BEGINNER STITCH TUTORIAL

Blanket Stitch Embroidery: Step-by-step tutorial/h1>

One simple stitch that edges, decorates, and fills. Here is everything you need to start.

What It's Used For Before You Start Watch the Video Step by Step Next Steps

By Carol Leather | Last updated March 2026

If you have ever admired that neat looped edge on a wool blanket, or wondered how stitchers create textured flowers and delicate cutwork bridges, you are looking at the blanket stitch. The wonderful news? It is one of the simplest stitches to learn.

WHY LEARN THIS STITCH?

What You'll Use Blanket Stitch For

Blanket stitch is one of those stitches that keeps turning up because it does so many different jobs. Here are the most common ways you will see it used.

Edging and Finishing

The classic use. Work it along a raw edge to create a neat, decorative border on blankets, applique shapes, or felt projects.

Perfect for beginners and a great first project.

Applique

Secure fabric shapes to a background with blanket stitch for a folk-art look that is both decorative and functional.

Beginner-friendly once you have the basic stitch down.

Surface Embroidery

Use it to fill shapes, create texture, or build flowers and leaves. Vary the stitch height and spacing for completely different effects.

Intermediate, try this once you are comfortable with even rows.

Cutwork and Hardanger

Blanket stitch forms the strong, neat bars and edges needed in cutwork embroidery and similar openwork techniques.

Try later, this needs confident, even tension throughout.

Blanket Stitch vs Buttonhole Stitch: What's the Difference?

This is one of the most common questions in embroidery, and the answer is simpler than you might think. The two stitches use exactly the same motion. The only difference is spacing.

Blanket stitch is worked with gaps between each stitch, creating that open, looped edge you see on wool blankets and decorative borders.

Buttonhole stitch is worked with the stitches packed tightly together, side by side, so the loops form a solid ridge. That dense edge is what makes it strong enough to reinforce a buttonhole or outline cutwork shapes.

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ONE STITCH, SO MANY POSSIBILITIES

See What Blanket Stitch Can Do

I used this one simple stitch to outline and shade flowers, build a freehand hermit crab shell, and form the delicate bridges in a cutwork design. It is more versatile than you might expect.

Blanket stitch flowers in an embroidery hoop

Decorative Flowers

Radial blanket stitch creates petals that look far more complex than they are.

Cutwork embroidery using blanket stitch for bars and edges

Cutwork Embroidery

Pack the stitches tightly together and blanket stitch becomes buttonhole stitch, forming the strong, neat edges needed in cutwork designs.

Hermit crab embroidered with blanket stitch shading

Freehand Shading

Blanket stitch fills create beautiful texture for shapes like this hermit crab shell.

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BEFORE YOU START

A Couple of Quick Tips

While you can work this stitch "in the hand," using an embroidery hoop is the best way to go when you are learning. A hoop keeps your fabric taut, which makes it much easier to keep your tension even and avoid puckering.

Thread Choice

A non-stranded thread like Perle cotton is a great choice for learning because the stitches sit smoothly without needing to manage separate strands.

I used Perle cotton number 8 for the step-by-step samples on this page. The flowers and hermit crab were stitched with embroidery floss, which gives a softer, finer finish.

Keeping Stitches Even

A great trick while you are learning is to mark evenly spaced dots on your fabric with a disappearing ink pen. These guide dots give you consistent spacing and stitch height, so your finished row looks beautifully uniform.

That said, even stitches are not always the goal. Once you are comfortable with the rhythm, try deliberately varying the height or spacing for a more playful, organic look.

Your First Practice Setup

Grab these supplies and you are ready to follow along with the tutorial below.

  • An embroidery hoop with a scrap of plain-weave fabric
  • Perle cotton number 8 (any colour you like)
  • A disappearing ink pen to mark your guide dots
  • A tapestry or crewel needle
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SEE IT IN ACTION

Watch the Video Tutorial

The easiest way to learn is to see the stitch in action. This short video shows you exactly how to work blanket stitch using the "stab stitch" method in a hoop.

You can follow along by clicking the transcript button below.

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FOLLOW ALONG

Step-by-Step Instructions

When your fabric is stretched in a hoop, you will work with one hand above and one below the fabric. Start from the left and work towards the right.

Step 1: Come Up From the Back

Bring your needle up from the back at your starting position on the bottom line. This is where your first stitch will begin.

Blanket stitch step 1, bringing the needle up from the back of the fabric

Step 2: Go Down at the Top, Leave a Loop

Take the needle down through the fabric at the top of your stitch, but do not pull the thread all the way through. Leave a loose loop of thread on the surface of your work.

Blanket stitch step 2, needle going down with a loop of thread left on the surface

Step 3: Come Up Inside the Loop

Bring your needle back up to the front at the next dot along the bottom row, making sure your needle comes up inside the loop of thread you just made.

Gently pull the thread through until the loop tightens and sits neatly along the bottom line. Do not pull it too tight.

Blanket stitch step 3, needle coming up inside the thread loop

Step 4: Continue and Finish

Continue this motion until you reach the end of your row. To finish, make a tiny "tie down" stitch just outside the last loop to secure it in place.

If your thread starts to run short before you finish the row, here is a neat method for changing thread in blanket stitch without leaving a visible join.

A completed row of blanket stitch worked in an embroidery hoop

DON'T WORRY, EVERYONE DOES THIS

Common Mistakes and Easy Fixes

Uneven Spacing

If your stitches look a bit random, go back to marking guide dots with a disappearing ink pen. Once the muscle memory builds, you can ditch the dots.

Pulling Too Tight

If the fabric puckers or the bottom loops dig in, ease up as you pull each stitch through. The loop should sit gently on the surface, not strain against it.

Losing the Loop

Accidentally pulled the thread all the way through before catching the loop? Just slide the needle back under the stitch you just made, hook the working thread, and pull through to remake the loop.

Need Help With...

Turning Corners

How to work neat corners without gaps or bunching.

Changing Thread

Join a new thread mid-row without a visible break.

Stitch Variations

Whipped, knotted, scalloped, and more creative options.

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YOUR TURN

Time to Practise

Now that you have the basic rhythm down, grab a scrap piece of fabric and experiment with spacing.

Try stitching one row with the stitches spread out to create an open, airy edge. Right below it, try another row with the stitches packed tightly together for a dense, solid line. The distance between each stitch dramatically changes the look, so have fun seeing what you prefer.

Once you are comfortable with the basic stitch, there is so much more to explore. Try different heights, cluster stitches in groups, or work them in a circle to create flowers. This is one of those stitches that keeps on giving.

READY FOR MORE?

Keep Building Your Skills

Now that you have blanket stitch in your toolkit, these pages are the natural next steps.

Blanket Stitch Variations

Learn whipped lines, leafy effects, and playful scallops to take your blanket stitch further.

Explore Variations

Turning Corners

Straight edges feeling comfortable? The next skill to master is turning neat corners with blanket stitch.

Learn Corners

Raised Buttonhole Stitch

Ready for something dimensional? Try this beautiful raised flower tutorial using a close cousin of blanket stitch.

Try the Tutorial

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