Running stitch

I was introduced into the beautiful world of hand embroidery in school. We had Miss Shalini as our crafts teacher.
    The first stitch that she taught us was Running. It is a simple straight stitch which can be done by moving the needle up and down a cloth in a straight line at regular interval.

    I have tried to illustrate the procedure to do running stitch with a series of pictures.

  To make the work look neat we need not put a knot in the thread.we can fix the thread to the starting point by making a small straight stitch at the beginning as shown below.                                  

Once the thread is fixed at the starting point we can make a series of straight stitches by moving the needle up and down the cloth at regular intervals as shown  below.

Hence by continuing in a straight line we would get RUNNING STITCH. I have used this stitch to make an outline of a floral design in the foollowing sample.

I had got my first pat of appreciation when she saw my work on a table cloth. I have not been able to preserve it till now but I have tried to maintain the skill I acquired under Miss Shalini 

She had specified that any work of embroidery would be at its best when the back side of the cloth also presented a neat  picture. I try my  best not to  create a web of threads in my work by making small batches of the same colour . 

This stitch can also be used to fill up a design .  When it is worked close together it is a filling stitch.