SAL: buttonhole petals

When you’ve done the first petal of the large lily, you can also work the others too in the same way.

The “dirty” spots that you can see on the surrounding fabric are actually needle holes from where I have parked my needle at various stages. They will go!

I might just make the statement here that I have the fabric mounted taut in a hoop. This is because I find it gives a much better result for my stitching. It keeps the fabric flat and helps to stop puckering in the stitches. It can make working some of the stitches a little difficult though, so for stitches such as chain stitch (if you don’t want to work it as a stab stitch) and cable plait stitch, it can be useful to slacken off the fabric in the hoop.

So, let’s talk about starting and finishing threads.

For the chain stitch and the buttonhole stitch, I tend to work about 3-4cm/1.5inches of running stitch in the area that I am about stitch over. I work it so that most of the running stitch is on the underside of the fabric, and very little is on top. Then I just work over the top of it. The chain stitch generally gets worked right over and into it, so that the running stitch is held in place very securely. The buttonhole simply covers it over.

To finish chain stitch, on the back I run the needle under about 5 stitches and then trim the excess. To finish buttonhole stitch, I run the needle under about 3-4cm/1.5 inches of stitching on the back, and trim the excess. This tends to be enough, and even if you then have to boil the work at the end, I’ve never had any problems with the threads working loose.

Now, what if we have to start a new thread in the midst of working buttonhole? Can we make it a completely smooth join so that no-one ever knows any different? Yes!
To finish the old thread, take the needle to the back as if you were about to work the next stitch.

Leaving the stitch a little loose on the front, unthread the needle at the back. Rethread the needle with a new thread, and run it under the back of the stitching to anchor it. If you want to be sure its not going to move, you can take a backstitch under one of the threads on the back, as you run it under the back of the stitching.

Bring the new thread out at the rolled edge of the buttonhole, in the same place you would have if you had been taking any normal buttonhole stitch.

Tighten the previous stitch that was left hanging loose, by pulling on the end of the old thread. On the back, thread it into another needle and run it under the back of the stitching to finish it off. On the front, continue stitching as before, enjoying the seamless change of threads!