Eskimo Edging Stitch – as an edge and to join fabric

Elizabeth at Quieter Moments has been doing lots of Eskimo stitch. I thought I’d take Elizabeth’s idea but instead of showing variations of the stitch, I’d show how it looks at the edge of the fabric, and also how it may be used to join two pieces of fabric.

I used Jacqueline Enthoven’s book ‘The Stitches of Creative Embroidery’ for the instructions. She writes: ‘This simple and effective edging is based on the running stitch. It was devised by the Eskimos and the Aleuts to bind together the many seams of their seal gut parkas making them water proof……Until recently I had seen the stitch only once, many years ago, around the edge of a child’s cap. Miss Blanche Payne, Professor of Home Economics at the University of Washington has seen it used ornamentally around the hood of an Eskimo child’s parka.’

She advises using size 5 perle cotton for the running stitches, and size 3 perle cotton for the lacing stitches. I used size 12 for the running stitches and size 8 for the loops. First turn your hem and press. If I was doing this for real I would have made a double hem (i.e. folded over twice so it didn’t fray). Then using the finer thread start the running stitch from left to right, hiding the knot inside the hem. With the thicker thread, and using a tapestry needle, start with a knot hidden in the hem. Bring the thread to the back of the work and under the first running stitch. Turn the fabric over and thread it under the first running stitch on the other side, and then loop it under the second running stitch. Bring the thread over the top of the fabric to the back of the work and continue lacing. Each running stitch should have the lacing thread looped under it twice.

As you can see I didn’t worry about the length of the running stitches and it makes the work uneven. If I was doing this for real I would ensure all the running stitches were the same size. With this size thread I would make the stitches smaller too, so the overall look is smaller and neater. If you want to see this stitch look nice go see what Elizabeth has done!!

To join two bits of fabric with this stitch I just guessed what to do. If you know a better, or correct, way please let me know!

I did running stitch on both pieces of fabric to be joined. I then placed the wrong sides together. I did the lacing as described above but went over both pieces of fabric. The final photo shows what the fabric looks like ‘opened out’. Again I have done this is with much larger stitches than I would do for the real thing, and they are not worked as firmly as I would normally do – I did them big and loose so you could see what was done. I am not sure if this is how Eskimos joined their parkas or not, but it is the only way I could see how to do this stitch as a joining stitch. Again – any other information is welcome!

Post Script: Check out Bobbi’s Beading at the Beach – She has used Eskimo Edging stitch on her TIF challenge piece!