Ok, I have never used that side stitch. I keep all stitching in-line and if that one or two threads becomes severed, it all unravels. Go thru the first hole, then thru the second, the. Come back up thur the first hole and continue on down. That side stitch is just aesthetics, it really doesn’t do anything other than give it some certain style that probably the men in GQ probably would like to see on their belts. To me it’s just a wasted stitch!