of central point (where the yellow thread came out). The distance on the right and left of the central point should be equal. Repeat the steps and keeping stitch length constant.

A line of full backstitches will looks like this.