Monday, May 2, 2011

Hand Stitchin' Some Binding

Binding has always made me nervous.  I've never hand stitched... anything.  I'm too impatient for it.  I've always machine stitched my binding... and I have tried a bunch of different methods.  It's still not perfect but they're getting better.  With my small potholder project I decided to take a stab at manually attaching it.


It took me a while to figure out the 'quilter's knot'.  Most of the instructions I ran into were:
  • Step 1: wrap thread around needle
  • Step 2: ????
  • Step 3: profit
I found this little video which finally made sense to me: How to Tie a Quilter's Knot.

I figured out how to start the sewing, and sewing up the corners was easy, but all the tutorials had no instruction on how to finish it!  When I ran out of thread and had no idea what to do.  I found this video and followed it.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?  Is there an easier way that I don't know about?  Also my fingers hurt from pushing that stupid needle through. I'm assuming I need a thinner needle - but is there some type of tool that can accomplish this?



Finished:


This is Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow with Kona Coal, Medium Gray, and Ash.  They measure approximately 7.5" finished.  Inside is a 2 layers of Warm and Natural sandwiched around a piece of bottomweight-canvas.



I wanted to play with the fonts again... so I added a bit to the back.  These are for our friend, Chef Greg, who's response to all cooking related questions no matter how complex is "It's really simple! You just..."

4 comments:

  1. Those look very nice! I don't think I do my binding like that, but as long as it stays down, then I doubt it matters. But it looks very professional! ;-D

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  2. Your pot holders look very professional! I am thinking that my mod mosaic effort might wind up as a pot holder...

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  3. You know right, there's this thing called a thimble? It's for hand sewing. You know, that thing you said you'd never do :P

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  4. A thimble will help :) but also consider using one of those rubber finger tip things. They help you grab the needle and can ease some of the pain on your hands. I use it for my applique and hand work. It's a good all purpose needle with a slightly narrower shank You may want to consider a size 9 or 10. Nicely done, and hope your fingers are feeling better.

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