Take a Stitch Tuesday - Chain Stitch - Week 8

This week for Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), the featured stitch is the chain stitch.

"Chain stitch is a sewing and embroidery technique in which a series of looped stitches form a chain-like pattern," according to Wikipedia. "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)."

On a website focused on Chinese art and culture, it was noted that "...archaeological discoveries reveal that while embroidery remained crudely simple throughout the Chou dynasty, it became increasingly sophisticated during the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.), and reached an aesthetic peak in the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-221 A.D.)."

It went on to say that, "Originally used to signify one's caste position, embroidery later came to have a purely ornamental value and evolved into a favored art form of the common people. As embroidery developed, its artistic features multiplied."

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Wikipedia explains that "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."

Photo Source

E-how said that "...the embroidered chain stitch is often used to create flowers or letters in embroidered designs. Once you have mastered this stitch, the row of chains work up quickly. This embroidery chain stitch looks like a crocheted chain stitch once the row is finished."

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This week, as I have been doing each week in my TAST Embroidery Journal, I've included a personal reflection, list of items for which I'm grateful, the name of the stitch, a collage of different images, and samples of the embroidery stitch.

I enjoyed doing two different variations of the letter "A" (which is the first letter of my first name). 

The letters were from the Pattern Maker Charts - a wonderful free resource that has a variety of vintage alphabet and pattern books. The two variations that I used are both from France.

The chain stitch was an enjoyable stitch to do, and one that I will use in the future with other embroidery projects.