The twisted chain stitch is a decorative line stitch that’s great for curves, straight lines, seam treatments in crazy quilting, or stems and branches in all kinds of surface embroidery (think: crewel work). Depending on how far you enter the fabric from the line you’re following, the “barb” on the twisted chain stitch will either be very noticeable (if you take your needle into the fabric far above or below your line) or hardly noticeable at all (if you work close to your line).
In the photo above, the pink and yellow lines are both worked with twisted chain stitch. On the yellow line, you can see how the line looks completely different, because I changed the length of the “barbs” on the stitch. You’ll see what I mean by “barbs” once you watch the video!
When the twist is kept close the line of stitches (so that there isn’t much of a barb at all), the twisted chain stitch worked along a line looks a lot like a line of little fish swimming along, nose-to-tail!
The twisted chain stitch forms the base of other embroidery stitches, so it’s a good stitch to have in your repertoire. For example, oyster stitch and rosette chain both begin like the twisted chain stitch, and berwick stitch is a combination of twisted chain and buttonhole stitch.
I hope you enjoy the video!
You can find heaps more How to Embroider Videos here on the Needle ‘n Thread – and if you’re looking for a particular stitch and can’t find it, let me know, and I’ll see if I can work something up for you!
