Line and outline stitches are the backbone of embroidery—whether you’re sketching out a design, adding definition, or creating delicate details, these stitches bring everything together. 

The basic embroidery stitches for line and outline stitches are: straight stitch, back stitch, running stitch, chain stitch, split stitch, and stem stitch.  These are all about clean lines, bold outlines, and smooth curves. 

They’re simple to learn but super versatile, making them perfect for everything from text to botanical designs. They can create crisp, precise edges or textured, hand-drawn look.  

What is embroidery?

Embroidery is like drawing with a needle and thread! Instead of using a pencil on paper, you stitch designs onto fabric to make it more colorful and fun. 

People use embroidery to decorate clothes, bags, pillows, and even make artwork to hang on the wall. You can stitch simple shapes, fancy letters, or detailed pictures—it’s all up to you!

The most successful embroidery projects follow our embroidery tips to help guide them through their projects.

What are the basic embroidery stitches?

There are a bunch of basic embroidery stitches, but some of the easiest and most useful ones are the straight stitch, backstitch, running stitch, chain stitch, split stitch and stem stitch.  These are all considered line or outline embroidery stitches.

These stitches are the building blocks for all kinds of embroidery projects.  Once you've learned these you can start most embroidery projects.

What is the easiest embroidery line stitch?

The easiest embroidery line stitch is the running stitch. It’s just a series of simple stitches in a row, like little dashes. It’s great for outlines, borders, or just getting comfortable with embroidery.

What supplies do I need to get started?

Getting started with embroidery is super easy! You only need a few things like fabric, an embroidery hoop set, embroidery floss, embroidery needles and scissors.  It is also nice to have transfer paper and a marking pen.  You can get a full list of supplies along with why you need them in the post about essential hand embroidery supplies.

Step by Step Embroidery Lines and Outlines

 Here are step-by-step instructions for stitching each of these common hand embroidery stitches:

Straight Stitch 

1. Bring the needle up through the fabric at your starting point.

2. Insert the needle back down a short distance away to create a single stitch.

3. Repeat in any direction to create a simple, linear effect.

Back Stitch

1. Bring the needle up at point A.

2. Take a small stitch forward and insert the needle at point B.

3. Bring the needle up a short distance ahead at point C.

4. Insert the needle back down at point A (the end of the previous stitch).

5. Repeat, always stitching back into the end of the last stitch.

Running Stitch

1. Bring the needle up at point A.

2. Insert it back down a short distance away at point B.

3. Continue bringing the needle up and down at even intervals to create a dashed line effect.

Chain Stitch

1. Bring the needle up at point A.

2. Insert it back down at Point A but do not pull the thread all the way through.  Make a loop.

3. Bring the needle up slightly ahead at point B, catching the loop with the needle.

4. Pull through and go back down through the hole you just made to form a chain loop.

5. Repeat, inserting the needle back into the end of the previous loop each time.

Split Stitch

1. Bring the needle up at point A.

2. Insert it back down a short distance away at point B but bring it back up through the middle of the previous stitch, splitting the thread.

3. Repeat, always splitting the previous stitch as you go.

Stem Stitch

1. Bring the needle up at point A.

2. Insert it down at point B, slightly ahead, but bring it back up halfway between A and B.

3. Keep the working thread positioned to one side (usually the same side throughout).

4. Repeat, making sure each stitch slightly overlaps the previous one to create a twisted effect.

Beginner's Guide to Hand Embroidery

Make sure to take a moment to download your copy of our Beginner's Guide to Hand Embroidery.  You'll get our entire list of tools, steps for getting started hand embroidering, links to all our video tutorials PLUS a free stitch sampler.