In the textile arts

Textile arts

Textile arts are those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization, and the methods and materials used to make them have expanded enormously, while...

, a stitch is a single turn or loop of thread or yarn

Yarn

Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...

. Stitches are the fundamental elements of sewing

Sewing

Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era...

, knitting

Knitting

Knitting is a method by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts. Knitted fabric consists of consecutive rows of loops, called stitches. As each row progresses, a new loop is pulled through an existing loop. The active stitches are held on a needle until another loop can...

, embroidery

Embroidery

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

, crochet

Crochet

Crochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...

, and needle lace

Needle lace

Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to stitch up hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself....

-making, whether by hand or machine. A variety of stitches, each with one or more names, are used for specific purposes.

Sewing, embroidery, and lace

All stitches made with a sewing needle

Sewing needle

A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needles were made of bone or wood; modern ones are manufactured from high carbon steel wire, nickel- or 18K gold plated for corrosion resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and...

 with an "eye" or hole are variations on seven basic stitches:

• Running stitch
  Running stitch
  The running stitch or straight stitch is the basic stitch in hand-sewing and embroidery, on which all other forms of sewing are based. The stitch is worked by passing the needle in and out of the fabric...
  
  
• Backstitch
  Backstitch
  Backstitch or back stitch and its variants stem stitch, outline stitch and split stitch are a class of embroidery and sewing stitches in which individual stitches are made backward to the general direction of sewing...
  
  
• Overcast stitch
• Cross stitch
  Cross stitches
  Cross stitches in embroidery, needlepoint, and other forms of needlework include a number of related stitches in which the thread is sewn in an x or + shape...
  
  
• Buttonhole or blanket stitch
  Buttonhole stitch
  Buttonhole stitch and the related blanket stitch are hand-sewing stitches used in tailoring, embroidery, and needle lace-making.Holy Buttons stitches catch a loop of the thread on the surface of the fabric and needle is returned to the back of the fabric at a right angle to the original start of...
  
  
• Chain stitch
  Chain stitch
  Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern. Chain stitch is an ancient craft - examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dated to the Warring States period...
  
  
• Knot stitch
  Knotted stitch
  A knotted stitch is any embroidery technique in which the yarn or thread is knotted around itself. Common knotted stitches include French knots and coral stitch...
  
  

These stitches and their variations are named according to the position of the needle and direction of sewing (running stitch, backstitch), the form or shape of the stitch (chain stitch, feather stitch) or the purpose of the stitch (tailor's tack

Tack (sewing)

In sewing, to tack or baste is to make quick, temporary stitching intended to be removed. Tacking is used in a variety of ways:* To temporarily hold a seam or trim in place until it can be permanently sewn, usually with a long running stitch made by hand or machine called a tacking stitch or...

, hem stitch).

Sewing machine

Sewing machine

A sewing machine is a textile machine used to stitch fabric, cards and other material together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution to decrease the amount of manual sewing work performed in clothing companies...

 stitches are classified by their structure:

• Chain stitch, made with one thread
• Lockstitch
  Lockstitch
  A lockstitch is the most common mechanical stitch made by a sewing machine. The term "single needle stitching", often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch.-Structure:...
  
  , made with two threads
• Overlock
  Overlock
  An overlock stitch sews over the edge of one or two pieces of cloth for edging, hemming or seaming. Usually an overlock sewing machine will cut the edges of the cloth as they are fed through , though some are made without cutters...
  
  , made with one to four threads
• Coverstitch, made with two or four threads

Fancy machine stitches mimic traditional hand stitches using variations on the basic stitches.

Knitting

In knitting, a stitch is a single loop of yarn, secured to the loops beside it to form a row or course of stitches and to the loops above and below it to form a wale.

In securing the previous stitch in a wale, the next stitch can pass through the previous loop either from below or above. If the former, the stitch is denoted as a knit stitch or a plain stitch; if the latter, as a purl stitch. The two stitches are related in that a knit stitch seen from one side of the fabric appears as a purl stitch on the other side.

Crochet

In crochet

Crochet

Crochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...

, stitches are made by pulling a loop of thread through the work with a crochet hook

Crochet hook

A crochet hook is a type of needle with a hook at one end used to draw thread through knotted loops. Only one crochet hook is needed to make crochet stitches. The crochet hook's earliest use appears to have been in the late 18th century or early 19th century.Typical materials for crochet hooks...

. Crochet stitches are named based on their structure. In the English-speaking crochet world, basic stitches have different names that vary by country. The differences are usually referred to as UK/US or British/American.