Ashley Hough

No Knot on Wrong Side of Fabric

Ashley Hough
Duration:   2  mins

Description

When doing hand stitching, whether on a garment or home decor project, it is not always possible to start that stitching along the edge of the fabric, at a hem or in some other area where knots and thread ends can be easily hidden. Ashley Hough shows you how to start your hand stitching with no knot needed on the wrong side of the fabric, making it look more professional while still allowing it to hold the thread securely in place.

No Knot Needed

To begin this no knot needed technique, Ashley first explains that you will need to use two strands of thread and thread the needle differently that you generally would when doing many hand sewing stitches. Once the needle is threaded, Ashley shows how to begin by inserting the needle through the fabric and pulling it until there is only a small loop of thread remaining. A small stitch is then made to bring the needle back through the fabric.

Ashley then shows how to insert the needle through the loop of the fabric and pull tight, securing the thread end and replacing the need for a knot. She then explains that another small stitch can be taken to bring the needle back to the right side of the fabric so you are ready to begin stitching. This technique can be used when working with different fabrics and when doing hand sewing meant as construction stitches and also hand stitches that are meant to be decorative.

The only requirement when doing this no knot needed on the wrong side of the fabric is that you need a double strand of thread. If you normally use only one strand of thread to cut down on the thickness of the thread showing in a project, consider using a finer thread weight.

Share tips, start a discussion or ask other students a question. If you have a question for the instructor, please click here.

Make a comment:
characters remaining

5 Responses to “No Knot on Wrong Side of Fabric”

  1. Lisa Brown

    This is life changing. When doing embroidery though doesn't that make the thread 4 strand as opposed to three?

  2. Karen

    I was taught that the only time to ever sew with double thread was to sew on a button or snap. This is a great way to begin if sewing with double thread. How can I begin with an invisible knot with single thread? How can I end my stitching with an invisible knot?

  3. Joan Quintana(Toni)

    How do you end up with a single strand to start sewing??? I have tried this numerous times and cannot get to one single strand???? HELP, love the idea.

  4. MaryJ

    Oh, never mind, PLEASE don't post my previous comment. I finally figured out what she was showing...I feel dumb...

  5. MaryJo

    I don't understand where the loop comes from...I couldn't tell from the video. It was as though the video starts after she shows how to make the loop. What am I missing?

Whether you're doing maybe some embroidery or there's just an area where you have to do some hand stitching that isn't right along the edge of a piece of fabric or you can't bury a knot in maybe a seam allowance or a hem, there are times where you want that knot to be as inconspicuous as possible. So rather than tying a knot, either in the traditional method, where you have some tails or ends to the knot, I'm gonna show you a way where you can make sort of no knot on the wrong side of your fabric. And it is the tiniest little speck, that if you were using a color of thread that matched your fabric, you wouldn't even be able to see it. So the way you need to start is you need to thread your needle slightly different than you normally would. So for this, I'm going to be using a double strand of thread. So I have both strands of my thread going through my needle. I have both of my raw ends on this side, and I have my looped end of my thread on this side of the needle. I'm going to take my fabric, and I'm just going to pick wherever it is that I need to start doing my stitching. And I'm going to put my needle through the fabric. I'm going to pull my thread until all I have left is a small loop of thread, this is the wrong side of my fabric. I'm going to flip this over, this is the right side. I wanna take a very, very tiny stitch, so I am going about 1/16 of an inch away from where I brought my needle out. So if you're looking at your fabric, this should be one or two thread widths of your fabric away. Flip it back over to the wrong side, we're going to pull it through. I then want to loop my needle through the end of my thread, through my loop right there, and I'm going to pull it tight. I've essentially just created my knot. Now what I wanna do is go back down into my fabric right on my first stitch, bring my needle to the right side, and now I'm ready to do whatever kind of embroidery or hand stitching I need to do. And I essentially have no knot on the wrong side of my fabric, because all I have is that small little looped stitch. So it lays nice and flat. There are no little thread ends and no risk of that knot coming undone. And best of all, if you're using matching thread, you won't even see it. So now you have no knot on the wrong side, and you're ready to do your hand stitching or your embroidery on the right side.
Get exclusive premium content! Sign up for a membership now!