How to Sew Basting

To baste fabric, all you need are pins, a needle and thread.

Basting is a type of stitching that's usually used to temporarily sew two pieces of fabric together. Basting holds the seams of your sewing project in place until you sew a permanent seam. If things don't work out as you'd planned, you won't need a magnifying glass and a lot of patience to rip out the basting stitches and start over.

Things You'll Need

• Straight pins
• Hand-sewing needle
• Thread
• 2 pieces of fabric

Instructions

1. 

   Use straight sewing pins to hold the fabric pieces together while you baste.

   Pin together the pieces of fabric you want to baste. Most seams are formed by placing the right sides of the fabric facing each other, so that your stitching is on the wrong sides. One exception is an applique, in which case you want to pin the wrong side of the appliqué to the right side of the fabric to which you're attaching the applique.

2. 

   Thread the needle.

   Thread a hand-sewing needle and tie a knot in the long end of a single strand of thread. Use a strand of thread a few inches longer than the seam you intend to baste.

3. Begin basting by drawing the needle through both layers of fabric from the underside to the top until the knot lies flat against the underside of the fabric.

4. Push the needle back down through the fabric to the underside to complete a single stitch. Vary the length of your stitches according to your needs --- the longer the stitch, the easier it is to remove later.

5. Continue making stitches until you've basted the entire seam.

6. Tie a knot like the one you made in Step 1 to finish off your stitching. Remove the pins.

7. Remove the basting after permanently stitching the seam by sliding a seam ripper or a sharp, pointed pair of scissors under one of your stitches and cutting it. Slide the thread out of the fabric. If your basting is long, cut a stitch every few inches along the seam.

Tips & Warnings

• You want the stitches to lie flat and smooth along the surface of the fabric. Avoid making them so loose that they gape or so tight that they pull or gather the fabric.

• Don't worry about making all your stitches perfectly straight or even -- remember, you'll be taking this stitching out before you finish your project anyway.

• Baste using a sewing machine rather than by hand, but the stitches will likely be smaller and a little more difficult to remove. Use the longest straight stitch your machine allows, and forego backstitching at the beginning and ending of the seam.

• Don't make your basting stitches on exactly the same line along which you plan to make your permanent stitches --- you won't be able to remove the basting stitches if you sew over them. Place basting stitches a little closer to the edges of the fabric.