Chicken Scratch food is a mixture of seeds that chickens eat – much like bird food, only cheaper. Usual ingredients found in chicken scratch are cracked or rolled corn, barley, oats, wheat, sunflower seeds, milo and millet.
Chicken Scratch Embroidery is similar in a way to chicken scratch food. Chicken Scratch Embroidery is vintage embroidery that coming back into popularity. It might even remind you of cross stitch. The fabric used for chicken scratch is typically a woven or printed gingham fabric. Other names for chicken scratch embroidery is Amish embroidery, depression lace, or snowflake embroidery. Gingham woven fabric and thread were commonly used and available for use back in the day. Individuals combined the use of the thread to embellish and decorate gingham fabrics with patterns that would brighten their day or resemble lace.
You can find Chicken Scratch Quilts if you are lucky in antique stores. Gingham fabrics were stitched with thread with various patterns and stitches. Today we will review the X stitch, Star stitch, dashes and loops. When you combine these simple stitches together they give a variety of chicken scratch patterns.
Let’s experiment with Chicken Scratch Embroidery. You may very well have some gingham fabric in your stash along with an embroidery floss or thicker thread.
Chicken Scratch is a relaxing pastime. You use the squares of the gingham fabric as if they are your cross stitch fabric. You can be as simple or complicated with your Chicken Scratch to even appear like lace. Back in the days when lace was difficult to find this was a beautiful way to create a depression lace.
Today we are working with small 4 inch square pieces of 1/8 inch gingham fabric in bright colors. You might use a gingham fabric with white or colored backgrounds. We can then use these small chicken scratch pieces in 3 inch embroidery hoops as Christmas Ornaments or combined together into a garland. A stabilizer behind the woven gingham fabric is not needed. You might even find that your children or grandchildren might be interested in helping out with these simple embroidered squares of fabric.
Chicken Scratch is a nod to days when resources were not a plenty but done as a handiwork to adorn fabrics and homes. I’m trying to stay true to the simplistic look and beauty of chicken scratch embroidery. Think about the manufacture of woven fabric back in the day. Woven fabric with prints would be difficult or expensive to acquire. If you didn’t find a solid woven fabric the next easiest woven print to find would be a gingham.
Download your pattern for these simple designs while still being able to experiment with additional chicken scratch embroidery stitches.
Of course keep in mind that you can expand this to larger pieces of fabric to stitch together in a quilt. Just a few Chicken Scratch quilt blocks can be added to a quilt along side pieced quilt blocks. The possibilities are endless and your imagination is the only thing to limit you. Can you imagine a Chicken Scratch Baby Quilt? Oh so vintage, classic and beautiful.
Observe the Chicken Scratch stitches on the Christmas Tree. The Christmas Tree is outlined in a simple cross stitch.
Now examine the Chicken Scratch Embroidery with adding a simple dash horizontally and vertically. Significant design changes with simplistic stitches.
Now let's add additional stitches this time with a cross stitch and then a plus sign stitched on top of the center stitches. Once again these are simple stitches but adds character to our tree.
Our next step is to add a circle loop on the dark green gingham squares. This stitch will not pierce the fabric but will simply slide into the loops on the sides of each dark green gingham square similar to our loop on the snowflake pattern.
I will finish my Chicken Scratch wooden embroidery Christmas Ornaments with a simple twine to hang on the tree and clean simple felt or wool to cover the back that will incorporate a pocket on the back with labeling. I'm trying to use materials that were easy to find back in the depression era. Re-purposing gingham clothing would be a special nod for Chicken Scratch embroidery.
Based on the size of your gingham squares your design will increase or decrease. The small gingham print used in these photos is about 1/8 inch. You will find buttons embellishing chicken scratch embroidery as these were commonly available.
Hope you enjoyed learning a little something new & vintage! I love the sunshine traditional look of gingham fabrics.
You can purchase a patchwork of gingham prints on a panel at Stitches Quilting designed by Lori Holt with Riley Blake.
At Stitches Quilting, we also carry a variety of gingham fabrics for sale by the yard.
Our very best selling products are.....
Have fun stitching and be sure to post photos of anything you make in the Everyone Can Quilt Facebook Group!
Don't forget to watch the Stitches Quilting YouTube Videos for a visual tutorial of Chicken Scratch Embroidery.
