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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Gettysburg chapter.

Okay, hopefully you’ve had a bit of practice threading a needle since last time because now it’s time to learn how to make the knot at the end. This is what will anchor you thread in the fabric and give you a starting place from which to connect the two pieces.

If you haven’t already, cut your thread at the length you need and thread your needle.

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Now, there are two ways you can do this. You can use single thread (pictured above) or double it up (pictured below).

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There are certain times when you’ll want the thread to be doubled up for extra strength. I, personally, prefer to do all my hand stitching with the thread doubled up, but it really isn’t always necessary and uses a lot more thread. Now, if you’re sewing something that’s going to be under a lot of pressure, like a button, then it definitely is a good idea to double up your thread. In this I’ll be showing you how to make the knot with doubled thread.

So, match your ends of the threads.

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When doing sewing with single thread, you’ll just going to leave a tail about a quarter of the total length of your thread and do these next steps with the longer end instead of both ends.

Hold the needle between your thumb and pointer finger of one hand and grip both ends of the thread between the thumb and pointer finger of your opposite hand.

Wrap the thread around the needle a few times.

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Move your fingers up to grip the needle over the wound thread.

With the hand that used be holding the thread, gently pull the needle through the thread wrapped around it.

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You’ll then continue to pull the needle so that the attached thread is also pulled through.

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You might have to pull the big loop of thread that hasn’t been pulled through yet to make sure it doesn’t get tangled.

When you get to the end, pull the knot tight.

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And there’s your knot! Next time, we’ll go over the whip stitch.

Zoe Philippou

Gettysburg '20

(she/her) From Arizona, Zoe is officially a Psychology and Anthropology double major, a German minor, and an unofficial a Theater inhabitor. She loves all thing having to do with culture or really just people in general. She's also a huge nerd who loves crafts.