Melly & me

Stitching Tips & Tricks

From time to time I have people asking technique questions about my stitching.  People wanted to know how my satin stitch circles were so circular, how I had made the small neat blanket stitches and for tips on back-stitch.

So here is a little guide to how I do my stitching!  Some of this is personal taste, some of this is proper technique, but hopefully something in here will help you.

For starters I like to use 2 strands of floss as much as possible. Of course in some of my patterns it may call for 1 thread or 3 threads at times, but my preference is to use 2.  I find that this is the easiest way to work to achieve a neat finish, less tangles and generally a better stitching experience.  The second starter tip is to use a good quality embroider floss.  I have not tried every floss on the market but my definite preference is the Comso threads by Lecien.  I know that some of you have had trouble finding these threads, but more and more are becoming available in the patchwork stores which will only increase greatly as people start to use them and see the benefits.  I recommend doing a google search or asking your local patchwork store if they will be stocking them.

In my travels I have found that there are quite a few people out there who have never been taught the correct way to satin stitch, and are therefore never achieving the desired result.  It is very important to do this in the right way to get that neat and raised look.  I think the second step may be what a lot of people are missing.

First you mark the shape that you want to satin stitch.  In this case I have drawn a very rough circle.The next step which seems to be missed a lot, but is crucial, is to backstitch the outline of your shape with 2 strands of floss.Once you have fully backstitched your outline, this then becomes your stitching guide.  Starting at the top, side most point (sorry for the angled pictures, but you can see the grain of the linen to see which way is straight).  Take your needle through just outside your backstitches.Now take the thread straight down and thread it back through just outside your back stitches at the bottom.Now bring the needle back through at the top, right next to your previous stitch, still coming through just outside the backstitches so that you are maintaining the circle shape.Again bring the stitch straight down, in line with your first satin stitch, and thread it through to the back just outside the backstitches.Continue on in the same way along your circle.  Please ensure that you never pull the threads too tight and warp your circle and that you continue to stitch outside your back stitches.Once you have completed you should have a neat circle/shape that looks something like this.Your satin stitch shape should always have the same shape as your backstitched outline.  Another benefit to the backstitches is that they raise your satin stitches to give them that extra definition.The next stitching question was about the blanket stitches that were visible in the sneak peek.  The stitch that I used for this section of my project was imitation blanket stitch.  Before I show you how this is done I have to stress that this stitch should not be used for applique, but only when you are stitching and use blanket stitch for decoration purposes only. 

First you stitch your line with standard backstitch.  How big you want your blanket sticthes to be will be will determine how long your backstitches are. Once you have completed your line of backstitching, take the needle through to the front at a right angle to your first stitch (the distance out from your stitching is personal taste)Now take your stitch through to the same hole as your back stitch creating the right angle.Continue to do the same creating a right angle with the second back stitch. 

Continue on in the same way, always creating a right angle with the next stitch.  This way you can stitch any angle large or small.When it comes to back stitch, I don't think pictures or a tutorial will help to achieve a neater stitch.  My advice is to always use 2 stands if possible, to try and ensure that you are keeping your stitches close to the same length, and I also prefer the stab stitch method (rather than working from the front only) for greater accuracy.  Another help is to always use an embroidery hoop to keep you fabric taught and straight. Other than that, I think it is all down to practice and patience.

I hope that there may have been something in here to help you, and if not, thanks for reading along anyway.  Stitching is so much fun and so therapeutic, so I hope I may have encouraged a few more of you to give it a go!

Stuffing tips

Today I thought I would go back to basics a little as a few people have been asking how I stuff my softies so firmly.  I think that this all comes down to the equipment that you use so I thought I would share a few tips to get a firmly stuffed toy...

*The first tip is repeating myself but maybe through the repeating it will capture some new readers.  The first rule of a strong and firm softie is to always use good quality polyester thread.  It is really important that you throw out the "patchwork" rules and take that cotton out of your machine whenever you start a softie.  Polyester thread is much stronger than cotton and will make your seams able to handle the strain of heavy stuffing.  The second tip on your stitches is to always set your machine to a small stitch of approx 1 - 1.5.  This again creates a stronger seam, makes the stitches less visible and creates a better end result. 

