Open Chain Stitch


Open Chain Stitch is also known as

Ladder Stitch, Square Chain Stitch, and Roman Chain Stitch [EN], Punto de cadeneta abierto [ES], Chaînette ouverte [FR], Offender kettenstich [DE],  Punto romano [IT], Ponto de cadeira aberto [PT].


How to do the Open Chain Stitch

This kind of chain stitch gives a ladder-like appearance. It can be used to pin down or couch down threads and ribbons. Various embellishments can be done between the spaces created in the ‘ladder’. This stitch is worked on two parallel lines, rather than a single line as in chain stitch. So, if you may want, you can draw two parallel stitch lines with a pencil or washable ink before starting the practice.

Fig 1: Bring the thread out through A.Take the thread in through B and bring the needle out through C but don’t pull it out completely.Fig 2: Loop the thread around the needle, as you would for chain stitch, and pull out the needle. Be careful not to tighten the loop too much.
Fig 3: Take the needle in through D and bring it out through E. Loop the thread around the needle and pull it out for the next ‘step’ in the ‘ladder’.
Keep the loop loose enough to accommodate the needle for the next ‘step’. Making the loop too tight will pull the thread and fabric to distortion when you try to put in the needle for the next step.
Fig 4: Continue with the action of looping pattern to give a ladder like appearance

30 Responses

  1. G
    Gail McDaniel says:

    I am really having a tough time learning this stitch. I’ve watch and watched video tutorials and just can’t learn it. I can’t get the stitch’s to lie down properly. Hope this non video tutorial will help. Fingers crossed

    • Sarah says:

      I hope so too! Let me know if it did. I missed to add the last photo on how to end the stitch. But I am sure you will figure it out! Let me know that too. 😬

  2. V
    Victoria says:

    Phew, thank you, I was puzzled and my brain was hurting trying to decipher this from Embroidery Stitches

  3. M
    Marija Jakopin says:

    Thank you for this great stitch tutorial.

  4. j
    jan says:

    Thank you.. I had difficulty with twisting of thread and the stitch keeping in place, while using variegated silk thread. So I worked the open chain upside down, starting with 2 posts. I happened to place the needle from left to right under the ‘posts’ and found the thread didn’t twist as much. The colours are pale orange, lemon, green, lime,etc.. The other shades don’t seem to give me as much bother with thread unravelling..

  5. A
    Aimee Aimee says:

    Thank you for a great explanation. I was looking online for a similar idea and really appreciate it

  6. A
    Anu radha says:

    I worked the open chain stitch on this design.

    Though there are some gaps at the thread endings I was happy to use the newly learnt stitch. Please give your comment. Thank you.

  7. A
    Anu radha says:

    Thank you Sarah. Your tutorials are very helpful.

  8. m
    miri says:

    Thank you so much. I needed a reminder and u r the best!

  9. Y
    YASEER says:

    HAI
    IT IS VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND EACH AND EVERY STITCH THAKYOU SO MUCH

  10. Sophie says:

    Dear Sarah,

    Thank you so so much for these pictorial tutorials!

    I haven’t embroiderd in years and am busy making a felt iPad cover for a friend with appliques. Your stiches is ensuring that the cover is elevated to something truly beautiful and unique!

  11. k
    krishna says:

    Dear sarah, thanks for the detailed description of each stitches. I will suggest all my friends to see this site.

  12. s
    supinder says:

    how do I finish the stitich (i.e tie a knot)

    • sarah says:

      Dear Supinder,

      Sadly, I could not illustrate the last step of this tutorial.

      To end the stitch, take in the needle in through the second stitch line, as usual, but instead of bringing it up from the first stitch line diagonally, bring it up from the second stitch line itself, just above the previous point and loop the thread around. Pull out the needle and put it in through the same point to anchor the stitch down and finish the process.

      I hope you were able to follow this instruction. You can also try your own way to end this stitch. 🙂

  13. M
    Megha says:

    Dear Sarah, superb tutorial. I had been learning embroidery for quite a sometime now and i really feel bad of missing such a helpful tutorial in the beginning. Thank you for publishing online!!!

  14. J
    JASMIN says:

    it’s really good! we can easily learn and applicable

    Thank You

  15. B
    Brenda Shafir says:

    Hi Sarah,

    Greetings from South Africa!

    I am teaching myself embroidery over the holidays and your tutorials are the best I have found anywhere. Thank you so much!!!

    Best wishes,
    Brenda

  16. sarah says:

    Kiruthiga and S. Gopal,

    Thank you for refering our pages and glad that you found it good. 🙂

  17. S
    S.Gopal says:

    Thank you for all th main &sub stitches out of it.Everyone will definitly benefit out of it for free of cost.Thank you .

  18. k
    kiruthiga says:

    hai sara….

    now only i saw your website…. i feel very happy to see this… you are so tallent…. and helpful to lt of people… really i walk through many sites.. but i didn’t reply to any site… ur site is very wonderful and great…

  19. M
    Marlin says:

    love that color…

    • sarah says:

      Hey Marlin, so good to hear after so long from you. Thanks for goign thru the stitches and the responses. So glad that you loved them. I will be posting an embroidery (not stitch) tutorial soon. 🙂 Just getting back to action after the baby.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Upload your Stitches and Embroideries

You can include embroidery images in your comment by selecting them below. Select the file, and post your comment!