How to Make a Tailors Knot

The tailor's knot is the best and easiest sewing knot that you can make. This technique was taught to me at school in 7th grade, and I have been using it ever since. I'm not a a big fan of hand sewing, but it's an essential thing if you want to make a professional hem with invisible stitches or if you need to close small openings on the linings of a handmade purse. Whenever I do any hand sewing, making this knot is the first step.

It's reliable. It's easy to make, and it won't pull through the fabric. Here's a step-up-step guide for making this indispensable sewing knot.

You will need a threaded needle. Make sure that thread is no longer than the distance between your heart and your hand when your arm is outstretched. That way you can pull the thread all the way through your thread in one pass. Let's go!

First, put the tail of your thread against the edge of the needle. Leave a short tip that's about 1/2 of an inch long poking over the needle. This tail can be clipped off once your knot is complete. Hold the thread in place while you complete the next step.

Next, you will wrap the end of the thread around the needle two or three times. The mores times you wrap, the larger the knot will be.

Gently pinch the bundle of wrapped thread that you created in the previous step. While you're pinching the thread, slide the bundle toward the eye-end of the needle.

Without pinching too tightly, slide the bundle of thread off of the needle. Continue pulling the knot all the way to the end of your thread. Basically, you'll be pulling the knot and the needle away from one another.

The last thing you can do is trim off the tiny tail below the knot. You could also wait until you begin sewing. Don't worry if your knot doesn't come out perfectly. If the thread gets a little bit tangled, just trim away the mess-up and start over.

I hope this Instructable helped you master the tailor's knot. If you want to see the process again, check out my YouTube video, which includes two close-ups and a slow-motion segment. Happy sewing!