Chain stitch is a

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening pieces of textiles together using a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeo ...

and

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

technique in which a series of looped stitches form a

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

-like pattern. Chain stitch is an ancient craft – examples of surviving

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

chain stitch embroidery worked in

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

thread have been dated to the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(5th – 3rd century BC). 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 Seam may refer to: Science and technology * Seam (geology), a stratum of coal or mineral that is economically viable; a bed or a distinct layer of vein of rock in other layers of rock * Seam (metallurgy), a metalworking process the joins the ends ...

on finished fabric. Because chain stitches can form flowing, curved lines, they are used in many

surface embroidery Surface embroidery is any form of embroidery in which the pattern is worked by the use of decorative stitches and laid threads ''on top of'' the foundation fabric or canvas rather than ''through'' the fabric; it is contrasted with canvas work.Read ...

styles that mimic "drawing" in thread. Chain stitches are also used in making

tambour lace Tambour lace refers to a family of lace made by stretching a fine net over a frame (the eponymous ''Tambour'', from the French for drum) and creating a chain stitch, known as tambour, using a fine, pointed hook to reach through the net and dr ...

needlelace Needle lace is a type of lace created using a Sewing needle, needle and yarn, thread to create hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself. Origins The origins of needle lace date back to the 15th century and embroidery. Cutwork and ...

macramé Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques. The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of "hitching": various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by ...

and

crochet Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', which means 'hook'. Hooks can be made ...

. In

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

, in the Sheki region, this ancient type of needlework is called ''tekeldus''.

History

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

. Chain stitch embroidery has also been found dating to the

. Chain stitch designs spread to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

through the

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

Applications

Hand embroidery

Chain stitch and its variations are fundamental to embroidery traditions of many cultures, including

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

i '' numdahs'',

ian

Resht Rasht (; ) is a city in the Central District of Rasht County, Gilan province, Iran, serving as the capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is also known as the "City of Rain" (). With a population of 679,995 in 2016, ...

work,

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

n suzani, Hungarian Kalotaszeg "written embroidery",Gillow and Sentance: ''World Textiles'', p. 178-179

Jacobean embroidery Jacobean embroidery refers to embroidery styles that flourished in the reign of King James I of England in first quarter of the 17th century. The term is usually used today to describe a form of crewel embroidery used for furnishing characteri ...

, and

crewelwork Crewel embroidery, or crewelwork, is a type of surface embroidery using wool. A wide variety of different embroidery stitches are used to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old. Crewel embro ...

Machine sewing and embroidery

Chain stitch was the stitch used by early

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

s; however, as it is easily unravelled from fabric, this was soon replaced with the more secure

lockstitch A lockstitch is the most common mechanical stitch (textile arts), stitch made by a sewing machine. The term "single needle stitching", often found on dress shirt labels, refers to lockstitch. Structure The lockstitch uses two Thread (yarn), th ...

. This ease of unraveling of the single-thread chain stitch, more specifically known as

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

4915:1991 stitch 101, continues to be exploited for industrial purposes in the closure of bags for bulk products.

Machine embroidery Machine embroidery is an embroidery process whereby a sewing machine or embroidery machine is used to create patterns on textiles. It is used commercially in product branding, corporate advertising, and uniform adornment. It is also used in the ...

in chain stitch, often in traditional hand-worked crewel designs, is found on

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain) water. Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's windows to block the passage of light. For instan ...

s, bed

linens Linens, also referred to uncountably as linen, are fabric household goods intended for daily use, such as bedding, tablecloths, and towels. "Linens" may also refer to church linens, meaning the altar cloths used in church. History The earlies ...

, and

upholstery Upholstery is the work of providing furniture, especially seats, with padding, springs, webbing, and fabric or leather covers. The word also refers to the materials used to upholster something. ''Upholstery'' comes from the Middle English wor ...

fabrics Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not ...

Variants

Hand variants

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

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

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.1902 Encyclopedia
/ref> * 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. 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

File:Machine basic chain stitch.jpg, Basic chain stitch Image:Machine double chain stitch.jpg, Double chain stitch

Notes

Union Special Portable Chain Stitch machine internal mechanis
2200 Portable bag closing machines

References

* Virginia Churchill Bath, ''Needlework in America'', Viking Press, 1979 * 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, , or online a
Project Gutenberg
* John Gillow and Bryan Sentance: ''World Textiles'', Bulfinch Press/Little, Brown, 1999, * Reader's Digest ''Complete Guide to Needlework''. The Reader's Digest Association, Inc., March 1992,

External links

Kalotaszeg embroidery at MagyarMuseum.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chain Stitch Embroidery stitches Sewing stitches Chinese inventions