How to crochet popcorn stitch

For a stitch that really 'pops', you can't beat the popcorn crochet stitch! Master it today with our step-by-step guide on Gathered

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Becky Skuse

Published: April 26, 2024 at 10:26 am

These little stitches are so much fun, they ‘pop’ right out of your fabric. These big, bumpy stitches use trebles, so you’ll need to know how to treble crochet before trying this new stitch.

The small bumps look similar to bobble crochet stitch, but the great thing about popcorn crochet stitch is that it can be worked in any stitch, even double crochet, so you can create much smaller bumps.

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But in this tutorial we’re going to show you how to crochet popcorn stitch using treble crochet stitches.

You can make the popcorn stitch on right side or wrong side rows, so that they ‘pop’ out of the front or the back of your fabric. We’ll show you how to work both types so that the bumps only show on the front or right side of the crochet fabric.

Check out our handy video guide to learn how to crochet popcorn stitch, or read on for our step-by-step picture guide.

Don't forget, if you're not familiar with any of the terminology used in this how to crochet a popcorn stitch tutorial, you can always check our our guide to abbreviations and conversions.

You will need:

Yarn
Crochet hook

How to crochet a popcorn stitch

Step 1

To practise working a popcorn crochet stitch, make one row of 14 treble stitches (so ch16, work a treble into the 4th chain from the hook and in each chain to the end). On the second row, make the 3-ch t-ch and work a treble into the next stitch. Now work a front popcorn stitch into the top of the next stitch on the row below, as follows:

*In the next stitch, work 5 whole treble stitches as usual…

How to crochet a popcorn stitch Step 01

Step 2

After the final treble is finished, carefully remove the hook from the working loop.^ Insert the hook into the top of the first treble you made in this group of 5 trebles. Make sure you insert the hook into the loop from front to back.

How to crochet a popcorn stitch Step 02

Step 3

Insert the hook back into the working loop…

How to crochet popcorn stitch Step 03

Step 4

…and pull it through the top of the first stitch.

How to crochet popcorn stitch Step 04

Step 5

Finish the popcorn stitch by making 1 chain – this will form the top of the stitch that you’ll work into on the next row.

Space out your popcorn stitch by a working plain treble into the next two stitches. Then you can work a popcorn stitch into the next stitch in the same way as before, repeating from *. Continue the row in this way and make 4 popcorn stitches in total.

How to crochet popcorn stitch Step_05

These popcorn stitches will all pop out on the front of the work as you make them, so if you work them on the right side they will ‘pop’ out of the front of the work. To make popcorn stitches that will ‘pop’ out on the reverse side of the work as you make them, you will need to work a back popcorn stitch.

How to crochet a back popcorn stitch

Step 1

To make a back popcorn stitch (this could also be referred to as a wrong side popcorn stitch), turn your work, make the 3-ch t-ch and treble into the next stitch. Now work a back popcorn stitch into the next stitch (this will be the ch1 part of the popcorn stitch on the row below, don’t work into the popcorn stitch loop that lies next to it). Now work in the exact same way as the front popcorn stitch above, from*…

How to popcorn crochet stitch _Step_06

Step 2

…but when you reach ^, you need to insert the hook from back to front, into the top of the first of the 5 trebles you made…

How to popcorn crochet stitch Step_07

Step 3

…then back into the working loop…

How to popcorn crochet stitch Step_08

Step 4

...and pull through.

How to popcorn crochet stitch Step_09

Step 5

Chain 1 to complete the stitch, then work more back popcorn stitches and trebles across the rest of the row as before. Turn and you’ll find that this gives you two rows of popcorn stitches that all ‘pop’ out on the front or right side of the fabric.

How to popcorn crochet stitch Step_010

You've mastered how to do popcorn crochet stitch

Congratulations! You've followed our step-by-step guide and have produced your first popcorn stitches in crochet. You'll now be able to produce additional texture in your work. And the beauty is you can vary the size of the bumps depending on which stitch you base it on – go large or go small, it's totally up to you!

Up your crochet game and learn a new technique with Gathered

Fancy learning how to do mosaic crochet next? It's super fun and allows you to create cool geometric patterns in your work. We think you'll be hooked! Take a look at our tutorial on how to do mosaic crochet today!

White on blue mosaic stitches in a piece of crochet

Crochet Designer & Technical Editor

Becky is a writer, crafter and designer from Bristol. As well as contributing many designs to Simply Crochet, Becky is also the creator of many of the Simply Crochet workshop features, sharing her incredible crochet knowledge with readers. As well as crochet Becky is a keen crafter in a variety of disciplines, including baking, beadwork, sewing and knitting. You can catch up with Becky on Instagram at @becky.skuse