For the technique used to shorten rope or cable, see Chain sinnet.
Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern.[1][2] 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).[3] 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.[4]
Traditional embroidery in chain stitch on a Kazakh rug, contemporary
editDetail 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.[5] Chain stitch embroidery has also been found dating to the Warring States period. Chain stitch designs spread to Iran through the Silk Road.[6]
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.[8][9]
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.[10]
The double chain stitch uses two threads. It is rarely used in today's machines except for ornamental purposes because it uses more thread than other stitches.[10] It 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.
Machine stitch gallery
editFormation of a simple chain stitch using a looperFormation of the double locking chain stitch
^Mary Schoeser (2007). Silk. Yale University Press. p. 18. ISBN978-0-300-11741-7. Retrieved 15 January 2013. from the same dates comes the earliest evidence of chain stitch embroidery, worked with silk threads
Virginia Churchill Bath, Needlework in America, Viking Press, 1979 ISBN0-670-50575-7
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, ISBN0-7134-4796-6, or online at Project Gutenberg
John Gillow and Bryan Sentance: World Textiles, Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, ISBN0-8212-2621-5
Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., March 1992, ISBN0-89577-059-8
