Saturday, October 17, 2009

Smartypants Saturday no.2

A link to a chain!



Little Bird's been fussy, needy and clingy lately (teething), so I haven't been sewing as much as I'd like to, although I've made a few things during his naptimes that I'll post about at some point.

I did learn a technique this week called chain piecing, something I'd never heard or read about before.  It's a great trick, but it feels strange at first, especially for a new sewer, to sew without any fabric underneath the foot!



I first came across this technique while sewing a fabric ball for Little Bird using Purl Bee's tutorial hereAfter doing a Google search for more information, it seems to be used mostly by quilters, but could be useful in other areas of sewing, too. 

For example, I needed to sew a seam through several different flower petals for the brooches I am making (awesome pattern by Fabric Boutique for purchase here on Etsy).  Rather than clip my thread each time, I would just place my next flower right behind the previous one and keep on stitching.  When I was finished, I would snip between each flower to disconnect them all. It looks like this when you're finished sewing, before you snip:



Saves a little bit of thread and a lot of time trimming ends when you're finished.  I think I could go even closer next time. 

Quiltcetera provides a great photo-tutorial on flickr here.  I also came across chain piecing in action here, again on The Purl Bee, as part of a party garland (I was doing a little first-birthday-party planning!)

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