Chain stitch

[[File:Kazakh rug chain stitch embroidery.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Traditional embroidery in chain stitch on a Kazakh rug, contemporary]]

'''Chain stitch''' is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chain Stitch Family|url=https://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/stitch/chain-stitch/|access-date=2020-07-20|website=Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>Reader's Digest ''Complete Guide to Needlework''. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc. (March 1992). {{ISBN|0-89577-059-8}}, p. 32-33</ref> 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).<ref>Gillow, John, and Bryan Sentance: ''World Textiles'', Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8212-2621-5}}, p. 178</ref> 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.<ref>Gillow and Sentance: ''World Textiles'', p. 178</ref>

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

In Azerbaijan, in the Sheki region, this ancient type of needlework is called ''tekeldus''.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

==History== thumb|right|Detail of an embroidered silk gauze ritual garment from a 4th-century BC, Zhou era tomb at Mashan, Hubei province, China. Rows of even, round chain-stitches are used both for outline and to fill in color. The earliest archaeological evidence of chain stitch embroidery dates from 1100 BC in China. Excavated from royal tombs, the embroidery was made using threads of silk.<ref name="Schoeser">{{cite book|author=Mary Schoeser|title=Silk|url=https://archive.org/details/silk00scho|url-access=registration|access-date=15 January 2013|year=2007|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-11741-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/silk00scho/page/18 18]|quote=from the same dates comes the earliest evidence of chain stitch embroidery, worked with silk threads}}</ref> Chain stitch embroidery has also been found dating to the Warring States period. Chain stitch designs spread to Iran through the Silk Road.<ref name="Leslie">{{cite book|author=Catherine Amoroso Leslie|title=Needlework Through History: An Encyclopedia|year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEiGeSLKLjMC&pg=PA41|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-33548-8|page=41}}</ref>

===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",<ref>Gillow and Sentance: ''World Textiles'', p. 178-179</ref> Jacobean embroidery, and crewelwork.

===Machine sewing and embroidery=== Chain stitch was the stitch used by early sewing machines; however, as it is easily unravelled from fabric, this was soon replaced with the more secure lockstitch. This ease of unraveling of the single-thread chain stitch, more specifically known as ISO 4915:1991 stitch 101, continues to be exploited for industrial purposes in the closure of bags for bulk products.<ref name="uspec">{{citation|url=http://www.unionspecial.de/ftp/literature/BagClosing.pdf|author=Union Special|title=Closing Machines BC100 and 80800|page=2|access-date=2009-05-26|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719111534/http://www.unionspecial.de/ftp/literature/BagClosing.pdf|archive-date=2011-07-19}}</ref><ref name="AandIchart">{{citation|url=http://www.amefird.com/stitchtypematrixflyer2.pdf|title=ISO Stitch Terminology|author=American & Efird|page=1|access-date=2009-05-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090326205426/http://www.amefird.com/stitchtypematrixflyer2.pdf|archive-date=2009-03-26}}</ref>

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

==Variants==

===Hand variants=== right|thumb|150px|"Drawing" or outlining in basic chain stitch Variations of the basic chain stitch include: * Back-stitched chain stitch * Braided stitching * 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

====Hand stitch gallery==== <gallery> File:Chain stitch.jpg|Basic chain stitch Image:Braid stitch.svg|Braid stitch Image:Cable chain stitch.jpg|Cable chain stitch Image:Knotted chain stitch.jpg|Knotted chain stitch Image:Open chain stitch.jpg|Open chain stitch Image:Petal chain stitch.gif|Petal chain stitch Image:Rosette chain stitch.gif|Rosette chain stitch Image:Rosette chain line.gif|Rosette chain line Image:Singalese chain stitch.gif|Singalese chain stitch Image:Twisted chain stitch.jpg|Twisted chain stitch Image:Wheatear stitch.gif|Wheat-ear stitch Image:Zig zag chain stitch.jpg|Zig-zag chain stitch </gallery>

===Machine variants=== * The '''basic chain stitch''' is made by first sending the needle down through the material. Then, as the needle rises upward, the friction of the thread against the fabric is sufficient to form a small loop on the underside of the material. That loop is caught by a circular needle which is beneath the work. The machine then moves the material forward projecting the loop on the underside from the previous stitch. The next drop of the needle goes through the previous loop. The circular needle then releases the first loop and picks up the new loop and the process repeats.<ref name="1902 Encyclopedia">[http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/S/SEW/sewing-machines.html 1902 Encyclopedia]</ref> * The '''double chain stitch''' uses two threads per needle. The boon of the double chain stitch is that from the top side the seam looks tidy and minimalistic like an ordinary lockstitch. The loops are only visible from the bottom side and as such they can be hidden away from view, and away from things that might get caught on them. Double chain stitch is used this way in the construction of denim jeans. Another boon of the double chain stitch over the lockstitch is that no bobbin or bobbin case is required. As such, operators do not have to stop to wind a bobbin after the (relatively small capacity) bobbin runs out. Furthermore, since no bobbin case is required, less room is required underneath the bed of the sewing machine. One example of this is narrow post bed sewing machines for stitching leather reinforcements onto already-assembled gloves. Also the lack of bobbin cases allows two, three, or more needles to be used (still two threads per needle, so a three needle machine would have six threads) at a time, which is useful for topstitching. (Lock stitch machines can accommodate at most two bobbin cases under the presser foot, one positioned to the left of the needles and one positioned to the right. This effectively limits lock stitch machines to having at most two needles.) Finally, double chain stitch is found in bulk material packaging, where it is used to close large bags. As this stitch can be easily unraveled, this permits easy opening of bags sewn shut in this manner.{{Citation needed|date=December 2025}}

==Notes== {{Reflist}} Union Special Portable Chain Stitch machine internal mechanism [http://www.unionspecial.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Union-Special-2200.pdf 2200 Portable bag closing machines]

==See also== * List of knots

==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 [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20386/20386-h/20386-h.htm 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}}

==External links== {{Sister project links|auto=yes}} * [http://magyarmuzeum.org/index.php?projectid=4&menuid=223 Kalotaszeg embroidery at MagyarMuseum.org]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chain Stitch}} Category:Embroidery stitches Category:Sewing stitches Category:Chinese inventions