Away Knot Tutorial

To make an “away knot” begin by putting a quilter’s knot on the end of your thread.

Take your needle down through the top of the fabric some distance away from the beginning of your stitching as you can see above. The knot is on the left hand side of my stitching, on top of the fabric.

Finish your line of stitching and take your needle to the back of the fabric, then flip your fabric over so you can work at the back.

In this photo of the back of my stitching, you can see the long tail of the away knot. Secure your working thread by weaving it through the last three or so stitches.

Clip the knot from the front of your fabric and turn it over again to work on the back.

Rethread your needle with the tail you have left after clipping the away knot and now weave that thread through the back of the first three or so stitches and clip.

If you look now at the stitching, you will see that both ends of your thread are secured by weaving them through the back of stitches. The ends of your threads are not going to show up as shadows on the front of your work since they run directly underneath your stitching on top. Cross stitchers and other counted thread stitchers often use the away knot for this reason but it is a good practice for all embroiderers since it makes for a neater back and no shadows on the front.