Chain_stitch

Hand-embroidery of Celtic knotwork in chain stitch on Harris tweed fabric, United States, 1990s.

Chain stitch.

Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern.Reader\'s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. The Reader\'s Digest Association, Inc. (March 1992). ISBN 0-89577-059-8, p. 32-33 Chain stitch is an ancient craft - examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dated to the Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC).Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance: World Textiles, Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, ISBN 0-8212-2621-5, p. 178 Handmade chain stitch embroidery does not require that the needle pass through more than one layer of fabric. For this reason the stitch is an effective surface embellishment near seams on finished fabric. Because chain stitches can form flowing, curved lines, they are used in many surface embroidery styles that mimic "drawing" in thread.Gillow and Sentance: World Textiles, p. 178

Chain stitches are also used in making tambour lace, needlelace, macramé and crochet.

Chain stitch is also a technique used to shorten rope or cable for storage or while in use; see Chain sinnet.

Contents 1 Applications 1.1 Hand embroidery 1.2 Machine sewing and embroidery 2 Variants 2.1 Stitch gallery 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links 6 References

Applications

Machine embroidery in chain stitch on a voile curtain, China, early 21st century.

Hand embroidery

Chain stitch and its variations are fundamental to embroidery traditions of many cultures, including Kashmiri numdahs, Iranian Resht work, Central Asian suzani, Hungarian Kalotaszeg "written embroidery",Gillow and Sentance: World Textiles, p. 178-179, Jacobean embroidery, and crewelwork.

Machine sewing and embroidery

Chain stitch was the default stitch used by early sewing machines; however, as it is easily unraveled from fabric, this was soon replaced with the more secure lockstitch.

Machine embroidery in chain stitch, often in traditional hand-worked crewel designs, is found on curtains, bed linens, and upholstery fabrics.

Variants

"Drawing" or outlining in basic chain stitch

Variations of the basic chain stitch include:

• Back-stitched chain stitch
• Braid stitch
• Cable chain stitch
• Knotted chain stitch
• Open chain stitch
• Petal chain stitch
• Rosette chain stitch
• Singalese chain stitch
• Twisted chain stitch
• Wheat-ear stitch
• Zig-zag chain stitch

Stitch gallery

Braid stitch.jpg Braid stitch	Cable chain stitch.jpg Cable chain stitch	Knotted chain stitch.jpg Knotted chain stitch	Open chain stitch.jpg Open chain stitch
Petal chain stitch.gif Petal chain stitch	Rosette chain stitch.gif Rosette chain stitch	Rosette chain line.gif Rosette chain line	Singalese chain stitch.gif Singalese chain stitch
Twisted chain stitch.jpg Twisted chain stitch	Wheatear stitch.gif Wheat-ear stitch	Zig zag chain stitch.jpg Zig-zag chain stitch

See also

• Embroidery stitch

Notes

External links

Kalotaszeg embroidery at MagyarMuseum.org

References

• Virginia Churchill Bath, Needlework in America, Viking Press, 1979 ISBN 0-670-50575-7
• S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework, 1885.
• Mrs. Archibald Christie. Samplers and Stitches, a handbook of the embroiderer\'s art, London 1920, 1989 facsimile: Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-4796-6, or online at Project Gutenberg
• John Gillow and Bryan Sentance: World Textiles, Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, ISBN 0-8212-2621-5
• Reader\'s Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. The Reader\'s Digest Association, Inc., March 1992, ISBN 0-89577-059-8

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