Whipped backstitch can be stitched in a variety of strands and either in a single colour or in contrasting shades, for a fun candy cane effect.
Stitch overview
Skill level
It is perfectly suitable for stitchers who are new to cross-stitch. It’s a simple yet very effective way to turn a straightforward backstitched line into a smooth line that looks quite stunning.
To browse my selection of beginner patterns, click HERE.
Fabric
This stitch looks most beautiful on linen or evenweave fabric, but you can just as well stitch it on aida fabric, if you prefer.
Symbol
It is charted as a straight line, just like regular backstitch.
Stitch tutorial
There are 2 very distinct stages to stitching this stitch. As you can guess from its name, it’s going to involve some backstitch, and then (with a different thread) some whipstitch.
1. the backstitch base:
For best results, adapt the length of the backstitch to the number of strands of threads you’re using. So if you’re using 2 strands of floss, then make sure each backstitch is stitched over 2 strands of linen/evenweave (or 1 block of aida). If you’re using 3 or more strands of floss, then stitch each backstitch over 4 strands of linen/evenweave (or 2 blocks of aida).
Most of you will be more than familiar with backstitch, but let’s just recap anyway:
Bring the needle out at the endpoint of the new stitch, move backwards (hence the name) to the starting point of the new stitch (which is also the endpoint of the previous stitch) and push the needle through the fabric before bringing it back up at the endpoint of the following stitch, etc.
Here it is, in action:
2. the whipstitch top layer:
For this step, you can use the same colour as for the backstitch, or you can use a contrasting shade (as I’m doing here).
Bring the needle out at the starting point of the backstitch, and push the needle under the first backstitch (between the thread and the fabric), from right to left (or left to right if you’re left-handed – it doesn’t matter which way, as long as you don’t change the direction halfway through).
Keep looping through each backstitch, until you get to the last backstitch. Push the needle through the fabric at the endpoint of the last stitch.
Here it is, in action, using the same colour for the backstitch as for the whipstitch, so that you can see how beautifully it all blends in to form a totally smooth line:
Put your new skills into practice
Practice makes perfect! Here’s a selection of patterns to use your new skill and put it to the test. These patterns all contain a stitch tutorial page with photos and explanations for each special stitch used.
Happy stitching!
