How To Do A Blanket Stitch Edging

Photos Teach You The Steps

The blanket stitch is an embroidery stitch that is useful as a decorative edging for a crocheted piece. It could be added along the top edge of a crocheted pocket or along the flap of a crocheted backpack, for example. It is also used to strengthen the edges of small crocheted appliques.

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I created this photo how-to, so you can more easily learn the steps used to hand sew the blanket stitch. You may want to crochet a small square for a background and practice adding the blanket stitch along the edges.

Materials Used In This Example: A large-eye yarn needle A strand of yarn Note: You can do the blanket stitch on a thread crochet piece, also, where you would use crochet cotton thread or even embroidery floss to do the blanket stitches.

To start: Thread a length of yarn on the large-eye yarn needle.

Secure the yarn length on the back of the crocheted piece. With the front of the piece facing you, hold the needle above the front of the piece and (at the point where the top of the first stitch will start) insert the needle from the front through to the back, with the point of the needle coming out in front of the loop made by the yarn (refer to the photo on the left). Next: Pull the needle through and then pull the yarn length through until the blanket stitch is snug against the crochet background.

This illustration shows one blanket stitch made, with the needle inserted, ready to make the second blanket stitch.

Here you can see how the loop looks just before the yarn is pulled snug to form the blanket stitch.

This shows a row of completed blanket stitches. In this example, I used a distance of one single crochet stitch for the length in between each blanket stitch. You can vary the distance between the blanket stitches to suit your own taste and to achieve the look you want for your project.

Related Resources • How to Single Crochet • More Crochet How-to's

Copyright: I wrote these instructions in my own words. - Sandi Marshall Instructions copyright 2002 by Sandi Marshall, licensed to About.com, Inc. Do not redistribute.

Photos created by Sandi Marshall. These photo images are copyright 2002 by Sandi Marshall, licensed to About.com, Inc. Do not redistribute.

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