Also known as: Ladder stitch, Square chain stitch, and Roman 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 embelishments 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.
Note:
Keep in mind that the alternate alphabets lie on one line. That is, A,C, E etc…on one line and B, D, F etc.. on the parallel line.
Keep the loops loose enough to accomodate 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. For example, to accomodate the needle in D, you have to keep the loop A-C-B slightly loose. You will get to know of it once you try this stitch on your own.
Tags: embroidery tutorial, hand embroidery, ladder stitch, open chain stitch, roman chain stitch, square chain stitch






love that color…
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.
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…
Thank you for all th main &sub stitches out of it.Everyone will definitly benefit out of it for free of cost.Thank you .
Kiruthiga and S. Gopal,
Thank you for refering our pages and glad that you found it good.
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
Hello Brenda,
Thanks! your appreciation helps us with more enthusiasm.
it’s really good! we can easily learn and applicable
Thank You
Dear Jasmin,
I am happy that you are liking our pages.
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!!!
Dear Megha,
It is a delight to know that you found our tutorial good and hope you enjoy learnign from it.
how do I finish the stitich (i.e tie a knot)
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.
Dear sarah, thanks for the detailed description of each stitches. I will suggest all my friends to see this site.
Thanks Krishna.
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!