How to Place a Border on Stacked Single Crochet

In your crochet journey, you’ve likely become frustrated by gaps or bumps on the sides of projects that use double crochet and, since you’ve clicked on this tutorial, you’ve found the stacked single crochet technique that eliminates them. But now you might be wondering… How do you place a border on stacked single crochet?

Placing a border on stacked single crochet stitches is more or less the same as putting a border on double crochet stitches. The same “rules” for borders on double crochet projects apply to projects that use the stacked single crochet technique instead of chains to start a new row.

The confusion about placing a border on stacked single crochet comes from where to place the border stitch.

Stacked Single Crochet does not use chains to start a new row, of course. It simply stacks single crochet stitches to the height of a double crochet instead. This gives a very straight and even edge of a project.

But stacking single crochet stitches can skew our perception of the post or side of the stitch and may be difficult to determine where to place your border stitches.

What to know before we get started

This tutorial will specifically go over how to place a border on stacked single crochet stitches. This means we will really focus in on where to place our border stitches when using this technique.

This is a more advanced technique and this tutorial assumes that you already know how to place borders on double crochet.

So, if you aren’t familiar with placing borders on double crochet stitches, I highly recommend learning how to do so and practicing before you start this tutorial. You will need to lean fairly heavily on the information in that tutorial to fully understand this one.

When making the border in the tutorial, we use single crochet stitches. You can, however, use half double crochet or double crochet when crocheting the first round of the border.

The most important thing to know when learning to place the first round of a border is where to place the stitch, not what stitch to use.

If you’ve gone over my border on double crochet tutorial, you’ll know that my preferred way of crocheting a border on double crochet is to “split” the post.

This is near off required when using stacked single crochet to start a new row. This is because if you do not split the post and instead wrap both single crochet stitches around the post, you’ll have alternating gaps on the sides which could be unsightly.

What to know before starting this tutorial:

• Get to know what the “raw edge” of your project means to help understand the border directions easier in a pattern. We will go over this below.
  
• You need to be able to count your rows properly to ensure that you’re placing the correct number of stitches. My How to Count Crochet Rows tutorial will teach you how to count your rows and what the “right” and “wrong” side of the stitches look like which will be very helpful in following this tutorial.

Notes to keep in mind when placing a border on stacked single crochet:

There are a few things to keep in mind while placing a border on stacked single crochet that will help ensure your border doesn’t make your work wonky.

Generally, the “rules” of placing a border on double crochet stitches are:

• On the top (last row worked) and bottom (chains and first row worked), place the same amount of stitches as they are in a row.
  
  • This means if there are 10 stitches in a row, you will want to work 10 stitches on the top and bottom of your project (Numbers 1 and 2 in the image below).
    
• On the raw edges (sides of the work), place 2 single crochet in the side of each stacked single crochet or double crochet.
  
  • This means if there are 6 rows worked in your project, you will want to work 12 stitches on the raw edges of your project (Numbers 3 and 4 in the image below).
  • If you notice that your work is starting to pull inward, you can add more stitches as needed to get it to be flat.
  • If you notice that your work is starting to wave because there are too many stitches, you can remove a stitch here and there to get it to be flat.
  • Generally, though, 2 stitches per double crochet works out to be a nice even border.
    
• Each corner of your project needs to have a corner created to ensure that the border does not pull in. This is typically achieved by creating a chain 2 space or by placing 3 stitches into the last stitch on each side. I’ll teach you how to use a chain 2 to turn the corner.

What is the “raw edge”?

First things first, you need to know what a raw edge even is when we’re talking about borders. You may also see references to a “edge”, “raw side”, “the sides of stitches” or “the sides of rows”.

These all refer to the sides of the project that are not the top or the bottom of stitches. Let’s take a look at a swatch:

In this image, we can see a swatch of 6 rows of 10 double crochet. Each row of this swatch was worked by turning, placing stacked single crochet to the height of a double crochet and placing 1 double crochet in each stitch across. Each side of this swatch is labeled with a number.

Side 1 is the last row worked. This is the “top” of the project.

Side 2 is where we created chains and worked our first row. This is often referred to as “bottom of chains” or sometimes just “chains”.

Side 3 is one of the raw edges.

Side 4 is the other raw edge.

When placing a border, we have to use all of these sides. This is true regardless of if you’re working a border on single crochet, half double crochet, double crochet or a mix of these or any other stitches.

Anatomy of Stacked Single Crochet

Before placing a border on stacked single crochet, we need to know what this technique looks like when placing a border.

Let’s look at the anatomy of a stacked single crochet and the specific areas we’ll work into when placing a border on these stitches.

Stacked single crochet stitches don’t have a chain on the side, regardless of which side of the post is facing us. This is because the technique does not use chains at all. What we have instead are the top of 2 single crochet stitches as seen in the image below.

The images above show the “right side” of a post created by the stacked single crochet technique.

In the top picture of the image, a black arrow (and tapestry needle) point to what is the top of the stitch. This is the top of the stitch we work into when crocheting rows.

