Sunday 12 March 2017

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 15: Open Chain Stitch

It's Sunday and time to stitch!

Sunday Stitch School this week presents an easy and enjoyable stitch - the Open Chain Stitch. Anyone who is familiar with the Chain Stitch, will soon adjust its width and have an Open Chain Stitch.

Other names for the stitch are:
Square Chain Stitch
Roman Chain Stitch
Ladder Stitch
Small Writing Stitch (if narrow)
Big Writing Stitch (if wide)
and
Bred Kedjesöm is the Swedish term
Annet tells me in Dutch it has two names:
Vierkante or
Brede Kettingsteek
Mattia has supplied this list of names in French
point de chaînette échelle
point de chaînette carré
point noeudé dans la Broderie Bretonne

Work it like this:

 



 On my Aida sampler:


Homework:
Couch down the metallic cord with Open Chain Stitch, and
use it as a filling stitch for something on this piece of red fabric.

17 comments:

margaret said...

I had no idea this stitch had so many names we certainly learning lots from your tutorials Queenie.

Pamela said...

That stitch will be perfect to couch the metallic cord! It looks Christmas-y against the red fabric.

Queeniepatch said...

I was quite surprised, too. Do you really think it can be used for writing? Big Writing and Small Writing? Well, I'll have to give it a try!

Queeniepatch said...

Yes, I think this is a great anchoring stitch for braids and fancy thread. Christmassy? The cord is a bit too blue in my opinion to be seen as a X-mas shade, but teamed with the red... yes, why not?

carorose said...

This is a great stitch to achor a ribbon ar braid and I like it on it's own.

Shami Immanuel said...

Nice stitch Queenie. I have see this stitch in kutch embroidered bags with mirror works. It is a apt one for couching also. Keep going.

Queeniepatch said...

I am enjoying working on this stitch today.

Queeniepatch said...

How would the mirrors be fixed with this stitch? I had to Google it and saw that the mirror often is secured with shisha stitch and then embellished with Open Chain Stitch. Yes, it looks lovely! Thank you for pointing it out to me.

Annet said...

Open chain is the perfect stitch for couching, love the shiny thread you're going to use. In Dutch this stich is called vierkante of brede kettingsteek.

Janie said...

Another great versatile stitch, Queenie. It can be tweaked to make a lot of interesting variations.

crazyQstitcher said...

The stitch may work for writing if you use fine threads. It could become tedious if one was intending a lot of writing.

Queeniepatch said...

I found that it is an interesting filling stitch, too. Especially with variegated thread.
Thank you for supplying the Dutch names. I will update.

Queeniepatch said...

YES! Indeed, I have just used it for a filling stitch and love the look. Now I am off to couch down that shiny green metallic braid.
Have a safe trip on the foggy roads.

Queeniepatch said...

I have yet to test the penmanship qualities of this stitch. As a filling stitch is is fun and I am now about to start the couching of that metallic cord in the photo.

Janie said...

Thank you Queenie.

Anonymous said...

Il existe aussi plusieurs noms en français de ce point :
- point de chaînette échelle
- point de chaînette carré
- point noeudé dans la Broderie Bretonne
et plusieurs autres encore
Mattia

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you!
This stitch certainly has a lot of names in many languages! I think it looks like a ladder so the first name would be good.