Backstitch

In embroidery, these stitches form lines and are most often used to outline shapes and to add fine detail to an embroidered picture.

Basic backstitch is the stitch used to outline shapes in modern cross-stitch, in Assisi embroidery and occasionally in blackwork.

[3] Stem stitch is used in the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth probably dating to the later 1070s, for lettering and to outline areas filled with couching or laid-work.

[4] Split stitch in silk is characteristic of Opus Anglicanum, an embroidery style of Medieval England.

[4] Backstitch is most easily worked on an even-weave fabric, where the threads can be counted to ensure regularity, and is generally executed from right to left.