*Another piece of equipment that is very important is your actual stuffing.  There is a big variance in the quality of polyester stuffings that are available.  Unfortunately one of the most available brands that is found in chain stores throughout Australia is very poor.  If you have been using this stuffing then you are probably getting lumps in your softies and getting a result that you are not happy with.  We buy our stuffing from a pillow factory as the quality is far superior and we need to buy in bulk but I have heard on the grape vine that Birch makes a good stuffing.  If any of you have any other brands you can recommend then please let me know so I can share it with everyone.  To help you in your search for the perfect stuffing, here is a little trick.  Grab a wad of the stuffing and roll it together into a ball in your hands.  If the stuffing remains in the ball you have made, with no spring back, then it is a poor stuffing and will create lumps in your work.  If the stuffing ball springs back then you know this is a great stuffing that will fill the space effectively without lumps.

*The next piece of equipment that I wanted to share with you is our home made stuffing tool.  I have already shared the wooden skewer with you on another T&TT for all of your tiny pieces but this next tool is the all purpose super stuffing tool!! Go to our local craft store and buy a cheap round wooden paint brush like this. 

They cost under $2.00 so they certainly wont break the bank. This becomes a great double sided stuffing tool.  The smooth round end of the wooden brush is used at the perfect tool for turning your softie pieces and pushing all of the seams out smoothly.

The bristle end then becomes the perfect stuffing tool with a little modification. Grap some scissors (of course, don't be like me and use your sewing scissors so you have to by a new pair!!!) and trim the paintbrush bristles to between a quarter and half inch.  No need to be neat. 

Play with the remaining bristles for a while with your fingers and by rubbing them against a hard surface until you have messied them up really well.  
 
It should now look nice and shaggy like this 

This shaggy end is now the perfect stuffing tool.  The reason that this tool is so helpful is that the shaggy bristles grip on to your stuffing.
This allows you to easily maneuver the stuffing into your toy and to keep shoving it in right to the ends until it is super firm.  When you place a piece of stuffing in with this tool the stuffing will stay with your tool so that you can get it right to the location that you want it to go.  

* The last tip is to just keep on stuffing!!!  A lot of people are scared of stuffing too much and of breaking the seams, but if you have followed all of the tips above and your machine tension is correct then there should be little fear of breakage. Make sure that you support the area you are stuffing with one hand, while stuffing with the other and then keep shoving it in for as long as it will fit.  If you have stuffed some sections less that others, you should still be able to maneuver stuffing to those places with your trusty tool.

Sewing inner legs on Melly & me softies.

This next tutorial is really only an aid to sewing some of my toys such as Phoebe, Pippi, Dawn, Scotty McSpotty and Kiki to name a few.  I have had a number of people say that they either do not understand or have had difficulty transitioning from sewing around the body to sewing the inner legs. Hopefully this will make it a little clearer and will help those who have tackled or are yet to tackle these patterns. 

For this tutorial I am making some basic mini Phoebes, but the principles are the same for any of the mentioned patterns - You would be likely to have something looking a little different than my tutorial pieces - with hoof fabric/toes etc.

Step 1.  First you will have your main body pieces and inner leg pieces which have been prepared as per your pattern. 

Step 2.  Following the instructions in your pattern, place one inner leg piece on top of one main body piece, right sides together.  You tack/pin these together and then sew all the way around the edges of the inner leg from toy back to toy front. One note that should be on all of the four mentioned patterns is that you need to curve the seams at the beginning and end of your inner legs to the edge of the fabric.  This is an essential step in the process. 

Step 3.  Repeat this with your remaining pieces and you will now have two of the following. 

Step 4.  Place your two toy sides on top of each other, right sides together and then pin all around the body, starting from one edge of the inner leg to the other. 

Step 5.  Fold the legs up against the body to reveal the top edge of the inner legs.  You will see how the top straight edges of the inner legs are now right sides together and become a circle with the rest of the body. 

Step 6. Tack/pin the top edge of the inner legs together.
Step 7.  Now sew around your toy with a small stitch on your sewing machine, starting at the turning gap, until you reach the inner leg seam. If you have curved your seams accurately on the legs (at step 2), you should be able to sew over the leg seam now and continue around the inner legs of your toy and back up to the other side of your turning gap.  Some people seem to be having troubles at this point, or end up with puckers, so the next few steps will show you an alternate method to ensure your seams are perfect.

Sew around the toy, starting at the turning gap, until you reach the inner leg section.  Sew stitches all the way up to the outer leg seam and then secure your stitches with backwards/forward stitching. 

 

Step 8.  Now fold the legs up against the body and start sewing the top edges of the inner legs together, starting right at the outer leg seam and securing stitches. 

