Abstract: The effect of stitching reinforcement on st rain concent ration was investigated for the composite laminatescontaining a circular hole. The effect s of stitching parameters , such as stitching needle distance , row spacing , edgedistance , single stitching or double stitching , etc , were compared and analysed. The tensile st rength and stiffnesswere measured for composite laminates containing a circular hole. The st rain concent ration and st rain dist ributionregularity were investigated analytically and experimentally. The hole edge coefficient s of st rain concent ration weremeasured for different stitching parameters , external load , the edge location of the hole , etc. The experimental results show a distinct efficiency of stitching reinforcement for composite laminates containing a circular hole and givethe stitching design parameters on the hole edge. The experiment s show that near the hole region in the loading direction , the st rain concent ration is not influenced under different loads ; with the material bearing compressive deformation , near the hole region in the vertical line of loading direction , the st rain concent ration factors K_ε vary withload and can reach a very high value. Compared with isot ropic plates , the K_εof orthot ropic laminates is variable atdifferent edge locations of the hole.