In the bottom picture of the image, a tapestry needle points to the top of the first single crochet made when creating a stacked single crochet. The top of this single crochet leans to the side and is more vertical than horizontal. We know this is the side of the stitch, not the top of the stitch.

The images above show the “wrong side” of a post created by the stacked single crochet technique. It looks pretty different from the right side.

In the top picture of the image, a black arrow (and tapestry needle) point to what is the top of the stitch. This is the top of the stitch we work into when crocheting rows.

In the bottom picture of the image, a black arrow points to the top of the first single crochet made when creating a stacked single crochet. The top of this single crochet leans to the side and is more vertical than horizontal. We know this is the side of the stitch, not the top of the stitch.

When crocheting a border on stacked single crochet stitches, we will use both of these areas when placing our 2 single crochet in the side of a row.

How to Place a Border on Stacked Single Crochet Stitches

We’ll begin our border on stacked single crochet and double crochet using the swatch below. This swatch has 6 rows with 10 double crochet in each row.

Typically when starting a border on any project, you would turn your work as if you’re going to work a new row. This is what we’ll learn here.

However, this is not always the case. Some patterns may tell you to not turn and instead start working down the raw edge (the sides of the rows) first. That’s okay and there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll simply work our first side last.

To begin placing a border on a project that uses stacked single crochet, we will turn our work.

If you’re using the same color as your swatch or project, you will chain 1 and turn.

If you’re using a different color like I am (for better visibility in these tutorial photos), you will turn your work and join the new color in the first stitch as seen in the image below.

Now, for the easiest part of placing a border on a project that uses stacked single crochet: We place 1 single crochet (or taller stitch, if you’d like) in each stitch across the row to the end as the black dots in the image above indicate.

You can see this first side completed in the image below.

Now, instead of turning our work to begin a new row, we are going to instead rotate the project to work along the first raw edge. This makes it so that the sides of the stitches are facing up as if they were a row.

The black arrow that turns a corner in the image above indicates that we will rotate the work instead of turning the work.

When we rotate our work, we need to create a corner to ensure this border doesn’t pull inward. To do this, we will chain 2. This creates enough room for the border to lay flat and is an obvious corner for use in future rounds.

In the image below, I have rotated the swatch to now work down the first raw edge (or sides of the stitches). I have also chained 2, which a pink arrow points to.

It’s important to note that the single crochet prior to the chain 2 we placed in the border does not count as the side of a row. This can be confusing if you’re using the same color because it certainly looks like the side of a row, though it’s easier to see in my images because I am using a different color.

In the image below, a black arrow points to the last single crochet I placed in the first part of the border. A red X is at the top of this arrow. This is to indicate that this is NOT a stitch to work into for the border.

Now that we have rotated our work, we can begin working down the raw edge of the project. The first row we have to work into the side of started with a stacked single crochet.

We know from learning how to put a border on double crochet that double crochet (or stacked single crochet to the height of a double crochet) require 2 stitches in the side of each row.

When working into the side of a stacked single crochet, we will use the top of both single crochet stitches that were stacked to place our border stitches.

In the image above, a tapestry needle points to the top of the 2nd single crochet in the stacked single crochet. This is the same stitch where we placed our last single crochet of the first side.

Place 1 single crochet here. You can see this completed in the image below.

Now, we place 1 single crochet into the top of the first single crochet in the stacked single crochet. In the image above, a tapestry needle points to where the top of the single crochet is.

The image above shows a view of the stitch from the side. You can see how it is clearly the top of a stitch but it is vertical instead of horizontal. Insert your hook under the two loops of the top of the stitch, just like if you were working a row.

You can see my single crochet placed in the image below.

We now have 2 single crochet placed in the “side” of a stacked single crochet. This completes the stitches we need to place in the side of this first row. In the image above, both single crochet are placed in the side of the stacked single crochet and a pink arrow points to the chain 2 corner.

Now we can move on to placing our border stitches in the side of the row, which is a normal double crochet that has it’s “right side” facing. We will do the same thing we would do in when working a border on double crochet.

We will place 1 single crochet in the top of the double crochet and 1 single crochet in the post of the double crochet. When a project uses stacked single crochet and you’re placing a border, you will likely want to split the post as shown in my border on double crochet tutorial.

You don’t have to but it can be unsightly to have alternating gaps on the side of your work.

In the top picture in the image above, a tapestry needle points to the top of the double crochet. Place 1 single crochet here.

In the bottom picture in the image above, a tapestry needle pointing to the bottom V of the post of the double crochet, indicating we will insert our hook into the center of the V and place 1 single crochet here.

In the image above, you can see the two single crochet placed as indicated. Specifically, look at how the border single crochet (white) splits the post of the double crochet (blue) in half. This helps avoid the border creating gaps on the side of the work.

Let’s place our next 2 single crochet on the side of the next row, which started with a stacked single crochet.

We will once again place 1 single crochet into the top of the stacked double crochet and into the top of the first single crochet of the technique.

