Tunisian Reverse Stitch Crochet Tutorial

With it’s thick, bumpy texture, Tunisian reverse stitch is a great tool to have in your crochet toolbox. This stitch is worked from the back, and does not curl as much as others. Working on the opposite side of the fabric takes a little time to get used to, but once you have you’ll love the textures it can create!

Foundation Row

In a previous tutorial, I showed a basic, Tunisian foundation row. For this tutorial, I’m working from a swatch already in progress, with 10 stitches across. You don’t need the full swatch in order to follow along. Just work one foundation row of 10 stitches as follows:

Chain 10

Forward Pass: Insert hook into 2nd chain from hook, yarn over and pull up a loop, repeat for remaining chains. (10 loops on hook)

Return Pass: Chain 1, (yarn over and pull through 2 loops on hook) 9 times. (10 sts)

If you need help making this foundation row, please see the Tunisian foundation row tutorial first.

Tunisian Crochet Foundation Row tutorial

Choosing a Hook

We are only working with a small number of stitches, so you won’t need to use a Tunisian hook. As long as you can fit 10 loops on your hook before you get to the thumb grip, a regular hook is fine.

I’m using a hook that I received from Brittany Hooks some time ago for a product review. It has a straight shaft without a thumb grip, so it’s perfect for small sections of Tunisian crochet. I used this same hook to make the entrelac cowl pictured here.

Entrelac - Brittany needles and hook review on StitchesnScraps

Tunisian Reverse Stitch (trs) Forward Pass

Tunisian reverse stitch is similar to Tunisian simple stitch, but from the back side of the fabric. Each stitch on your foundation row has front and back vertical bars, plus a chain-like top.

Foundation row with parts of stitch highlighted - front and back vertical bars, and top of stitch.

For the forward pass, your hook will always be behind your fabric. Starting with the 2nd stitch, insert your hook under the back vertical bar. Be sure to keep your hook at the back so that the front vertical bar and top of the stitch are in front of your hook.

Insert hook in back bar - Tunisian reverse stitch

Some people find it easier to turn the work upside down so they can see the back bar more easily.

Turn work upside down and work from behind

Yarn over, and pull up a loop. Because we picked up from the reverse side of the fabric, this will push the top of the stitch forward, creating that distinctive ridge. In the last stitch, there is an extra bump at the edge from the chain on the previous row. You can either put your hook under just the back bar, or you can go under this bump as well for a bit of added stability at the edge.

Tunisian Reverse Stitch Return Pass

The return pass is worked exactly the same way as it was on the foundation row.

Start with a chain (yarn over and pull through only the first loop on your hook).

chain 1 to start reverse pass - Tunisian reverse stitch

Now, yarn over and pull through two loops on your hook. Continue doing this until there is only one loop left on your hook.

Binding Off

I like to use a slip stitch bind off for the Tunisian reverse stitch. Starting with the 2nd stitch, insert your hook and pull up a loop as before. Now also pull that loop through the loop on your hook. This makes a slip stitch.

first stitch of bind off for Tunisian reverse stitch

Repeat this in every stitch across. This bind off creates a row of slip stitches across the back of the work, and the same raised ridge across the front. On this swatch, you also see the Tunisian knit stitches and Tunisian simple stitches that I did earlier.

Tunisian Reverse Stitch Tutorial on Stitches n Scraps

Very little curling!

Unlike most Tunisian crochet stitches, Tunisian reverse stitch does not have as much of a tendency to curl. Because the back and front sides of the stitch are more balanced, it lays flatter than other stitches.