How to Sew a Chain Stitch
Chain stitch forms a line of linked loops that looks like a tiny braid or a crochet chain laid on the cloth. It is bold enough to outline heavy designs, borders and large lettering, and rows of it can fill a shape quickly.
Materials
- Medium-weight cotton or linen
- Six-strand embroidery floss
- Water-soluble marking pen
- A bold outline or lettering design
Tools
- Embroidery hoop
- Sharp embroidery needle, size 5-9
- Small sharp embroidery scissors
Steps
- 01
Come Up and Start the Loop
Bring the needle up at the start of your line. Re-insert it into the same hole, or one thread to the side, so a loop of your chosen size sits on the surface.
- 02
Catch the Thread on the Way Up
Bring the needle up one loop-length ahead, sliding the tip over the working thread so the thread passes under it. This traps the loop before you pull the stitch closed.
- 03
Close the First Link
Pull the thread gently until the loop closes into a neat teardrop around the new stitch. Stop pulling the moment the loop seats, since tugging harder distorts it.
- 04
Anchor the Next Link Inside
For the second link, insert the needle inside the first loop a thread or two beyond where that loop began, then bring it up a loop-length ahead and catch the thread again.
- 05
Keep the Links the Same Size
Judge each new loop by the one before it and keep the tension identical. Uneven pulling is the usual reason a chain line starts to wander.
- 06
Turn Corners and Finish
At a corner, make the loop at the turning point slightly smaller so the chain bends without a kink. End by taking the thread to the back and running it under several stitches.
Why the loop holds: what each move does to the thread
Every link in a chain line is held by exactly one thing: the next link passing through it. When you re-insert the needle inside the previous loop, the new stitch crosses that old loop and pins it down; the thread you caught on the way up becomes the loop that the following link will pin in turn. That is why the chain has a direction — it always grows away from your starting hole, and the loops open back toward the start. If a link is never pinned, the whole run from that point can be pulled out in one tug, which is worth remembering when something looks wrong three links back.
The catch is the move that decides whether the stitch exists at all. The needle tip has to pass over the working thread, so that when you pull, the thread rises under the needle and becomes the loop. If the tip goes up beside the thread instead, nothing is trapped: the pull simply drags the floss flat and you get a slack straight stitch where a link should be. Keep a thumb on the forming loop as you take the next stitch, and let the loop be in place before you tighten anything.
Loop length controls the look far more than strand count does. A link much longer than it is wide reads as a stretched running stitch, while a link roughly as wide as it is long reads as a rounded teardrop and gives the braid effect. Short links also turn a curve more accurately, because each one follows the marked line for a shorter distance. Keep the loop loose at the moment you pull — it should sit on the surface, not cinch down onto the entry hole.
The back of the work is a plain line of small straight stitches. Chain stitch is one-sided: the raised braid exists only on the front, which matters if the piece will be seen from both sides, such as a banner or a towel edge. It also matters for finishing, because there is no knot hiding the tail — the thread is secured by running it under that straight back line.
Common mistakes: how to spot them and put them right
Ropey, upright chain. The usual cause is over-tightening: the loop is pulled down to the hole, the floss has nowhere to lie, so it stands up instead. You can spot it long before the line is finished — the links look narrow and a hard ridge runs down the middle of the chain. Ease the tension for the next few links and let the loop sit flat. If the whole run is tight, unpicking back to the last good link and reworking is usually faster than trying to relax it afterwards, because floss that has been pulled hard stays crinkled.
A chain that wanders off the drawn line. The spine of a chain is the row of entry holes, not the loops. Start each new link a thread to the left of where the previous loop began and the whole line walks sideways, even though every individual link is neat. Check your entry points against the marked line every few links rather than at the end, and slow down where the line curves.
Links that unlock as you work. If the needle catches only part of the floss, or comes up beside the working thread instead of over it, that link is not pinned and it will work loose under the next few stitches. Run a finger along the finished chain: any link that slides has not been locked. Unpick one link and rework it — this is a one-stitch fix, not a reason to redo the line.
Puckered or holed fabric. When the cloth is too fine for the floss, or the needle is sized for a heavier thread, every entry hole is bigger than the thread needs and the fabric dimples around it. A size 5 needle with three or four strands on medium-weight cotton or linen is a matched pair. On a lighter cloth, drop to two strands and a size 9 needle, and keep the hoop holding the fabric drum-tight so the loops cannot drag the weave out of line.
Choosing cloth, thread and needle: what a substitution changes
The fabric does half the work. Medium-weight cotton and linen have enough body for a loop to lie flat and stay where you put it. Swap to a loose, slubby linen and the links sink into the weave and read as a fuzzy line; swap to a fine batiste or lawn and the entry holes open up and the chain puckers the cloth. If the piece you want to decorate is too fine, back it with a second layer of the same fabric or a lightweight tear-away, work the chain through both, then remove the tear-away.
Strand count is your line weight. Three or four strands from the six-strand floss give the bold, rounded line this project is built around; two strands are for lettering and fine outlines. Split the strands one at a time and lay them back together — pulling two out of the bundle in one go puts twist in them and the chain will never sit flat. Perle cotton cannot be split and gives a rounder, more raised chain. Metallic thread is one of the few cases where chain stitch is easier than most stitches, because the thread is drawn along the surface instead of being dragged through the fabric at every stitch, but it shreds quickly if the needle eye is tight.
