Chain stitch consists of a series of interlocking loops, each held in place by the next.

Chain stitch is one the oldest and most widely known stitches in existence. Examples have been found in Egypt on textiles from Tutankhamun’s tomb, dated to the 14th century BC; on embroideries found in Pazyryk tombs dating from 4th-3rd century BC (excavated in southern Siberia but probably originating in China).  Later evidence from China indicates the stitch was the most prevalent stitch there until the T’ang dynasty towards the end of the first millennium AD.

Archaeological finds in Berenike, Egypt and Mammen, Denmark, (dating from the 4th and 10th centuries respectively) show that it continued to be used.  By the medieval period, chain stitch was being used in Opus teutonicum whitework (centred in Germany, Switzerland and southern Scandinavia), it was one among a variety of stitches in Icelandic embroidery and featured on the 13th century Syon Cope.

Jacobean crewel work (which dates from 17th century Britain) employed chain stitch from the 17th century onwards, both as an outline and a filling stitch.  By the early 18th century chain stitch was one of the typical stitches in American Candlewick embroidery.