How to Make a Daisy Chain Stitch

The daisy chain stitch has several names: lazy daisy, daisy or detached chain. This looped stitch creates flowers or vines and cute embellishments for stitching projects. With practice, you can easily master this interesting stitch. But make sure to practice on a spare piece of fabric before you stitch on your project.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Embroidery floss
• Fabric
• Needle

1. Determine where your daisy stitch or chain should begin. Pull your needle up through the fabric until it catches.

2. Swoop your needle and thread around in an arch to create your loop. Insert the needle as close as possible to where you came up, but not in the same hole. If you insert exactly where you entered, you'll pull the thread out completely and undo your first stitch.

3. Push the needle back up through the fabric where you want the top of your loop to be. For longer daisy stitches and therefore longer petals or chains, come up a good distance away from your first stitch. For shorter petals or chains, come up closer to your first stitch.

4. Pull up the floss until it catches. It should be inside your loop at the roundest top part.

5. Anchor the stitch by putting the needle into the fabric and pulling it through on the outside of the loop closest to where you entered in your last stitch. Or to continue the chain, swoop your needle and thread around and re-enter the fabric closest to where you just came up.

6. Repeat the steps to create a chain. Anchoring each loop creates a flower or other embellishment.

Tips & Warnings

• Pulling your daisy stitches too tight diminishes the loops. If you want rounded petal shapes, keep stitches a bit looser than if you're creating a chain.