Easy! How to Sew a Blanket Stitch and Tips

The blanket stitch, familiar from appliqué and other embroidery, is a very useful stitch because of its simple cuteness and durability!

What is blanket stitch?

As the name suggests, this stitch is used around the edges of blankets and is one of the basic stitches that you are probably familiar with, used not only for edging but also for appliqué and joining felt pieces. The stitching method is very simple, but we will explain in detail how to start and finish the stitch, as well as how to stitch the corners.

◇ Materials and Tools

·thread

When sewing felt pieces together to make a mascot, if you want the stitches to be less noticeable, use one or two strands of No. 25 embroidery floss in the same color as the fabric. Conversely, if you want the stitches to stand out, choose the thickness (number of strands of embroidery floss) to your liking. It's also fun to experiment with different materials, such as stitching wool with yarn.

Embroidery needle

Use an embroidery needle of the appropriate size for the thread.

◇ Basic blanket stitch technique

*Here, we are inserting the arrows to the left, but you can also insert them to the right.

Draw a single line to serve as a guideline for the embroidery, and bring the needle out from point ① on that line.

Insert the needle into ②, bring it out at ③ on the line, and loop the thread around the needle.

Remove the needle and tighten the thread. Be careful not to pull it too tight.

Repeat this.

Finally, insert the needle along the line and secure the thread on the back.

◇ Let's make an appliqué using blanket stitch!

Place the appliqué fabric on top of the main fabric, secure it with pins or basting stitches, and bring the needle out from the edge of the appliqué fabric.

Continue stitching using the same method as the basics.

For curved sections, insert the needle perpendicular to the fabric when working with the appliqué to create neat stitches.

If the stitch is looping, thread the needle through the first stitch.

Finally, insert the needle in the position shown in the photo and secure the thread on the back.

◇ How to do edge stitching

Place the two pieces of fabric right sides together, and insert the needle from the back of the inner fabric.

Insert the needle from the right side into the same position on the fabric in front, and bring it out through the gaps in the fabric.

The thread gets caught in the stitch and secures it in place.

Next, insert the needle into both pieces together and loop the thread around the needle.

Pull out the needle and repeat the process.

For the corners, a single diagonal stitch will give a neat finish.

Once you've gone all the way around the edge, loop the thread around the starting point to connect the stitches. (The colors have been changed for clarity.)

Insert the needle between the layers of fabric and bring it out to the back.

Make a knot, then insert the hook through the same eye and bring it out a little distance away.

Pull the thread a little tighter and tuck the knot into the fabric for a neat finish. Cut the thread at the edge of the fabric.

This page introduces patterns for projects using the blanket stitch.

Chrysanthemum blanket

This warm and cozy blanket features chrysanthemum petals crafted with embroidery and cutwork to give them a three-dimensional appearance.

Perforated leather pass case

Perforated leather, which has regular holes punched into the leather or synthetic leather, allows you to enjoy embroidery freely, just like with cross-stitch fabric. The pass case featuring a geometric floral pattern that we are introducing here would also look great if you changed the leather color and embroidery thread color to make different color variations or matching sets.

Blanket stitch - versatile

Blanket stitch is not only cute in appearance, but it can also be used for a variety of purposes. Let's master the basics and enjoy crafting even more!

The Couturier blog offers tips and tricks for various crafts, including embroidery, sewing, and knitting. Don't miss the Couturier shop, where you can purchase crafting kits, and our official social media accounts!

Couturier's embroidery kits for beginners are recommended because they allow you to master not only blanket stitch but also other basic embroidery stitches.

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