Mattress Stitch

In message , Donna writes

I used to use mattress stitch for sewing up jumpers etc. Done properly it make for an invisible seam on the outside. Hugs Shirley

Like Shirley I use it for knitting, but see it is also used for fabrics, probably originally as the name suggests, for mattresses.

Donna, the link in a subsequent post explains the stitch, but doesn't show you how. If you want a picture, I'll send you one. Email me.

Dianne

In message , Dianne Lewandowski writes

A Utube demo.

That's on knitted grounds, which is different when you're joining cloth/seams. In essence the same, but not easy to visualize.

Dianne

If you Google ladder stitch, there are several demonstrations on youtube. Pick whichever one looks clearest to you. Ladder stitch is realy incredibly easy once you get the hang of it.

Olwyn Mary in New Orleans

"Donna" wrote I was browsing through my large collection of stitching magazines last night and found something I would like to do, but the finishing leaves me puzzled.

Does anyone know what is meant by the mattress stitch if you are referring to two plain pieces of cotton that need to be joined?

thanks, Donna in Virginia

Ladder stitch is another name for the same thing, very easy to do once you get the hang of it. All the dimensional projects that I have posted pictures for on RCTNP are made this way.

If you draw a blank let me know and I will see if I can dig out some photos of the "how to" that I know I have somewhere.

My only word of caution is for finishing that is not 90 degrees.....it can be done, but I'd not recommend that for a first project.

Cheers

Joanne in Western Australia

I know I've seen it - something like a blind stitch or a blind hem stitch. See if that works. I've checked my two "general" references with out luck.

C

You all are brilliant. Ladder stitch - now I've got it!

Thanks tons for making this a bit easier for me.

Donna in Virginia

Donna,

I thought the same thing. Mattress stitch - what? Ladder stitch - do it all the time!

sue

I guess I've been doing it all along too but never knew either name, always called it a blind hem stitch...or a variation thereof.

Nancy

Blind hem is done differently because, of course, it's not a seam. But you are right, you go within the fold of the hem so that no thread shows. Then you pick up a thread or two of the main fabric to which the hem attaches.

Dianne

Wonder if these are all "regional" names - I've gone off to look at "ladder" and it's what I was taught as "blind seaming" or blind hemming.

Cheryl

And it had a myriad of uses - closing up fabric around cushions, ripped out seams, fixing leather gloves, an lined awning (man doing that job was over

30 years ago and my shoulders just remembered the ache of standing on a ladder to fix that rip with out a trace before some party for the people my grandmother worked for) C