instructions – later than planned
Finally, Create Your Book of Fancy Stitches is being posted. It is much later than originally planned, but as I wrote before, life can get in the way of good intentions!
suggested materials you will need
- Your sewing machine
- Bobbins – A few empty for experimenting with different threads
- Needles – Sizes for various thread weight and kind for the fabric you will be using See Sewing Machine Needles — Learn from Stitcher
- Thread – Different thicknesses and types (cotton, silk, metallic, etc.) in colors that will be easily seen on the fabric you will be using A great source on thread is at https://www.superiorthreads.com/
- Fabric – Use what solid fabric you sew with most – cotton, cotton blends, polyester, silks, etc.
- Fabric pen for identifying which needle used and the thread type and thickness used for your sample
- A way to save each sample page for easy reference – simple to as elaborate as you want (ideas will be given at the end of this post).
how will you categorize and organize your book of Fancy stitches
Before we begin, I want you to decide how you would like to categorize and organize your Book of Fancy Stitches. I can give you a couple ideas from ones I have made or you may have ideas of your own depending on how you think you will be using it. In simple terms, there are no rules or right or wrong way to do this!
Suggestions for the Style of a Book of Fancy Stitches
Here are suggestions based on some books I have made. One way I have recorded my stitches (decorative and straight stitches) is each stitch has it’s own page. This is a preferred way if you want to see and compare the stitch in different thread thicknesses and type of thread.
The second way has all the different stitches on the same page using the same thread. So, you end up with a book of pages, each with all the stitches available in one thread selection. The number of pages is dependent on how many thread combinations you want to do.
Pros and Cons of Each Book Style
There are pros and cons to each method. The first allows you to focus on finishing one stitch page before moving on to a different stitch. A pro for this is it is a straightforward way to compare that stitch in the various threads. A con would be either changing out thread and/or bobbin for each line of stitching times the number of stitch designs you will include in your book. The alternative would be stitching each individual page before changing thread.
For the second method you can stitch an entire page with the multiple stitch selections available without changing thread or page. A con is not having the same stitch side by side when comparing and picking what you want to use on your project. Labeling is one label per page versus labeling each thread combo for each line on the individual stitch page.
Label Pages
I can’t stress enough how important it is to label pages. I like to use a cheat sheet for the first method. The sheet is simply a piece of paper the size of the page with columns giving the thread and stitch width/leghth information per line of stitching. You only need one that will be the same for each page.
The second way of making pages would be to simply label the thread information directly on each page using a fabric pen or regular pen if applying a sticky paper label.
enough thinking – time to stitch a book of fancy stitches
Enough thinking about how to make your Book of Fancy Stitches. It is time to stitch and build a reference book of all the wonderful stitches your machine can make! The following steps work for either of the above methods and can easily be adapted to your own idea. Just shuffle your pages as needed and it will be a wonderful resource for you in the future.
Step 1
Load a bobbin with the thread of your choice. I use a thread I most often use in my sewing bobbin. If you wish to try different threads in the bobbin, you may see a surprising difference in the outcome. I would recommend making additional pages for different bobbin threads to refer to when threads show on both sides of a project.
Step 2
Choose a top thread and thread your machine. Test the regular stitch on a double thickness of fabric equivalent to the fabric you are using for your book. This step is to determine if you need to adjust the tension, top and/or bottom, or a different needle. The straight stitch is my choice for checking tension. Remember, adjust only one thing and stitch to see if that has corrected the problem. Read why at Sewing Machine Thread Tension — Learn from Stitcher
Step 3
Prepare your fabric pages by cutting them the desired size you feel will work well for you. I have used a sheet of felt folded on the long side as my book cover, therefore I cut my fabric to fit. You may decide to use notebook rings to hold your cover and pages together, or stitch them by machine along the cover fold, lace with ribbon… How you construct your book is limited only by your imagination! Remember to cut your pages so they are double thickness to best show your stitches.
Step 4
Let the stitching begin! I would recommend your stitching lines be parallel and a minimum of 4″ in length. Be sure to document the thread and needle you used for each stitch. Don’t rely on your memory.
If you have never played with or used your fancy stitches, I believe you will find this activity a bit addictive. You may also want to play by making the stitch width wider or narrower, stitch length longer or not as long. It is amazing how this can change the results! Do you see stitches that could be combined? Add decorative stitches to your quilt or garment, bags, or wall hangings. You will love the added creativity!
thank you for your patience
For those of you who have been checking back to see if I ever posted this, thank you for your patience! I hope you find your Book of Fancy Stitches to be helpful in your sewing journey. I would love to see the books you have made and your projects where you used the stitches. Leave photos with a comment. I am sure others will be interested and encouraged to share also.
I’m sorry I was unable to post photos. My computer and phone have unfriended each other, so no transfer is going to happen. One of those days!