Did you know that there is there such a thing as an alternative to backstitching? Sometimes backstitching is not always the best option when securing a seam. Maybe you know what I’m trying to get at here? Let me explain a bit better. There may come a time when you’re faced with the challenge of sewing a particularly thick fabric such as a nice hefty wool, or maybe you’re making jeans requiring you to sew multiple layers of fabric. When it comes to backstitching in these circumstances, your machine doesn’t always want to cooperate. Or perhaps you’re sewing a vent and you don’t want to have visible backstitches on the back of your beautiful garment, well that’s exactly where this alternative to backstitching technique I’m about to show you comes in handy. Here’s how you do it!
Step 1: leave some nice long thread tails at the end of your seam. Turn your fabric bobbin stitch side up, and gently pull on the bobbin thread tail. You’ll see a little loop coming through to face you which is, you guessed it, your spool (top) thread!
Step 2: now grab your unpicker, and pull on that little loop until all of the top thread has come through to face you. Be careful though! To make sure this alternative to backstitching works, we need a nice long thread tail to work with. We don’t want that thread to snap so be sure to use the blunt end of your unpicker, not the sharp groove, to pull.
Step 3: you should now have two lovely long tail threads looking up at you. The one from the bobbin which you used to pull, and the one from the spool which you pulled through. Unwind any twists that may be holding your long thread tails together, and gently pull them apart from one another, so that they look like the photo above.
Step 4:hoorah! You have reached the final step. With your thread tails, you want to pull a nice tight knot. Not so tight that the fabric puckers, but tight enough that the thread isn’t hanging loose. I like to do 3 knots in total, just to be ultra safe in knowing that nothing is going to come undone.And there you have it! A lovely, quick and neat alternative to backstitching. Do you have any other alternatives to backstitching to share? If so, we’d love to hear about them, so please do leave a comment below!
This is interesting as when I learned to sew 50 years ago it was the way I was taught to finish every seam etc and I still want to do it even when I backstitch. Old habits die hard!!
My friend is a quilter and she leaves all here loose ends until she’s finished her quilt. She pulls both ends through to the wrong side and threads both ends together through the eye of a needle with an easy eye to thread e.g. crewel needle. She then makes a french knot on the top layer and pushes the needle through between the layers bringing the ends out an inch or so away. She then gives a sharp tug on the ends and the french knot is pulled through and disappears between the layers so there’s no visible knot on the surface.
Thank you for your input. Always great to hear the alternative ways of doing things! 🙂
This is how I usually finish things off when I’m machine hemming or topstitching, glad to know I’ve been doing it right