Overcast stitch is a type of stitch used to enclose a raw, or unfinished, seam or edge. The purpose is to prevent unraveling of the fabric.

Variations

The hand overcast stitch involves small, evenly spaced diagonal stitches, binding the raw edge of the fabric. To create an overcast stitch with a sewing machine, an overcast foot or regular foot can be used. The overcast foot has an edge guide that helps the fabric to feed evenly along the edge and a bar in the middle that controls the stitch and makes it lay flat. Hand overcast stitch

Applications

Overcast stitches may be reversible, as when they are used to join together

crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from ...

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s. There are several different kinds of overcast stitches. A straight overcast stitch is used for finishing edges in

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cutwork Cutwork or cut work, also known as ''punto tagliato'' in Italian, is a needlework technique in which portions of a textile, typically cotton or linen, are cut away and the resulting "hole" is reinforced and filled with embroidery or needle lace. ...

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blanket stitch __NOTOC__ The blanket stitch is a stitch used to reinforce the edge of thick materials. Depending on circumstances, it may also be called a ''cable stitch'' or a ''crochet stitch''. It is "a decorative stitch used to finish an unhemmed blanket. ...

, used to finish edges of wool blankets, is another common overcast stitch.

Embroidery

In embroidery, an overcast stitch is a raised line stitch used on even-weave fabrics. It is commonly used for outlining designs. There are two methods of creating an embroidered overcast stitch. In one method, a line is stitched to create padding, then another thread covers the padding stitches in small stitches at right angles to the padding stitches. The other method is called detached overcast stitching, and involves two alternating padding stitches that pick up the fabric, followed by overcast stitches that cover the padding stitches without picking up the fabric.

References

Embroidery stitches {{textile-arts-stub Stitches (textile arts)