Chain stitch is one of the looped stitches. It’s actually much easier than the written description makes it sound. But that is often the case with embroidery stitches – the are often much easier to show than to explain! YouTube is a fantastic development for this!
Chain stitch can be used in all manner of ways. It’s a fantastic outline stitch. You can whip another stitch over the top through the stitches to make a thick line. Or use it to fill in large areas of a pattern. Detached chain stitches make fantastic flowers and leaves on small projects, and were used intensively for this during the depression era through the 1960s. You’ll see this legacy on many stamped embroidery designs.
Chain is a fun stitch to experiment with, because making the loops longer or shorter, or using different weights and textures of thread creates instant differences in your stitching. Go forth and explore!
And don’t forget to have fun!
