Joining Motifs with Single Crochet: Inner and Outer Loops

When creating a project, like a crocheted granny square blanket, there are so many ways that you can join the motifs together to complete the piece. In this video, Mary Beth Temple demonstrates two ways to join motifs with single crochet. While these techniques are commonly used on motif-based projects like granny square crochet patterns, these joining methods can be used whenever you need to attach two pieces of crocheted fabric together.

OUTER LOOP SINGLE CROCHET

To begin, Mary Beth places a slip knot onto her hook and works a standing single crochet. With Right Sides together, she grabs the outer loop of each stitch to work the single crochet. She notes that when the pieces are held together, there are four loops total touching each other, two for each stitch. The crochet hook is brought under each of the outer legs to work the single crochet.

Once Mary Beth has joined a few stitches with the outer loop method, she takes a look at the seam. On the Wrong Side, there is an obvious seam that looks very similar to working through all four legs of the stitches. On the Right Side, the seam is much more decorative, with an attractive ridge going down either side of the seam.

INNER LOOP SINGLE CROCHET

Once again, Mary Beth places a slop knot onto her hook and works a standing single crochet. With the Right Sides together, she is now single crocheting the motifs together working the hook under only the inner loops that are touching. She is skipping the outer loops when joining motifs in this manner. Taking a closer look at this seam, Mary Beth notes that on the Wrong Side the single crochet seam is a little more recessed than the outer loop or all-loop method. On the Right Side, there is not a decorative ridge, as seen in the outer loop method; however, the seam does create a nice “ladder” of stitches, making for a slightly more delicate seam.

With so many ways to join motifs and pieces together, Mary Beth encourages you to try a few different methods to find the best one for you and your project.