I was just browsing in an old magazine, American Patchwork and Quilting from Feb. 2009, and there is an example of applique work that is done on a sewing machine but looks hand sewn. The designer is Cherie Ralston. She says to use a "variable overlock" stitch to sew down the appliques. You can use a narrow zig-zag, she says, but I'm wondering if I might possibly have the other stitch and just not know what it's called. Does anyone have a picture of it, or could anyone possibly point me to a resource that lists the stitches by name with pictures? I have a couple of old machines, an Elna and a Bernina, that have quite a few stitches, but I have no idea what most of them are called. Google is no help, just turning up lots of pictures of sergers and serger stitches.

You can use the blindstitch on the Elna. The only thing is you have to work from the 'wrong' edge of the fabric. The machine makes several stitches then pops over and makes a long stitch, but mine goes from right to left. It would be easier if it went from left to right. Not much of a problem on small things like appliques, but not convenient for putting on binding.

Check this blog. I think that's the stitch she's talking about.
http://bunnyhill.blogspot.com/2009/0...eedle-and.html

Wow - That was fast from both of you! Thanks!

Both my Elna Supermatic (from 1967) and Bernina (old 830 - 1972) have blindstitches that do the long stitch to the left. I tried appliqueing a little swatch just now on each of them, and it's pretty nifty. It doesn't look quite like hand work, but from a few feet away it will be just fine, and much nicer than satin stitch machine applique, while using less thread.

I don't think I could use it for applique if it went to the right, but I do see what you mean about it not being useful for binding. You'd have to have the whole quilt in the throat of the machine! Maybe I'll try it for binding a mug rug or place mat sometime.

These blindstitches look just like the "variable overlock" ones in the pictures on the Bunny Tales site, and if there's anything different about them, I'd like to know. I can see that her much newer Bernina has the option of mirroring the stitches, which would be a good thing to have. My mid-1980's Singer could do that, if I remember right, but it bit the dust long ago.

Is this what you mean? I have this stitch on an older Brother machine and also on my Pfaff. I believe a lot of machines have it.

I believe that's a machine blanket stitch, and it's very popular for applique. Eleanor Burns uses it a lot. It's not the one that the article called "variable overlock" because the idea with the blanket stitch is that the stitching will be a decorative feature, whereas the stitches they were showing were nearly invisible. They're extremely tiny, with a few running right at the edge of the applique and then one barely nipping across to the applique just enough to catch it.

Thanks for showing your pictures. They look very nice.

I sew wish i had this stitch on my machine
:-)

Great thread. Thanks for posting!

Time to play. I went to my sewing room, which is currently a storage room, and found a cam that made my 1974 Elna SU Supermatic do a perfect blanket stitch from the left to the right, so the bulk of the item is not be under the machine. It doesn't make a very big stitch, but very nice. The built in blind stitches both go from the right to the left. Off to ebay to see if there's a cam that will make a bigger blanket stitch.

That is such a quiet machine. It's not a good quilting machine, so I've been using a Singer 301, but nothing sews like the Elna.

I just went back and looked at the video. The stitch she used looked very much like the Elna's blind stitch, not the blanket stitch. The blanket stitch cam makes a stitch like Kitsie's pictured one, only smaller. The cam puts down more thread and will show more. Side note - how do you put DMC embroidery thread on a spool?