 

Step 8.  Sew all of the inner legs together, ending and securing your stitches when you again reach the next outer leg seam.  Fold the legs down again and then start sewing the remainder of your body, up to the turning gap, starting right at the seam once again. 

Step 9.  You should now have a fully sewn toy looking something like this. 

Step 10.  Snip corners and curves and then turn your toy right side out through your turning gap. Your inner leg seams should now look nice, neat and pucker free like this! 

I hope you all have perfect inner legs now - hee-hee, sounds like we have just completed an aerobics class!

Ladder stitch to attach parts.

Here is my mini tutorial for ladder stitching something onto your softie.  I am using Rudy as a demo but of course this is applicable for any attachments such as arms, saddles, etc.

Here is my Rudy with one antler but waiting very patiently for his next one!

Stuff your antler, ensuring that you turn in the raw ends before reaching the end of your stuffing.  It is extremely important that you stuff both your Rudy and your Antler very firmly or you may end up with floppy antlers.  Once you have turned in the ends (pictured) then firmly stuff the remaining section of the antler until you reach the opening. 

Take your horn and using the same method as from last tutorial, create a knot on the folded edge. 

Now position your horn in the desired location on Rudy's head and take the first stitch into the head. 

Ladder stitch the horn into place as you ladder stitched closed the turning gap (from last tutorial). Take your next small stitch into the horn base (folded under edge) entering the horn at your point of exit from the head. 

Continue around the horn.  It is extremely important that you are following the circle of the horn base as you stitch it onto the head. 

Unlike with ladder stitching the opening, I suggest that you pull your thread and stitches tight after every stitch along the way.  Once you have gone completely around the horn I recommend going around a second time for strength.  Once complete, tie a knot close to the base of your thread. 

And then sink the knot into Rudy's head!

It is pretty much the same method for sewing on something flat, such as an ear but I will quickly show this also.  Here is my sewn, turned and pressed Rudy ear. 

Sew a small knot into the end of the bottom edge as per previous tutorial. 

Then sew a row of medium running stitch along the bottom edge.  Once you reach the end, move the fabric along your stitches to hand gather the bottom edge. 

Once fully gathered tie a single knot at the end to secure. 

Lay the ear against the head of your rudy in the position you want it sewn. Now ladder stitch the front bottom edge of the ear to the head. 

 

Once you have sewn the front edge to Rudy's ear, lay the ear down the opposite way and sew along the back edge of the ear so that the ear is securely attached and will stand up straight. Tie and sink a knot and - Ta-da! 

Ladder stitch to close a turning gap.

I thought the next mini tutorial could show you all how to ladder stitch a turning/stuffing hole closed to give a smooth and neat finish.  I will also do a second part to this tutorial showing you how to also use ladder stitch to attach the antlers.  

With some of our softies, such as Phoebe or Magoo, there are parts of the design that cover any turning gaps; this of course is lovely, but is not possible with all softies.  Some softies have a turning gap that will be visible and since we are using flat cotton rather than fleece or fur, it is especially important to try and have a neat closure.

Here is the underside of my firmly stuffed Rudy showing the turning/stuffing hole.  Try to ensure as you stuff your softie to keep the seam allowance of your hole tidy and folded under - this will make a neat closure a lot easier.

Take your needle and thread it with a folded length of strong polyester thread.  Thread the needle so that the folded end is the longest length. Do not knot.

Now take your needle and thread it through a few fibres on one side of your stuffing hole.  Pull the thread through most of the way, and then thread the needle through the loop created by the folded end of your thread.  This will secure your thread without a knot. 

On the opposite side and right at the edge of your turning gap, take a small stitch along the folded gap edge.

Now take a small stitch into the edge on the other side of your gap.  Enter this stitch in line with where your first stitch exited. 

Continue on like this until you have stitched approx 1/2" in length.  Your stitches will begin to look much like the rungs of a ladder. 

At this point, pull the thread slowly but firmly in the direction shown, to pull the two edges together and close the stitched area. 

Continue to ladder stitch in the same way, pulling your sides together about every 1/2", until you have a small 1/2" gap remaining. 

At this point it is possible that you have a bit of a dimple along the softie edge that you have ladder stitched.  If this is the case, insert some small wads of stuffing into the space beneath your stitches using the flat end of a wooden skewer  Make sure that you keep the threat taut when doing this so that your stitches do not start to undo. 

Now continue to ladder stitch the remaining gap. 

Pull the thread to close the gap; it should now stay closed on its own quite well.  Tie a few knots close to the base of your thread. 

And then sink the knots into the softie (refer to previous tutorial if unsure), taking the needle out at another point in the toy. 