Needle and hoop. Sizes 5 to 9 cover the range this project needs: 5 for three or four strands on cotton, 9 for two-strand lettering. A needle that is too thick opens a hole wider than the floss can fill; one that is too fine means fighting the eye with a thick thread. The hoop is not optional here — slack fabric lets every loop grow as you pull, which is exactly why a chain line often drifts in the middle and nowhere else.
Marking. Chain stitch covers its guide line completely, so a bold drawn outline is the right kind of guide and a faint pencil line is not. Draw with the water-soluble pen at roughly the width of the chain you intend to sew, so you can see at a glance whether the entry holes are tracking it. On dark or heavily textured cloth, trace on a light box or use a chalk line you can see through the hoop.
Variations: detached chain, whipped chain and filling
Detached chain stitch turns the line into a motif. Instead of anchoring the next link inside the loop, you take one small straight stitch over the end of the loop to pin it, then start a fresh loop wherever you want the next petal or leaf. The motion is identical, so a beginner can work a flower or a scatter of leaves long before they can keep a long line even, and it lets you fill a shape with separate loops rather than rows.
Whipping the chain changes the surface completely. Run a second thread, usually a contrasting colour, through the loops from the front without going into the fabric at all — a blunt tapestry needle makes it easy not to catch the cloth. The chain flattens into a smooth corded band with a crisp edge, which suits borders on heavier fabric, and it locks every loop so nothing can snag loose.
Twisted and zigzag chain. If you lay the needle diagonally as you go back in, rather than following the line of the chain, the links lean over and you get a twisted chain that follows a curved stem or a border without any extra fuss. Zigzag chain is the same idea opened wider: alternate the direction of the loops and the links splay into a herringbone-like band that is closer to a filling stitch than a line.
Filling with chain. To fill a shape, work rows of chain inside the outline and keep the rows about one chain-width apart, so the loops of neighbouring rows meet and the ground cloth does not show through. Work alternate rows in opposite directions, and on a large area stitch the outline first so the edges stay crisp while you fill. The raised texture of those rows is what makes chain filling look so different from satin stitch, which lies flat and glossy.
Finishing and care so the work lasts
End without a knot. Take the floss to the back at the end of the last link. The reverse of a chain line is a row of small straight stitches, so run the tail under three or four of them, reverse direction and run under three or four more, then trim close. A knot on medium-weight cotton shows as a shadow through to the front and can wear a hole with repeated washing; a woven-in tail does neither and holds just as well.
Think about snagging before you call it finished. Chain stitch is a row of open loops, and open loops catch — on a zip, a ring, a hook-and-loop closure or a child's fingers. Anywhere a piece will be handled hard, whip the chain or couch it down with a fine matching thread. A wall piece or a framed sampler does not need it.
Washing and pressing. Wash in cool water with a mild soap, never bleach, and never wring — squeeze the water out and roll the piece in a towel. Press face down on a folded towel, working from the back and letting the iron hover over the raised chain rather than pressing it flat; a hot iron straight onto the front flattens the braid and can glaze synthetic floss. Test dark reds and blacks on a scrap first, because floss can bleed into a pale ground cloth.
Storing and displaying. Roll a finished piece around a tube rather than folding it, since a crease set into a raised chain is very hard to lift. Keep wool work with a moth deterrent, and keep anything framed out of direct sunlight — dyed floss fades faster than the fabric around it, so a chain line loses its colour long before the background cloth does.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should each link be, and how do I keep them all the same size?
- Judge each link against the one before it rather than against a measurement. When a link is much longer than the chain is wide it reads as a stretched stitch instead of a rounded link, so keep the loop closer to round, especially in lettering where the shape of every link is on show. Uneven links almost always come from pulling harder as you go, so use the same motion for every loop and stop the moment the loop seats against the fabric. If a line starts to look uneven, finish the link you are on and check the entry holes against the marked line before continuing.
- My chain came undone when I pulled it. What went wrong?
- A loop is only held by the next stitch passing through it, so a link that slips was never pinned: the needle came up beside the working thread instead of over it, or it caught only one strand of the floss. Only the last unpinned link can move, so unpick back to the last link that holds firm and rework from there — the repair is a single stitch, not the whole line. Keep a thumb on the forming loop as you take the next stitch so the thread cannot slide out from under the needle.
- Can I work chain stitch around a curve or a tight circle?
- Yes, with shorter links. Each link follows the marked line only as far as its own length, so the shorter the loops, the more closely the chain can turn; keep the outer edge of the loop at full size on a curve and let the inner edge close up slightly instead of trying to bend one long link around it. For tight circles and single petals, switch to detached chain stitch — every loop is pinned by its own small straight stitch, so it can point in any direction you like.
- How do I join a new thread in the middle of a line?
- Finish and close the link you are on, then take the floss to the back and run the tail under the small straight stitches on the reverse. Bring the new thread up at the far end of the last loop — the exact point where the next link would start — so the join sits inside the final link and the chain looks unbroken. Leave a short tail on the new thread and catch it under the first link you work rather than knotting it.