Tuesday, May 18, 2010

wrapped backstitch

I volunteered for the assignment to make labels for all my Mother's quilts. She finished all the quilts for their grandchildren and I finally finished all the labels; that's 23 labels (plus a few for antique quilts...and for the quilts she is continuing to make even though her goal has been accomplished.) This isn't about them though, it's about my preferred stitch. It is NOT my favorite to stitch but I think it is the most effective for the labels. I took a before and after of the latest label so you can see it. I don't like the way the outline stitch flops over on curves. I've done some with just back stitch but I've gotten lazy and sloppier in my old age. The wrapped stitch covers up the unevenness of my backstitch...it looks even better when done on a perfect backstitch. Here the Ellen is just backstitched:

Here I have simply wrapped the thread around each stitch:
You can see it evens the stitches out and makes them nicer. Although I prefer the portability of the hand stitched label; this one turned out rougher than most since I was stitching in a moving car....not the place to do your best work. But it is DONE. This label is better than no label!

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