Practising

Today, between more demanding projects, I have been practicing making wrapped cords, with FMQ'g.  Recently I purchased the book "Stitch and Structure", by Jean Draper.  It was not what I had expected, but was absolutely a "good" purchase, as it was full of inspiration, mostly in directions I had never considered for my work. 

While I would like to experiment with some of the techniques in the book, I knew that I needed to brush up on some basic skills first.  At the same time I had been "culling" the huge amount of perle cotton in my stash, and saw an opportunity to use some of the excess in producing wrapped cord.

So I spent most of the day at my machine.  The base of the wrapped cord is several strands of the perle cotton, the number of strands, and size of the perle cotton determining the actual size of the finished cord.  I experimented with size #5 in both 8 and 12 strands of thread, and #3 in 8 thread strands.  All the threads had to be twisted as they went through the machine-tricky!  I used a free motion zig-zag, with the free motion zig-zag foot that came with the machine.

The machine was threaded with various threads, but for each cord the top and bottom thread was the same.  I used various types of thread, including an entirely mysterious shiny white polyester, Superior Threads Fantasico  #5002, # 5024, # 5027 ( My favoutite thread for any number of different projects--love it!), Fantastico # 5009, and a Coats and Clark variegated  40wt. rayon, machine embroidery thread.

The trick with this technique is to pull the twisted threads through the machine with a smooth and steady pace.  This is easier said than done, and the skill I spent the day practicing.  

Normally, I use a push button start and stop, but this technique is definitely one that requires a foot pedal.

I ended up with several cords, in different sizes.  My favourite is the red/orange/purple one, worked over a #3 burnt orange perle, with the Fantasico #5027.

I plan to link this with Nina-Marie Sayre's "Off the Wall Friday".