What is The Basting Stitch? The Basics of Sewing

Recently I finished a beginner’s guide to sewing, where I told you some of the things you need to get started sewing and a few of the basic sewing terms. And in this post I’ll explain another basic part of sewing, the basting stitch.

Basting is an important part of sewing, while you may not have to do basting on every sewing project. It is a very common sewing step, especially when making clothing..

While you may think of basting being done on more slippery or delicate fabric. I like to baste on almost all clothing projects no matter what the fabric, whether it’s cotton fabric, linen fabric, or others..

In this post I’ll explain a little bit about what basting is and how you do it. You can actually do the basting stitch with a sewing machine or by hand sewing. I personally like to do basting by hand stitching.

Here is the post I just finished for beginners at sewing, “Sewing for Beginners: A Guide to Start Sewing.“

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What is Basting?

First we’ll talk about what basting is. Basting stitches are long, loose stitches made to hold the layers of fabric together temporarily before the final sewing seam is made.

There is machine basting and also hand basting. Basting can also be used for a guideline for the final seam. And basting is always done with the right sides of the fabric facing each other.

Basting is also sometimes referred to as tacking. Basting or tacking is used a lot in the garment construction process, especially when sewing the sleeves or when I’m sewing a curved or square shape.

I use basting a lot in sewing doll’s clothes. Because with smaller clothing it is a lot easier to make a mistake or a lot of the time when sewing the sleeves on the fabric will want to fold it certain spots. So, basting helps me to make less mistakes and keep the fabric in place.

Basting really helps the sewing process, so that the final stitches are where they need to be. And basting is done a lot to check the fit of an outfit, before making the secure seams to make sure you have a perfect fit.

I prefer to hand baste my sewing projects, even though with hand basting you may get an uneven basting stitch. But, you will not see basting stitches from the right side of the garment.

Plus, I always remove the temporary stitches with a seam ripper after I have stitched the permanent stitches. I remove the stitches before I finish the raw edges of the fabric.

And to me basting is a lot better than using sewing pins, because when you remove the sewing pins before you sew over them there is a chance that the fabric can move.

How to Baste with a Sewing Machine

First is machine basting. The baste stitch on a sewing machine is just the straight stitch.

And all you do is set the machine stitch length to the longest possible length. Then stitch the fabric layers together making sure Not to reverse or anchor the stiches.

It’s a good idea when machine basting to go slow, especially with slippery fabrics. Because I find it is a lot easier for the fabric to move around on a sewing machine. And I’ve had to redo seams before because the fabric move just a little and threw off the project.

How to Baste by Hand

Hand basting is my favorite method of basting, even though you may have uneven hand basting stitches. But, I always stitch the basting stitches inside the seam allowance is it doesn’t really matter.

To hand baste all you do is thread your hand needle and I like to use only one single strand of thread. Then you’ll make long stitches (a long running stitch) around the seam edges to hold the fabric in place. Sometimes I even make small stitches to hold the pieces of a garment together.

To me hand basting is the easiest way to baste the pieces of fabric together. But, sewing beginners need to play around with both the methods to see which one they prefer.

Extra

I do most of the basting when I’m sewing sleeves on or attaching a gathered skirt to a top. Just to make sure that all the seams line-up and every thing look right.

Basting is a great tool, and it helps you to make less mistakes when sewing seams. Because it is a lot easier to remove a basting stitch than it is to remove regular seams.

Sewing is a wonderful craft and there is many different projects you can make. And there are a lot of different stitches and fabrics you can work with. You can buy sewing patterns or you can even make your own patterns.

So, on your next sewing project try out the basting stitch, especially if you are sewing an outfit. Thank you for reading this sewing post and I hope that it helps you to learn a little bit more about sewing.