Now that a stitch is worked into the top of the stacked single crochet, it looks a little different. But it’s not too difficult to tell where the top of the stacked single crochet is.

In the top picture of the image above, a tapestry needle points to the top of the stacked single crochet. You can see the post of a double crochet worked into it. This is where we place our first single crochet.

In the bottom picture of the image above, a tapestry needle points to the top of the first single crochet in the stacked single crochet. This is where we will place our second border single crochet.

We have placed 6 single crochet stitches into the side of the swatch for this border so far. We will continue placing 2 single crochet in the side of each stacked single crochet and double crochet down this first raw edge of the project.

Black and white dots in the image above indicate the sides of the 3 rows in which we still need to place 2 single crochet.

You can see all 12 stitches placed on this first side of the swatch in the image below.

Now that we are at the end of the first raw edge, we will chain 2 to create space for a corner and then we will once again rotate the project to work along the next side. Once rotated, the bottom of the chains will face upward as if they are a row to work into.

The black arrow that turns a corner in the image above indicates that we will rotate the work instead of turning the work.

In the image above, we can see the chains are now facing upward as if they’re a row to work into. Black dots over the bottom of each chain indicate that we will place 1 single crochet into each chain across this side. A pink arrow points to my chain 2 for the corner.

I prefer to crochet in the back bump of the chains, which creates a clean professional finish and is much easier to work into for borders.

My chains may look slightly different to yours because of this. Crocheting in the back bump of the chain makes the chain look like the top of a stitch.

As the black arrows in the image above indicate, we will place 1 single crochet in the bottom of each chain until we reach the end of this side.

You can see this completed in the image below.

Now that we are at the end of this side, we will chain 2 to create space for a corner and then we will once again rotate the project to work along the final raw edge. Once rotated, the final raw edge of the project will face upward.

The black arrow that turns a corner in the image above indicates that we will rotate the work instead of turning the work.

Now that we have chained 2 to create a corner and rotated our work, we can begin working up the final raw edge of the project.

It is important to note that the last single crochet we just placed in the bottom of the chains prior to the chain 2 does not count as the side of a row.

In the image above, a black arrow with a red X points downward to this stitch to indicate that it does not count.

The connected black arrows with a green checkmark point to the side of the stacked single crochet which is where we will place our stitches.

A pink arrow points to the chain 2 that will become the corner.

On this next edge, the “right side” the stacked single crochet face us. This means we’ll work into the first single crochet and then into the second single crochet of the stacked single crochet. This is in reverse to how we worked into them on the first edge.

To place our 2 single crochet stitches into the side of this stacked single crochet, we will place 1 single crochet into the vertical top of the first single crochet and then into the top of the stacked single crochet.

In the top picture in the image above, the tapestry needle points to the vertical top of the first single crochet. This is where we place our first single crochet.

In the bottom picture in the image above, the tapestry needle points to the top of the stitch (in which the double crochet from the next row was worked into). We will place our second single crochet here.

You can see the two single crochet placed in the image below.

Now we can place 2 single crochet into the side of the next row, which is a normal double crochet.

Just like we learned in how to place a border on double crochet stitches, we will work directly into the middle of the post of the double crochet and into the top of the double crochet.

The top picture in the image above has a tapestry needle pointing to the bottom V of the post of the double crochet, indicating we will insert our hook into the center of the V. Alternatively, you can work into the space between the two double crochet, though it will create a gap. This is where we will place our first single crochet.

The bottom picture in the image above has a tapestry needle pointing to the top of the double crochet. This is where we will place our second single crochet.

You can see the two single crochet placed in the image below.

We have placed 4 single crochet stitches into the side of the swatch for this border so far. We will continue placing 2 single crochet in the side of each double crochet down this final raw edge of the project.

Black and white dots in the image above indicate the sides of the 4 rows in which we still need to place 2 single crochet.

You can see all 12 stitches placed on this final side of the swatch in the image below.

Now that all of the border single crochet stitches are placed, all we have left to do is create the final corner and join the round.

To create the final corner, we will chain 2 and we will rotate the swatch one final time so that the top of the swatch is facing upward.

In the image above, a pink arrow points to my chain 2 that will create the corner. A black arrow goes through the very first stitch placed in the border round.

To close the round, we will slip stitch into the first stitch (black arrow). You can see these steps completed in the image below.

This completes one round of a border on a project that uses the stacked single crochet technique. In the image above, pink arrows point to each chain 2 space which creates a corner.

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Now that you’ve gone through this tutorial on how to crochet a border on stacked single crochet, I’d recommend practicing placing a border on swatches made of scrap yarn.

The more you practice a technique, the better you’ll be at using it, of course!

But I suggest practicing with a swatch made of scrap yarn so that you can really zero in and focus on learning without the pressure of finishing a project.

Did you find this tutorial helpful? Save it for later and share it with others by Pinning it to Pinterest!

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Did you know the slip stitch to close a round doesn’t count as a stitch? Let me tell you why that is and how to make sure you avoid using it.