There is one thing I REALLY dislike in crochet, and that is chains. There are so many reasons I don’t like chains, but the main takeaways are that they have very little give. They just don’t stretch. They are also a pain when you have to count them, and they twist when you are making something into a round and they are just boring to make, especially when your pattern calls for a lot of them.
That is why I love foundation stitches. You may also hear them referred to as chainless starting stitches or chainless foundation stitches.
I’ll be honest, they totally intimidated me the first time I tried them, but once I got it down I swore I’d never go back to chains again.
As a designer who mostly makes garments, these stitches have made my job so much easier. Foundation stitches can be substituted in almost any design that begins with a series of chains. You are simply creating the chain and the first row of stitches at the same time.
There many different kinds of foundation stitches but the most common are foundation double crochet (fdc), foundation half double crochet (fhdc) and foundation single crochet (fsc). You can get fancy and do taller foundation stitches, foundation herringbone stitches, foundation stitches for lace patterns and more.
Let’s get started with the basics….
I think learning the foundation double crochet is the easiest. It gives you the most room to work and see what you are doing, so I am going to begin there. Below you will find the written description and a picture tutorial for the fdc, fhdc and fsc but first up is a video that will teach you all three.
Fdc- Foundation Double Crochet
Chain 4 (counts as first fdc) yarn over (YO) and insert hook in 4th chain from hook, *YO and pull up loop (3 loops on hook), YO and pull through 1 loop creating a chain st, (this is an important step but easy to forget), YO again and pull through first two loops on hook (two loops remaining), YO again and pull through last two loops on hook. This completes the first fdc; to stitch the next fdc, yarn over and insert the hook into the chain made in the first fdc and repeat from * to desired length or desired amount of sts are achieved.
Fhdc- Foundation Half Double Crochet
Chain 3 (counts as first fhdc). Yarn over (YO) and insert hook in 3rd chain from hook *YO and pull up loop (3 loops on hook), YO and pull through 1 loop creating a chain, (this is an important step but easy to forget), YO and pull through all three loops on hook. This completes the second fhdc (remember your first ch3 counted as the first fhdc). To stitch the next fhdc, yarn over and insert the hook into the chain made in the 2nd fhdc and repeat from * to desired length or until the desired amount of sts are achieved.
Fsc- Foundation Single Crochet
Ch 2, insert hook in first ch, *yarn over (YO) and pull up loop (2 loops on hook), YO and pull through one loop, creating a chain, (this is an important step but easy to forget). YO and pull through two remaining loops on hook. This completes the first fsc. To stitch the next fsc insert the hook into the chain made in the first fsc and repeat from * to desired length or until the desired amount of sts are achieved.