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Hi All,

Just wanted to pick your brains and get some technique help. I have a pattern that has backstitching starting after more backstitching (in an area where there isn't any cross stitching. How do you anchor the thread at the beginning and the end in this scenario?

Thanks for all help!
~Nicole
(AllStitchedUp)

I just anchor my thread through the back stitches - whip stitching through them and then do the same when I finish a thread. If you mean in an area where you have to start backstitching on an empty piece of fabric, then I would use a waste knot, being careful to make sure that as I back stitched I was securing the thread on the back of my work.

I leave a long tail, then weave it through the line as I am stitching it. Sometimes piercing through the tail with my stitching thread- helps to use a sharp needle for that, instead of my usual blunt tapestry needle. I may even use a tiny dab of glue to secure tail to stitched thread. Its a bit fiddly.

I use an away waste knot about 2 inches away from my starting point. Once the backstitching is done, I clip off the knot from the front, pull the thread through to the back an thread it onto my needle and weave it through the backstiching.

I'm so glad you posted this! All my life i have been running backstitching to blank areas all the way across from the nearest cross stitching, and cross my fingers it doesnt show through when finished! It never occurred to me to secure the ends in the backstitching itself!

I have a pattern that i will be able to finish now thanks to this thread! It is a beautiful dogwood border with the legend of the dogwood in the middle. I have never done the text because i couldnt stand the idea of having that much thread running all over the darn thing!

Hey Anna, Could you please post a picture of the design? It sounds cool. Thanks!

I loop start, so I cut one reallllllly long thread, then fold it in half so it's a shorter but more desirable length, then I finish I weave the end back and forth like a zigzag through previous backstitch if there's no full stitches to take advantage of.

If I can start the backstitching close to some cross stitching, I anchor it in the cross stitching and then stitch every other step out and then back to where I started to anchor the end (hope that's clear). If it's out in the middle of nowhere, like lettering, I do as the others have suggested.