Almost all sewing uses four stitches.
Straight stitch. Construction seams on woven fabric, topstitching, edgestitching. Length 2.5 mm for general work, 3 to 3.5 mm for topstitching and thick fabric, 2 mm for fine fabric, 4 mm or more for basting.
Zigzag. Three jobs: finishing a raw edge so it does not fray, sewing knits when you have no stretch stitch, and appliqué. A narrow zigzag — 0.5 to 1 mm wide — behaves almost like a straight stitch but with give.
Stretch stitch (often a lightning-bolt symbol). Purpose-built for knits: it looks like a narrow zigzag but is designed to recover. If your machine has it, use it on knit seams.
Buttonhole. One-step if you have it, four-step if not. Always over interfacing.
Two worth knowing about beyond those. Blind hem, which produces a nearly invisible hem on a woven, and a three-step zigzag, which is better than a plain zigzag for finishing edges on fabric that curls.
Everything else on the dial is decoration. A machine with 400 stitches gives you the same four you will use, plus 396 you will try once. This is why stitch count is the specification most oversold in the market and the least useful when comparing machines.
Questions people actually ask
What is the difference between zigzag and a stretch stitch?
A zigzag has give because the thread travels a longer path. A stretch stitch is engineered to recover to its original length after stretching, which a zigzag only partly does.
Which stitch finishes an edge best without an overlocker?
A three-step zigzag on most fabrics, or a plain zigzag on stable ones. On fraying fabric, a folded and stitched edge lasts longer than any machine stitch.
Last reviewed 2026-08-11