• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Craft & DIY
    • DIY Art Projects
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Free Printables
    • Kids Crafts
    • Paper Crafts
    • Silhouette Crafts
    • Vinyl Crafts
      • Vinyl 101
    • Friday Craft Club!
  • Celebration
    • Party
    • Gift Ideas
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Fourth of July
  • Crochet
    • Crochet Patterns
      • Crochet Accessories
      • Crochet for the Home
      • Crochet for Kids
    • Crochet Stitches
  • Silhouette
    • Silhouette Studio
    • Silhouette Mint
    • Silhouette Curio
    • Silhouette Alta 3D Printer
    • Silhouette Deals
  • SVG Cut Files
  • SHOP
  • Nav Widget Area

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube

Persia Lou

Creative. Crafty. Fun.


Foundation Single Crochet (FSC) Photo Tutorial

The Foundation Single Crochet is my favorite way to start a new crochet project. It replaces chaining and working in chains, which can be difficult. Read on to learn why and how to do the foundation single crochet stitch! This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it! 

Many of my crochet patterns start with the foundation single crochet stitch instead of the normal chain foundation followed by single crochet. It may seem like a pain to learn a new stitch when you already know how to chain and single crochet, but the foundation single crochet is absolutely worth it! And I’m going to tell you why. I have both a written/photo tutorial and a video tutorial for you all, so be sure to scroll all the way to the end to find the video.

So first off, what is foundation single crochet anyway? And what makes it so great?

Many crochet patterns start out by having you making a bunch of chain stitches to form a foundation chain. Then you will go back and work the stitches for the first row into the chain foundation. The foundation single crochet stitch (abbreviated fsc) allows you to work the chain foundation and the first row of single crochet stitches at the same time. So cool!

Here’s what a few foundation single crochet stitches look like. You can see the top half of the stitch looks like a single crochet, and the bottom half looks a lot like chains.

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

So why would you want to use this new, scary stitch anyway? Lots of reasons!

  1. It’s easier than working into a chain foundation. Sure, it may be confusing at first, but once you get fsc down, you will love it. Working stitches into a chain foundation is so fussy. Chain stitches are often worked tightly, and it can be difficult to get the hook into the chain.
  2. Counting stitches is much simpler. “I love counting chain stitches,” said no one ever. When you use fsc, you won’t have to count out five hundred chain stitches fifteen times to make sure you have the right number because if you don’t then you have to rip out the first two rows of your work because you won’t realize you made a mistake until you have already worked two rows. (Not that I have experience with that or anything.) Maybe the coolest thing about fsc is that because the first two rows are essentially worked together, you will only have to take out a few stitches if your initial count was off.
  3. It doesn’t curl and twist like regular single crochet. When you work single crochet into a chain foundation it refuses to lay flat. You can always block the final piece, but the curling and twisting can be annoying to work with. Foundation single crochet does not have this problem. You can see the difference below:

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

So, do you want to learn how to work this miraculous fsc? Of course you do!

Foundation Single Crochet Tutorial

Begin by joining your yarn to your hook and working two chain stitches. Insert hook into first chain and draw up a loop.

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

This loop that you just drew up is the chain part of the foundation single crochet.

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

Next, yarn over, pull hook through first loop only so that you have two loops on your hook, just like if you were working a single crochet stitch.

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

Then, yarn over again and pull hook through both loops. That finishes up the single crochet part of the stitch and your first foundation single crochet is complete!

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

You can see the chain loop on the bottom of the stitch, the v coming out of that which is the posts of the single crochet, and the single crochet top above that. Chain and single crochet worked all at once!

To make the next fsc, you will insert your hook into the chain part of the fsc you just formed. Right here:

How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

So, again, after you insert the hook in the base of the previous stitch, you will draw up a loop. Then yarn over, and pull through first loop only. This forms the chain part of the fsc. Then yarn over again, and pull through both loops to form the sc portion.

And, All done! And if you prefer video, I have a video tutorial for you too! Just click play below. 🙂 (Psst… I would love if you subscribed to my youtube channel here. Thanks!)

I hope you will give this stitch a chance. I really think you will like it.

Happy Making!
xoxoalexis1



 

Check out some of my other Crochet Patterns and Tutorials:

How to Crochet Lemon Peel Stitch - step by step tutorial for this simple stitch that gives lots of nice texture.

How to Crochet the Lemon Peel Stitch

crochet-baskets-2

Color Block Crochet Baskets

raffia-clutch-2

Chain Edge Raffia Clutch

ribbed-slouch-hat1

Chunky Ribbed Slouch Hat


How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!
How to Crochet the Foundation Single Crochet and why you will love it!

February 14, 2014 1:00 pm Alexis Filed Under: Crochet

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    February 14, 2014 at 2:15 pm

    I love FSC! But no matter how many times I do it, I have to look up a tutorial to remind myself every.single.time. It just doesn't stick in my brain for some reason. I'll get it one of these days 😛

  2. Mindi Carwin says

    February 14, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    Very cool! I love to crochet, but don't do it much, probably because I only know a few stitches! Pinned! Thanks so much for your awesome comment on my master closet makeover Alexis!! You are so sweet!! Happy Valentine's day!

  3. Bellenza Wedding Bistro says

    February 17, 2014 at 6:11 pm

    This is great! I've always wanted to try to crochet. Definitely pinning this one! Thanks 🙂

  4. Amy Lee Scott says

    February 18, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    For the life of me I could not figure out how to crochet in a straight line until I discovered the foundation chain–it makes life so much easier! I love your tutorial and am pinning it for later since I always forget how to start it 🙂

  5. Chrissy @ Adventures in DIY says

    February 28, 2014 at 7:35 am

    Oh my word – thank you for sharing this! I think once I get it down, it's going to save me lots of time and frustration. Pinning!

  6. Rachel Ahern says

    January 27, 2015 at 12:00 am

    Looks beautiful – have you ever considered doing a YouTube video?

  7. jayjolou says

    February 11, 2015 at 5:16 pm

    Like Rachel (commented a year ago), I have to look up a tutorial every single time in order to do FSC. I know it isn't hard, but having crocheted the traditional way for 42 years, FSC is just something that doesn't stick in my "brainium"!

Primary Sidebar


Looking for Something?

FAVORITE POSTS

Make your own emoji lapel pins from shrink plastic. So fun to make, wear, and gift! Free printable cards for gifting.

Footer

Content Sharing Policy

First off, thank you so much for being here! I would be so honored if you would like to share one of my projects, but please only use one or two photos and be sure to link back to the original post. Thank you!

If you see anything here that has been improperly credited, please let me know and I will fix it right away. You can email me at [email protected]

  • Home
  • About Me!
  • Disclosures and Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2016-2019 persialou.com · Theme by: PDCD