![Pattern darning](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Pattern_darning.jpg)
The straight or running stitch is the basic
stitch in hand-
sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabr ...
and
embroidery
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...
, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the
needle in and out of the
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
at a regular distance. All other stitches are created by varying the straight stitch in length, spacing, and direction.
Some sources only use the term straight stitch to refer to the individual stitch or its family of related stitches, while others use it interchangeably with or in place of running stitch. Running stitch will never be used to refer to a single stitch since a single running stitch is a straight stitch.
Running stitches are most often not visible as they are used to close
seams
Seam may refer to:
Science and technology
* Seam (geology), a stratum of coal or mineral that is economically viable; a bed or a distinct layer of vein of rock in other layers of rock
* Seam (metallurgy), a metalworking process the joins the en ...
.
Running stitch,
Holbein or double-running stitch,
satin stitch
In sewing and embroidery, a satin stitch or damask stitch is a series of flat stitches that are used to completely cover a section of the background fabric. Narrow rows of satin stitch can be executed on a standard sewing machine using a zigzag ...
and darning stitch are all classed as straight or flat stitches.
Backstitch
Backstitch or ''back stitch'' and its variants ''stem stitch'', ''outline stitch'' and ''split stitch'' are a class of embroidery and sewing stitches in which individual stitches are made backward to the general direction of sewing. In embroid ...
is also sometimes included in this category.
[Enthoven, Jacqueline: ''The Creative Stitches of Embroidery'', Van Norstrand Rheinhold, 1964, , p. 29-46]
Uses
Embroidery
Seams, Hems, and Tailoring
Running stitches are used in hand-sewing and
tailor
A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century.
History
Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...
ing to sew basic seams, hems and
gathers
Gathers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Hank Gathers (1967–1990), American basketball player
* James Gathers (1930–2002), American sprinter
* Rico Gathers (born 1994), American basketball player
See also
* Mathers ...
; in hand
patchwork
Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...
to assemble pieces of light fabrics; and in
quilting
Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. A ...
to hold the fabric layers and
batting or wadding in place. Loosely spaced rows of short running stitches are used to support
padded satin stitch.
Darning
Darning has two purposes, decorative and functional, though it is often both.
Darning for decorative purposes, often referred to as Pattern darning, is an ancient technique in which parallel rows of straight stitches in varying lengths are arranged to form geometric patterns.
[Christie, Grace: ''Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving'', London, John Hogg, 1912] Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese ''Kogin'' embroidery is a pattern darning style from the island of
Honshū
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...
, often worked in white
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
thread on rough, dark blue
indigo-dyed linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
.
Running stitches are a component of many traditional embroidery styles, including
kantha
Kantha also spelled kanta, and qanta, is a type of embroidery craft in the Bangladesh and eastern regions of India, particularly in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Odisha. In Odisha, old saris are stacked on each other and hand-sti ...
of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese
sashiko quilting
is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Owing to the relatively cheap nature of white cotton thread and the abundant nature of cheap, indigo-dye ...
and other embroidery styles such as pattern darning and redwork.
Related stitches
*The running stitch family includes looped running stitches, laced running stitches, whipped running stitches, and others like the Holbein stitch, seed stitch and more.
*
Basting stitches, also called "tailor's tack", are long-running stitches used to keep two pieces of fabric or
trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
aligned during final sewing, or to otherwise temporarily sew two pieces together.
*
Darning stitches are closely spaced
parallel
Parallel is a geometric term of location which may refer to:
Computing
* Parallel algorithm
* Parallel computing
* Parallel metaheuristic
* Parallel (software), a UNIX utility for running programs in parallel
* Parallel Sysplex, a cluster of ...
rows of running stitches used to fill or reinforce worn areas of a textile, or as decoration.
*
Holbein Hans Holbein may refer to:
* Hans Holbein the Elder
Hans Holbein the Elder ( , ; german: Hans Holbein der Ältere; – 1524) was a German painter.
Life
Holbein was born in free imperial city of Augsburg (Germany), and died in Issenheim, Alsa ...
or double-running stitches have a second row of running stitches worked in a reverse direction in between the stitches of the first pass, to make a solid line of stitching.
*Double darning stitches are closely spaced (but not overlapping) rows of Holbein stitches.
[''Complete Guide to Needlework'', p. 46-47]
Stitch gallery
Image:Arrowhead stitch.gif, Arrowhead stitch
Image:Eye stitch.gif, Eye stitch
Image:Algerian eye stitch.gif, Algerian eye stitch
Image:Fishbone stitch.gif, Fishbone stitch
Image:Open fishbone stitch.gif, Open fishbone stitch
Image:Raised fishbone stitch.gif, Raised fishbone stitch
Image:Flat stitch.gif, Flat stitch
See also
*
Blackwork embroidery
Blackwork, sometimes historically termed Spanish blackwork, is a form of embroidery generally worked in black thread, although other colours are also used on occasion, as in scarletwork, where the embroidery is worked in red thread. Originating ...
*
Darning
*
Embroidery stitch
In everyday language, a stitch in the context of embroidery or hand-sewing is defined as the movement of the embroidery needle from the back of the fibre to the front side and back to the back side. The thread stroke on the front side produced ...
es
References
Further reading
*Caulfield, S.F.A., and B.C. Saward, ''The Dictionary of Needlework'', 1885.
*Christie, Grace (Mrs. Archibald Christie: ''Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving'', London, John Hogg, 1912
*Eaton, Jan. ''Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches'', Revised by Jan Eaton. London: Hodder&Stoughton, 1989.
*Enthoven, Jacqueline: ''The Creative Stitches of Embroidery'', Van Norstrand Rheinhold, 1964,
*Reader's Digest, ''Complete Guide to Needlework''. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (March 1992).
*Levey, S. M. and D. King, ''The Victoria and Albert Museum's Textile Collection Vol. 3: Embroidery in Britain from 1200 to 1750'', Victoria and Albert Museum, 1993,
Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials
External links
The '' Crimson Thread of Kinship '' is a 12-metre-long embroidery predominantly using a straight stitchat the National Museum of Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Straight Stitch
Embroidery stitches