Blanket Stitch

What you will learn

• Catching the loop
• Even height and spacing
• Turning corners

Materials and tools

• Embroidery hoop, 5 or 6 in (13 or 15 cm)
• Plain cotton or linen practice fabric
• Embroidery (crewel) needle, size 5 to 7
• Six-strand embroidery floss
• Embroidery scissors
• Water-soluble or heat-erasable marking pen

Before you start

• Put the fabric in the hoop so it is drum-tight.
• Cut 18 in (45 cm) of floss, separate the strands you need, thread the needle and knot one end.

1. Draw two parallel lines 1/4 in (6 mm) apart. The lower one is the baseline, or the fabric edge if you are edging.
2. Come up on the baseline at the left end.
3. Go down on the top line one stitch width to the right, and come up directly below on the baseline. Before pulling through, make sure the working thread lies under the needle point.
4. Pull through. The thread forms an upright with a horizontal bar along the baseline.
5. Repeat: down on the top line, up on the baseline, thread under the needle.
6. To finish, make a tiny stitch over the last bar to hold the corner square.

Tips for a neat result

• On an edge, the needle comes out past the edge instead of through the baseline, with the thread behind it.
• Mark dots along the top line to keep spacing even.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check your result

• Uprights are the same height and spacing.
• The bar along the base is a continuous line.

Projects that use this