Chain Stitch: How to Do It Step by Step

Chain Stitch is a hand embroidery stitch that makes linked loops; bold textured line. Makers reach for it for bold outlines, lettering, filling with rows. It is rated beginner here, so it is a good stitch to learn early and practice on a small swatch before a real project.

1. Bring the needle up at the start of the line. 2. Insert the needle back into the same hole, or right beside it. 3. Bring the needle tip up a stitch length ahead, with the working thread looped under the tip. 4. Pull through gently to form a loop. 5. Repeat from inside each loop. Anchor the last loop with a small straight stitch over it. Work slowly for the first few repeats, keep your tension even, and check the result against the steps before continuing across a whole row or motif.

The most common problems are: pulling loops too tight so they flatten; forgetting to tack down the final loop. Most are easy to spot if you pause after a few repeats and compare your work with the steps. Good light helps a great deal, especially with dark yarn or thread.

Stitches closely related to chain stitch include Lazy Daisy (Detached Chain), Split Stitch. Learning them together makes patterns easier to read, because many designs switch between related stitches to change texture, height or line. Each has its own step-by-step page in the stitch dictionary.