Textured Stitches Made Easy: Feather Stitch Tutorial

As amigurumi artists, we often find ourselves working with the same few stitches over and over again, mostly single crochet. And, to be fair, a lot of other wonderful stitches out there don’t really suit amigurumi. They’re too gappy or don’t work in the round. But there are more stitches out there that can be modified to work for our needs. That’s why I’m adding it to my Textured Stitches Made Easy series. And today we’re looking at the feather stitch.

Textured Stitches Made Easy: Feather Stitch Tutorial

So let me start off by saying I didn’t create this stitch out of thin air. I was doing some research for a pattern and I really wanted to find a new textured stitch to incorporate. I came across a YouTube tutorial (that I can’t seem to find now) for a really interesting stitch, but it was in Spanish. (Despite classes, my understanding of Spanish is completely elementary at best.)

I tried my best to follow the video and to her credit, the video was clear enough that I could follow her movements without the words.

However, as with most textured stitches, this one used double crochets (US terms), which don’t work for amigurumi very well. Plus the feathers were coming out huge.

So I set out to modify this stitch so that it would be suitable for amigurumi.

Let’s get started!

Abbreviations (US terms)

• FLsc – front loop single crochet
• Ch – chain
• Sk – skip
• BLsc – back loop single crochet
• Ch sp – chain space
• Sl st – slip stitch
• Sc – single crochet

Supplies

• Any solid color yarn (I used some scrap Lionbrand Mandala (DK 3 weight) in 2 colors)
• Any hook size appropriate to your yarn (I used a 3.25mm)

Stitch Multiple

Working Flat: chain a multiple of 4 + 1

In my sample, I chained 21.

Once you’ve created your chain, starting in the second chain from the hook, single crochet across. Chain 1 and turn–then scroll down to the instructions. I recommend making a small flat swatch to practice this stitch first before working in the round.

Working in the Round:

Option 1: chain a multiple of 4 and connect the ends into a ring, then sc around.

Option 2: start with a magic ring, work 8sc into it, and increase each row evenly until you reach your desired sample size. (Ex. increase until you have 32 stitches)

Feather Stitch Tutorial

Not gonna lie this stitch is kinda hard to follow at first, so you can check out the video tutorial below if you get stuck.

Instructions (part 1):

FLsc, ch 2, skip 2, FLsc

Instructions (part 2):

Turn (don’t ch 1), work 3sc in the ch sp, sl st into the first FLsc

Instructions (part 3):

Turn (don’t ch 1), (in the unworked back loop of the first stitch) BLsc, (in the skipped stitches) 2sc, (in the unworked back loop of the last stitch) BLsc

Then just repeat these steps to create feather stitches all the way across your row. If you’re working flat, you’ll ch 1 (doesn’t count as a st), turn, and work a row of single crochet across. Be sure to keep an eye on your stitch count as it’s easy to accidentally miss a stitch or add one too many.

NOTE: You can space out your feather rows more if you like, just be sure your working your feather stitches on the same side every time.

If you’re working in the round, when you get back to the start of your row, simply work a row of single crochet around.

Wrap Up

If you liked this tutorial, be sure to Pin it for later and share it with your crafty friends! I think this stitch has so much potential and I can’t wait to explore it a bit more. What do you think? Do you have a textured stitch that you love? Let me know in the comments!

Also if you loved this article, check out my other tutorials in this series such as Textured Stitches Made Easy: Double Loop Stitch Tutorial.

Catch ya next time!