Mattress Stitch Between Selvages

The mattress stitch is a trickier one to work on your selvage (turning row) edges. It takes a little more patience, and unfortunately a little more time. But the result is wonderful – durability without the cost of visibility! Don’t get frustrated with it – just keep your stitch count consistent throughout the seam.

Lay pieces flat, right sides down. Line up rows as best you can. If your pieces are really long, like for a blanket, you may want to use stitch markers to help keep the fabrics lined up.

Insert needle from right to left. This image shows the needle going into two loops on each side. For a less bulky seam, you can insert into only one loop, but keep it consistent!

Working on the left, insert needle in to the next stitch. The following images are from a different shoot – catching only one loop from each side and a little further along in the seaming process.

Going back across, insert the needle into the stitch that was last used on the right.

On the right, insert into the next stitch. Continue back to the left side, inserting into the stitch you previously used.

Keep repeating these steps across the seam, pulling snug (but not tight!) as you go.

The completed mattress stitch from the wrong side (WS) of the piece. It is nearly invisible! Note: only the first 1-2 inches from the bottom are seamed together.

Above is the seam from the right side (RS) of the piece. Again, only the first couple inches are seamed together. Using the same color yarn for this seam would make it virtually undetectable – worth the extra effort, right?

And that wraps things up for the mattress stitch seaming up the selvage (turning edge) of your crochet fabrics. Please let me know what you think in the comments and rate this article – I’d love to know what you think!