Trim the thread right against the softie at the point of exit. 

You should now have a nice neat and flat closure. 

And no dimple along that edge of the softie!

Sinking Knots

One question we often get is "Why do you attach eyes, nose, mouth etc after stuffing, and how do you do this so that knots aren't showing?" So here is a tutorial that is perhaps not easy to convey with pictures only or words only, but hopefully with the two combined it will make a lot of sense!

To answer the first part of this question, attaching applique pieces after stuffing a softie has two big benefits. The first is that a softie can be quite unpredictable and depending on fabric used, width/size of fabric pieces, firmness of stuffing etc, the end stuffie can be quite different in proportion than you initially thought.  With adding details after the toy is stuffed you have great control over getting the perfect placement and having a balanced toy.  The second reason is to avoid distortion or damage to your applique pieces.  One concern when doing your applique first is that the stitches could become damaged or pulled by your stuffing tool during the stuffing process. Another concern is that the fabric stretches (as it will do if you stuff firmly) and this may pull your stitches or even make holes in your backing fabric.  Of course this is not a hard and fast rule but it is the way we usually like to work.

For the second part of the question I will need to employ the help of some photos.  For this tutorial I am going to attach a nostril to this unfinished "Drake the dragon" by "sinking" the knots....

In preparation for this step, you will have attached the nostril to your softie with the use of fusible web and your iron.

Now thread your needle with the specified stands of embroidery floss (In this case I am use 2 stands of black floss), and tie a knot in the end as per usual.  I recommend that you tie a double knot in the case of 2 strands or as a rule, ensure that the knot is roughly the same width as your needle.

Enter the needle into your toy at a point a short distance away with the tip coming out at the exact place you want to start your stitching...

Pull the thread through and you will notice that the knot will catch at your point of entry, but of course we do not want to leave an ugly knot at the back of our toy. 

Grab a hold of the thread, close to its exit point, and give it a quick short tug...

...this will cause the knot to pop through the weave of your fabric and "sink" inside the softie. You need to ensure that you do not tug too hard or violently or your thread will also come through the top side and you will need to start again.

....Now you can complete the sewing required on your softie. Of course this is not limited to just applique but is also the method to use for any stitching or attaching of limbs/ears etc etc....

Once you have completed your stitching (in this case, I have button-hole appliqued the nostril in place) and are ready to take your last stitch, tie a knot close to the base of your thread. Again ensure that the knot is roughly the same width as your needle as shown.

Take your last stitch, threading the needle through to the same area that your entered before stitching (I recommend the back of your toy)..

Again your thread will snag when the knot reaches the fabric.  Tug the thread again to sink this finishing knot into the softie...Cut the thread right at the fabric and this cut end will also sink into the toy..

...resulting in an appliqued nostril with no visible threads or knots!!

Turning small parts.

Mrs Perkins' horns and other small parts can be tricky to turn and I often hear of people having piles of frayed horns after attempting again and again to turn the little fiddly pieces.  I actually find it quite easy to turn the horns with just the use of a wooden skewer, but this has come with practice and re-use.  This trick that I am about to show you is fool proof and so quick, some of you will give big sighs of relief, I am sure!Firstly, the sewing foundations need to be right to get the desired result.  With all small and fiddly bits you would be sewing on the traced line as this gives you much greater control as you work with a larger piece of fabric. We recommend that you always use a small stitch of 1 - 1.5 when sewing any parts that are to be stuffed.  It is also a big help to always use polyester thread for softies due to the added strength.  Cotton thread will break easily and may not be able to handle the strain of firm stuffing.

Once you have sewn your small shape, cut it out approx 1/8" outside the sewn line.

The next step is to grab yourself a drinking straw.  I suggest getting one that is a little sturdier that your "bulk pack" variety. The ones that you get from fast food stores or a re-usable plastic straw would be perfect.

Take your horn between your two fingers and twist the fabric against itself to open it up.

And then slide the horn over the end of your straw.

Now you need to get your second tool (an essential tool for softie making!!) which is a standard wooden skewer - the type you find in your supermarket for skewering meat.  Making sure that you are using the flat end of your skewer, push the sewn end of the horn into the straw opening.

Keep pushing the horn into and through the straw so that it is turning the horn right side out.

Continue pushing the horn through to the other end of the straw....

And Voila!!!  A perfect turned horn - without the sweat and tears!!!

And while you are equipped with your wooden skewer, it is the perfect tool to stuff your horn as well!