How to Blanket Stitch on Felt and Other Fabric

Over the past few years I’ve been hand sewing much more. Machine sewing is fast and professional-looking, but these days I often prefer sewing by hand for its slow, meditative quality. It’s relaxing and also portable, meaning I can work on it wherever I go. Today I’m focusing on one of my favorite hand stitches on one of my favorite fabrics and I’ll show you how to blanket stitch on felt, although it works just fine on other fabric, too.

The felt that I prefer is the gorgeous thick fabric you get from felting wool sweaters in the washing machine, however you can use regular felt or other types of fabric.

I’ll show you two ways of sewing the blanket stitch (along a straight line and around a circle), and also how to switch your thread when it runs out while sewing the blanket stitch.

Print out these instructions!
Scroll down to the end of this post and click “Print”.

Here’s what you need to learn how to blanket stitch on felt:

• felted wool sweater scrap or regular felt or other fabric. I prefer the gorgeous, thick fabric from felted wool sweaters and its thick edges are ideal to sew along. Read here how to felt sweaters in the washing machine. (If you use regular fabric that isn’t very thick, fold it in half to give it more thickness.)
• embroidery needles*
• embroidery floss*

Watch the following video or continue reading the tutorial below!

How to blanket stitch on a straight edge

The blanket stitch is sewn along the fabric edge. This is why I like using felted wool sweaters, because the edge is thick and stable. If you’re using another fabric, just fold it in half.

Another important thing to know is that the blanket stitch is sewn from left to right, unlike most other hand sewing stitches, which are sewn from right to left.

1. Thread the needle with embroidery floss and tie a knot in the end. Insert the needle from the back of the fabric near the edge, towards the left, and pull through.

2. Insert the needle again in the same place as in step 1, coming out in the same place.

3. Do NOT pull through all the way. Instead use a finger to block the thread and form a loop. I didn’t do it here because I honestly forgot to, but put the needle through the loop from the front to the back, as shown in step 15 below. This will make your first stitch straight (which mine, in this example, is not).

4. Pull the rest of the way through to form a loop around the edge of the fabric.

5. Insert the needle a little bit to the right of the first stitch, the SAME distance from the edge as the first stitch.

6. Pull the thread through and, again, use your finger to make a loop. Put the needle through the loop from the back.

7. Pull the needle all the way through.

8. Pull the thread gently. See how it catches inside the loop?

And there’s your first blanket stitch!

9. Insert the needle again to the right. Now, in addition to making sure that you insert it the same distance from the edge, you also need to keep the same distance between stitches as you did between the first two.

10. Continue as before. Make a loop with your finger and insert the needle from the back.

11. Pull the thread gently to tighten it.

12. There’s your third blanket stitch!

As you continue, you will see how the stitch forms. The more evenly you space your stitches, the better it will look.

See how the thread links the stitches right along the edge? This is what makes the blanket stitch so visually interesting!

How to sew blanket stitch around a circle

The first example showed how to sew the blanket stitch on a single layer of fabric, but you can also join two layers of fabric with the blanket stitch.

I’ll show you how on a circular piece. I had already embroidered snowflakes on these circles of sweater felt (black on one side and white on the other). You can download my three FREE snowflake embroidery patterns here!

13. Thread the needle with embroidery floss and tie a knot in the end. Insert the needle from the back of one layer near the edge, from between the two layers.

14. Insert the needle through the back piece towards the front, coming out in the same place as in step 13. Use a finger to block the thread and form a loop.

15. Again, I forgot to do this step, so the picture shows it at another step. Put the needle through the loop from the front to the back. This will make your first stitch straight.

16. Pull the rest of the way through to form a loop around the edge of the fabric. Then insert the needle a little bit to the right of the first stitch, the SAME distance from the edge as the first stitch. Pull the thread through and, again, use your finger to make a loop. Put the needle through the loop from the back and pull the needle all the way through, pulling gently. (You can see here how the bit of thread joining the stitches is not perfectly along the edge. This is because I’d forgotten to do as instructed in step 15.)

Continue around the circle in this way until you get to the end.

17. The red arrow shows the space between the first and last stitches. There isn’t a thread joining the two, so we’re going to go over the first stitch again to form it.

18. Insert the needle from the back circle, going exactly in the same spot as the first stitch. Push through the front circle, again coming out in exactly the same spot.

19. As always, leave a loop and push the needle through it from the back.

20. Pull gently and tie a knot along the stitches.

Push the needle through the fabric and between the layers, pulling it back out through one of the layers anywhere you want. Trim the thread close the the fabric and you’re done!

Or, if you want to make a Christmas tree decoration, make a hanging loop with the embroidery thread, tie a second knot, and hide the end of the thread as I just described.

Change thread in blanket stitch

As you’ve seen, each blanket stitch joins with the one before and after it. So what do you do if your thread runs out only partway through your work?

21. Tie a knot along the stitching.

22. If you’re sewing two layers together, separate them and insert the needle into a little bit of fabric on the back of one layer. (If you’re sewing a single layer, just tie a knot on the back of the piece.)

23. Grab another little bit of fabric close to the first, leaving a little loop. Slip the needle through that loop a couple of times before pulling to tighten the knot. Trim off the end of the thread.

24. Prepare another needle with thread and tie a knot in the end. Insert the needle from the inside so that the tip comes through the front piece, exactly where the last stitch is.

25. Here you can see how the needle is coming back out through the front.

26. Insert the needle again in the back and back out through the front, exactly over the last stitch, leaving a small loop.

27. Put the needle through the loop from the front to the back.

28. Pull the rest of the way through and your needle will be in position to continue sewing the blanket stitch!

And that’s all there is to sewing the blanket stitch! It’s much easier than it sounds and, the more you sew it, the more even and the prettier your blanket stitches will be!

Now that you know how to blanket stitch on felt, why not sew a fun holiday project, such as my Conversation Heart Valentine’s Day Keychains?

Or make holiday decorations with my DIY Snowflake Embroidered Felt Christmas Ornaments tutorial!

Either way, make sure you sign up for the Cucicucicoo Newsletter here to get news of the best sewing techniques and fun sewing projects right in your inbox, as well as access to my dozens of members-only FREE downloadable patterns and other printables!

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