Rhonda K

Do you couch? I don't mean on the living room couch, LOL.

I'm ready to invest some time in learning how to do couching for some applique projects. Do you have any special tips, sources for specialty threads, etc?

I can attach a couching foot to the WF on my sewing machine or use the embroidery machine which also has a couching feature.

Iceblossom

I hand did this for my cat quilt, I have hidden figures like my initials and other things. I ended up using cording meant for blinds as a cost effective way to do this. I wanted white and washable, the thickness was right for me and it was cheaper than bought cording, plus I was concerned about shrinkage potential.

It's part of the "let's take a simple project and make it more difficult" way I think...

Edit: The top cord I was fighting with and trying to straighten out instead of letting it do it's own thing... you can see it's being difficult while the side one is nice and smooth.

MamaLinda

Turned out great. Love anything cats.

Rhonda K

Thanks Iceblossom! Love the kittie quilt. Great idea to use the cording too.

Peckish

You should check out Bethanne Graves Nemesh. She uses yarn and draws pictures on fabric with it. She has done some stunning couchwork, and she has videos showing how she does it. Here's one on her website, she also has some on her FB pages. One is called Bethanne Graves Nemesh, the other is White Arbor Quilting, Bethanne Nemesh.

https://www.whitearborquilting.com/featured-video/

Iceblossom

Things to mention, it actually adds a noticeable weight to the edges which I rather like, sort of helps the edges to spread out when you put it on the bed. Watch to see if the cording does have any sort of natural drape or inclination to move in a certain way -- if you fight it, it will win in the long run!

I was concerned about long arming over the cording and only did the "bed" of the quilt on the long arm. Then I scrunched the couched border though my little old vintage machine and had zero issues. Silly me, I should have at least tried it on the long arm!

Back in my garment sewing and costuming days, I often did various couched techniques for braids and trims and have used feet to do it. Depending on the thickness I often use a matching color thread and zig zag.

Just as an aside, those old treadle machines and early electrics typically had all sorts of fancy feet and what the heck does this do items, and they are mostly helps to put on or make trims of various sizes.

rryder

I’ve done a lot of couching on art quilts over the years. There are several different kinds of couching feet for domestic machines. Some of them have a groove that runs front to back on the underside of the foot that the yarn or cording you are couching down run through. These work best if you use either a zigzag stitch or a decorative stitch that goes from side to side over the material being couched down. You can also use a zigzag foot for that type of couching, but it can be a pain to keep the material being couched down in the center and it can sometimes get stuck under the foot as well.

Other couching feet have an opening that guides the thread down and through the foot right below the needle and you then use a straight stitch that goes through the yarn or cording that you’re couching down. There are also couching feet that work like these ones that can be used with longarm and midarm machines for couching while FMQ. The main thing to remember with this type of foot is that you have to make sure that the yarn or cording fits the hole properly, if it’s too loose in the hole, it can easily get moved out of place and your straight stitches won’t catch it properly. You also have to be mindful that you keep the yarn or cording loose just ahead of the foot or it can get pulled out of the way and your top thread won’t catch it properly.

I’ve couched all kinds of things to my art quilts doing the zigzag type couching with a foot that has a groove in it. These materials iinclude embroidery floss, yarns, rattail cording, charging cords from old electronic devices and thin sticks. They just need to be small enough to pass beneath the foot. On my Sweet Sixteen I've done a fair amount of free motion couching using the type of foot where you pierce the item being couched and in that case have mainly used yarns, being careful to pick ones that fill the hole in the foot without being too tight.

Rob

Rhonda K

Thank you all for the great tips!

Peckish, Thanks, I am familiar with her techniques for adding interest to borders and binding. Have you seen the pearl piping she does on quilts?

Thanks Iceblossom! This is a creative way to add details to different projects. I forgot about clothing and costumes.

Rob, Thanks for the details on the feet and how-to.for the technique.

I'm excited to try something new!

Peckish

Yes, as a matter of fact I just did a binding inspired by a technique she teaches. I scalloped a flange binding. Love how it turned out!
I bought a couching kit from Innova for my machine but haven't tried it out yet. Bethanne makes it look so easy.

LAF2019

I have used couching around the edges of raw edge appliques, to hide the raw-ness. I do not use a couching foot. I just hold the yarn in position, only paying attention to only about an inch at a time ahead of the needle, sometimes less. then I just zig zag over the top to hold it in place. free motion squiggle/zigzag works best, in my opinion.