Chain Sewing – what is it?

Hey Everyone, welcome back to Technique Tuesday.

This weeks topic is about a technique that will help speed things up when there are many pieces to be sewn. It is called chain sewing.

What is chain sewing?

Chain sewing is a very efficient method of sewing units together. Start with the first unit to be sewn together and then just keep feeding in units one after the other and sewing them together creating a chain. It helps to save time and thread.

How does chain sewing work?

Sew the first unit together and when you come to the end of the seam of that unit, lift up your foot slightly and slip the next unit under and start sewing. Keep adding in units until all are sewn together. There will be a tiny bit of thread between each unit which is what creates the chain.

Lift foot up slightly and slip in the next unit to be sewn together.

Is there a limit to what can sewn?

There is no limit to the number of units that can be in a chain.

Some chains are short.

A short chain.

Some chains are long.

A long chain.

There is no limit to the size of pieces either.  Any size of unit can be sewn in a chain such as  rows, HSTs, blocks, squares, etc. It certainly speeds up the construction process and does save on thread.

A chain made with 10 inch blocks.

Clip apart the units when finished and press.

Clip apart when finished sewing.

This method of sewing is definitely a great time saver and if you don’t already use it as part of your construction practice give it a try and see what you think. I am pretty sure you will be hooked.

Happy Quilting!