The choice that you have in order to outline any of your patterns consists of the back stitch, the stem stitch and the Holbein stitch or the double running stitch. The running stitch is as easy as it gets. All that you need to do is to put the needle in the fabric and bring it out from the other side and continue the same thing over and over again. The only thing that you do need to remember is that the length of the stitches that are seen from the top should be even. The gaps that a running stitch creates should also be consistent. To create the perfect outline you need to turn around and create the running stitch all the way back from where you started to fill in the gaps.

The other stitch that is extremely common in the case of outlining is the back stitch. This outline gives a home spun kind of look to the work that you do. If you use a lesser number of strands for the back stitch it can look extremely sharp and neat. The back stitch requires you to take the needle out towards the front and come back to create the stitch. When you insert the needle in the fabric make sure that you take it out at the end where you want to bring back the stitch from.

The classiest of the outlining stitches is the stem stitch. It is extremely classy because it gives the outline a ropey kind of look that does not make it look too plain.