Fig. 12. The combination running and back-stitch
Whenever you can avoid making a knot, do so, because it spoils the look of your work on the wrong side. You can start your work, if it is a seam, for example, by making two or three stitches on top of each other. Follow the thread of the warp or woof of the material as much as possible. After fastening your thread, make two fine running stitches forward and one back. Keep the stitches the same length.
Fig. 13. Over-casting
Over-casting is used on unfinished or cut edges to keep them from fraying ([Figure 13]). The stitches all slant from right to left. Take the stitches one eighth of an inch deep and one quarter of an inch apart.
Fig. 14. Over-handing
Over-handing is fine over-casting and used to connect two finished edges together ([Figure 14]), as when sewing lace on ruffles, or joining selvages. What is the selvage? It is the edge of the warp. The next time mother goes shopping ask her to take you with her. When she tells the salesman she wants so many yards of goods, whether it is for kitchen towels or a dress for herself or for you, notice how the goods is measured. The salesman will measure along one of the finished sides of the goods. These finished edges are called selvages.