by Carrie Schutrick

Created on: November 26, 2008

Lazy daisy, often used for flower petals, leaves and the like, is a simple stitch that can make very impressive effects when executed and used correctly. It's a very close relative of the (embroidery, not crochet) chain stitch, and makes a loop on the ground fabric that is not filled in and slightly more pointed at one end than the other. The lazy daisy is most often used in freestyle embroidery, though it's far from unknown for counted thread work to include it for a special effect.

When you're ready to work the stitch, first decide which end you want to have be the pointed one. (For plant parts such as leaves and petals, this will generally be the end that is closer to the attachment point-the stem or flower center.) Bring the needle up through to the right side of the fabric at this point, and then back down to the back through the same hole or very close to it. Take care not to pull the loop thus formed back to the wrong side of the fabric. Then, pick a point about a half an inch (1 cm) away along the line that you want to have as the long axis of the stitch, and bring the needle back up to the right side there, taking it through the loop. Gently pull on the thread until the loop tightens over the first part of this catch stitch, being very careful not to overtighten lest the finished lazy daisy distort the ground fabric or become too small. When the loop is snug, take the needle back down to the wrong side very close to where you brought it up the second time. That's one lazy daisy. The catch stitch at the rounded tip should be unobtrusive; if you're using thick thread for most of your embroidery, you might want to separate it into plies to perform all the catch stitches, in which case you'll need two needles (or have to do a lot of tedious rethreading) to work lazy daisy. It can also be interesting to use two needles so that all the catch stitches are a different color from the main loops; in this case both threads should be of similar weights.

Chain stitch is worked in a very similar fashion, except that each "catch stitch" is actually another loop until the final one, which has to be tacked down using a the same kind of catch stitch. Chain stitch has essentially the same structure as a crochet chain, except that one half of the stitch is on the front of the ground fabric and the other half is on the back. Working chain with two or more threads, so that each "link" is a different color, can produce interesting effects.

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