I consider myself a fairly novice stitcher, as in, I have a few stitches in my repertoire and they serve me very well, thankyouverymuch. So whenever a discussion popped up over the years regarding the double running (Holbein) stitch, I just couldn't see why I should use it because it didn't seem that it was that different from a backstitch.
WELL. What a difference a day makes. I was bored with backstitching my long spans and tried this and WOW!!! It's just so much more...smooooooooooooth.
I love double running too. I don't even care that it looks better; it's just so much FUN! I love figuring out where to go next and then seeing it all come out at the end of a "run".
Well I find that using a tapestry needle for Holbein (running backstitch) makes it difficult to pierce the thread, and if you need to 'frog stitch' the pierced thread makes it difficult to take out.
Instead, as you take your run back along the line, you'll note that your first stitches actually have a slight angle. Your return stitches should come up on one side of the previous stitch and go down on the other side - trying to figure out how to explain this. OK, if your outward row is angled top left to bottom right, the return stitch should go top right to bottom left - the visual effect is a nice, even straight line. By doing this, your return stitches flatten and lift the first row. (I think it was Charland Garvin who taught me this in a workshop).
Obviously the angle below is exaggerated since I don't have the right graphics to draw it, but if you flatten out the line, you get the idea. \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
You'll know immediately when you're doing it wrong as your line will be crooked, but when done correctly, the line will be nice and even.
I love Holbein, and almost always use it for outlining or backstitching unless I'm using over dyes, and even then if I'm careful and reverse the direction of the thread so the colour progression is reversed, I sometimes use it.
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