Backstitch is a straight, linear stitch worked after the cross stitches in a design are complete. Where cross stitch fills area, backstitch draws — it's what turns a grid of colored blocks into a picture with crisp edges, is often used for lettering.
How to work it
- Bring the needle up at the point where you want the line to start.
- Skip ahead one stitch-length along the line you're outlining, and insert the needle down.
- Bring the needle back up one stitch-length further ahead again.
- Insert the needle down at the point where your first stitch started — this "steps backward" to close the gap, which is where the stitch gets its name.
- Repeat: come up one length ahead, go back down at the end of the previous stitch.
The result is an unbroken line with no gaps on the front of the fabric, unlike a running stitch.
Reading backstitch on a chart
On a pattern, backstitch is shown as a solid line drawn over the grid — not filled into a square like a cross stitch symbol. The chart key will specify a floss color and often the number of strands to use (usually fewer strands than the cross stitch itself, since backstitch is meant to read as a fine line, not a bold one). Check the abbreviations and symbols glossary if a chart labels backstitch as "BS," which is standard shorthand.
Tips
- Always work backstitch after the surrounding cross stitches are finished — it's much easier to place an outline accurately against stitches that already exist than to stitch around a line first.
- Keep tension light. Backstitch pulled too tight will bow the fabric slightly and distort the shape it's meant to define.
- For long straight lines (borders, verse text), it can help to work in short sections rather than trying to keep a perfectly even stitch length across a long run freehand.
What it's used for
Outlining shapes, adding fine linear detail (letters, whiskers, facial features, borders), and giving definition to areas of full cross stitch that would otherwise blur together.