How to Handsew: The Baste Stitch

Even if you have loads of fancy machines and tools, there is no replacement for hand sewing in certain situations in garment construction. It lends the hand of the maker to the finished item and allows you to use couture sewing techniques when sewing your own clothes. In this series of posts, I will guide you through the main hand sewing stitches that you might encounter while sewing garments.

how to handsew a baste stitch on Craftsy!

In today’s post, we will get familiar with the baste stitch. You probably have sewn baste stitches before on your sewing machine by simply sewing a straight stitch on a long stitch length, 4.0 or higher, so in theory, this is close to the same principal. Though there are many reasons to use a machine for this step, the length of a machine sewn baste stitch is limited to the machine’s settings, where sewing a baste by hand can be even longer, making it a fast and ideal stitch for sewing up seams when fitting a muslin. The stitches will come out very fast since they are so long and you can move onto the next phase of the fitting process.

Follow along to learn how to baste stitch by hand!

baste stitch step 1

Step 1:

Thread your hand sewing needle with your chosen thread and tie a knot at the end. Make sure to use an appropriate needle size and type for the fabric you are sewing with. Insert the needle into the fabric.

baste stitch step 2

Step 2:

Pull the needle and thread through the fabric so there is a knot on one side and all the thread is on the opposite side of the fabric.

baste stitch step 3

Step 3:

Insert the needle through the fabric from the underside to the front side, equal to the distance of your preferred stitch length away from the original knot.

baste stitch step 4

Step 4:

Before pulling the needle through the fabric, insert the needle point into the front of the fabric to the underside, that same preferred stitch length.

baste stitch step 5

Step 5:

Repeat by inserting the needle back to the front of the fabric the same length as all the other stitch lengths so far, but again, still not pulling the needle through just yet.

baste stitch step 6

Step 6:

Repeat one more time by sticking the needle point through from the front to the back of the fabric, maintaining the same stitch length.

baste stitch step 7

Step 7:

Pass the needle through to the front one more time, then finally pull it through the fabric, creating all the stitches at once. If you were even in your stitches as you were passing from front to back, they will all be of equal length, on both the front and the back of the fabric.

baste stitch step 8

Step 8:

Repeat all of the previous steps to make the seam as long as you desire. It can be tricky to create a perfectly straight line when doing the stitches this way, so if you have making a muslin, following a stitch line can prove to be really handy!
baste stitch final product

And that’s it! Click on my writer profile to see the other entries in this series of hand stitches to further expand your skills!

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