Two Fancy Chains for Your Tatting

posted Aug 21, 2013, 11:33 PM by LPS Admin
by Jessica Spaulding

Sometimes you want to use a something a little fancier than the basic double stitch in your chains. Here are a couple of ideas.

Spiral Chain (or Josephine Chain)

This chain is created by repeating only one half of the double stitch. The direction of the spiral will depend on which half of the stitch is repeated.The trick to making the spiral chain is in making the stitches tight and managing the spiral. You may need to twist the finished portion of the chain or wrap the shuttle around the thread to keep it spiraling tight. Because we have a core thread just like we do with the normal double stitch it also helps to keep pushing the stitches tight down along the core thread. You can adjust the spiral to make it tighter or looser as you go.

Lock Stitch Chain

This chain is created by doing a normal double stitch, but only flipping the first half of the stitch. It is called the lock stitch chain because there is no core thread and so the stitches do not slide. To keep this chain looking even, it is important to still pull the second half of the stitch tight even while keeping it unflipped. The shuttle thread has a tendency to lose its twist so it’s important to stop every now and again to let the shuttle hang and regain its twist. If you are replacing normal double stitch chain with a lock chain then be aware that the lock stitch takes up more space than a normal double stitch.