How to do straight stitch

To learn how to do straight stitch, why not check out my straight stitch tutorial. As the stitches are so similar, the tutorial also covers how to do seed stitch. It includes:

illustrated embroidery stitch instructions
an embroidery stitch video
variations
Royal School of Needlework stitch bank

Straight stitch and seed stitch uses

Straight stitch is just as it sounds - any stitch which is straight. It can be as long or short as needed. You can use it wherever a straight line is needed, for example on grasses.

It’s called seed stitch when the stitches are short and the stitches go in different directions, a bit like seeds scattered on the ground. You can use seed stitch to fill a shape, as shown in the photo below from my stitch sampler kit:

Seed stitch on my embroidery stitch sampler kit

The spokes of the wheel shape in the photo from my stitch sampler kit are straight stitch:

Straight stitch on my stitch sampler kit

Download my free stitch guide covering 10 simple embroidery stitches, including seed stitch and straight stitch.

Seed stitch embroidery tutorial

Bring the needle up through the fabric at 1 and back down at 2 to form a straight stitch.
For seed stitch the stitches are short and they go in different directions. For straight stitch the stitches are longer.

Straight stitch and seed stitch video

More on straight stitch

The Royal School of Needlework has a stitch bank which aims to preserve every known stitch. It will become a world-wide directory of embroidery stitches. You can read their stitch bank entry for straight stitch and instructions on how to do straight stitch here and for seed stitch here.