Chain stitch is like a nice pair of boots. It adds texture, colour and interest to a piece without drawing all the attention to itself. It is basically a bunch of lazy daisy stitches together in a row. Putting a bunch together makes it more of a background stitch compared to lazy daisies that yell for attention.
When to use it:
- outlining
- borders
- stripes
- fillers
- vines
- branches
- snakes, caterpillars or any other long creepy animals
How to do it:
Bring the needle up to the surface.
Put the needle in the same hole (or very close to it) that the thread came up and take a small stitch. Catch the thread under the needle. Pull thread through. This should look like the start of a lazy daisy.
Instead tacking the loop down, put the needle in the hole you just came out of of, and repeat.
Continue for as long as you want the line to be. Tack down the final stitch when you get to the end.
Lines can be straight, curved, long or short. Chain stitch is very versatile.