|
Start flat silk with a tiny knot with no tail on the pack side. Make a tiny stitch where it can be covered by your stitching. End the flat silk with two tiny back stitches. Cut the ends off
close to the stitches. There should be no tiny loose ends hanging from the back; they may find their way to the front and spoil the shine of the silk.
|
|
In stitching flat silk, it is necessary to keep the thread taut both above and below the frame. As you make each stitch, it will be necessary for you to stroke the
stitch in the direction that it is being made. This helps to align the filaments of the silk and evenly distribute the tension. To stroke the stitch, move the stroking needle along the underside of
the thread from where the thread emerged from the fabric to where it went down. Stroke 2 or 3 times and only in the direction of the stitch, not back and forth.
|
|
|
When the thread is on the underside of the frame, you should try to keep the tension on the thread. Place your stroking needle point where the thread enters the
fabric and hold it down firmly until you can poke the needle up where the next stitch is to be made.
|
|
|
|
|
Now let go of the needle and run your fingers down along the silk until you reach the loop where the thread starts up toward the frame. Hold the thread loop so that
tension is kept on the thread in the direction of the stitching, not necessarily in the direction of the needle (which is still hanging, poked in the fabric). Lay down the stroking needle and pick up
the threaded needle. *As you draw the needle and thread through the fabric, allow your other hand to follow the loop up. Both hands will be moving, keeping the tension even.
|
|
|
When all the thread is on the front, place the tip of the first finger of the hand that has traveled up with the loop over the area, including the thread, on the
underside of the fabric where the thread is emerging. Keep your finger tip on the silk until you have placed the stitch and the needle is again in the fabric.
|
|
|
Move the hand on the underside of the frame to the needle and start drawing the thread down. Stroke the thread as mentioned above when the loop left on the surface has about
2 inches of slack. Now draw the thread down and, keeping the tension, repeat the process placing the stroking needle on the thread at point where the stitch enters the
fabric. Poke the needle up in the fabric where the next stitch should go and follow the loop on the underside. Hold the tension, drop the stroking needle in the other hand, pick up the needle, and repeat from "*".
Flat silk requires that you keep your stitches far apart so that the silk can spread and stay parallel. Don't crowd your stitches, they should be 5-6 per 5 mm space.
|
