In my meanderings on eBay, I've found numerous handmade tote bags which are decorated with blanket stitches. In each instance, the stitching is so perfect that one wonders if it is done by hand or machine, but I am not aware of a sewing machine capable of producing blanket stitches, and the stitching has a much more prominent (heavier?) appearance than ordinary machine stitching, as if more than one thread was used. Is there such a machine on the market? I very likely will not be able to afford it. My old clunker will probably have to keep me happy for a long time.
Yes indeed. The Berninas do wonderful blanket stitches... the 200e or
730e Artistas. IIRC, only the 9mm Bernies do a really great blanket stitch. And I think that the 1630 was the first 9 mm Bernina but I am not sure if it had a blanket stitch or not (it likely did). The 1630s have a track ball and the newer machines have a touch screen. I use my blanket stitches a lot. There are several variations, light to heavy, and each of them can be altered. I did a butterfly applique on a knit shirt recently and configured a very small and narrow blanket stitch for it. The applique came out really great. It's also great on fleece where you can make a full 9 mm wide stitch if you want. And it may be that with directional stitching, you can go even wider than that but I have not done that yet. 9 mm seems plenty wide enough for me.
Isn't the blanket stitch on a home machine produced with two threads? I thought the OP was referring to a conventional blanket stitch of the sort made with a single needle and thread. I've wondered what kind of machine might produce such a stitch. I can't imagine a bunch of needle weilding seamstresses at the Pendleton factory, for example, making such a precise blanket stitch by hand on the masses of beautiful and expensive blankets produced by the company. I've examined them and they appear to be a single strand, not two. How do they do it?
You have gotten right to the crux of my quandary about the blanket stitching I've seen, which is done so perfectly and so uniformly that, in each instance, it defies logic that it might have been accomplished by hand. And the stitching shows so prominently on the various finished pieces I've seen that I had to conclude that more than a single strand of thread was used to produce each stitch. Granted, the pieces in question were not the fabulous Pendleton blankets, but were in fact primarily tote bags decorated with blanket stitching in strategic areas on the totes. We all know what a single machine-sewn thread looks like, and the blanket stitches were far more robust than that which would be produced by a single strand of thread. Now that suggestions have been made about machines which can produce blanket stitching, I am even more intrigued about how more than one thread is utilized in the machine to produce the heavy blanket stitch.
Many thanks to all who have offered suggestions and guidance.
The industrial version I've seen in operation is called a Merrow Crochet machine -- I believe I heard a home version was out, but I'm not sure of that.
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Got a serger? Try a mock blanket:
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I've also programmed my sewing machine for a combination of (several zigzag stitches, W 6.0, L 0.0, followed by a 2-3 triple straight stitches in the far right needle position,) repeat ad infinitum for a mock blanket stitch that looks pretty good.
Yes, we all know what a single stitched thread looks like but you are thinking unidimensionally in terms of old technology. ;) The Bernina has 4 different blanket stitches. Two are for light to medium weight fabrics. The other two are for medium to heavy weight fabrics. The lighter ones are meant for applique. The heavy ones do a total of 5 stitches for each stitch, making it very bold and dense like like the best blanket stitching you've ever seen. With the exception of blanket stitching with yarns, I can't imagine anyone wanting a blanket stitch that is bolder, neater, infinitely adjustable within the 9 mm parameters, or more professional looking.
If you get another chance to examine the tote bags, take a magnifying glass with you and check to see whether the stitches are worked between the threads of the fabric, leaving a uniform number of threads between stitches.
Nowadays we insert irregularities into work in order to make it look "hand made", but this hasn't always been the case. Skilled workers learn various tricks -- such as using the threads as a guide -- and if you do something all day every day, your work just naturally tends to get more uniform because it's easier to make the stitches all alike.
Nor can I see why you think multiple-strand thread suggests that the work was not done by machine. I machine-sew with a double thread all the time -- I use a double thread in the bobbin for nearly all machine basting, because it's easier to pull out, and I'll thread the machine as for twin needles and put both threads through the same needle when I want conspicuous top stitching -- or when I need 80/6 or 100/6 thread and all I have is 50/3.
There is nothing difficult about designing a machine to use a heavier thread than will run through the tension disks of a domestic machine, and multiple-worker factories tend to have a special machine for every job, rather than doing all jobs with one style of machine as people do at home.
(Later in the thread, it has been pointed out that machines also get the multiple-strand look by stitching back and forth.)
Summary: it's probably machine, because even at Chinese wages, nobody wants to pay the price of hand embroidery.
If only I could examine the totes with the blanket stitches - in each instance, the totes were being auctioned on eBay, and a photo simply doesn't provide enough closeness for the viewer to be able to discern such detail.
Joy, I know how to thread my machine for twin needles, but for the life of me, I can't comprehend how one uses double threads in the bobbin. The mind reels, LOL. Would you please enlighten me? Thanks for the tips.
I just wind it from two spools at the same time. Once the threads got out of synch and I had to cut them off the bobbin, but usually there is no problem at all. It's important to tie the ends of the threads in an overhand knot to keep them together.
From Rough Sewing, file 026:
To wind a bobbin with double thread, thread your machine as for twin needle work as far as the place where the needle path diverges from the bobbin-winder path, then treat the two threads as one from there on. You would expect two threads going through one tension device to wind unevenly, but I've never had any difficulty. After you cut the threads, knot the ends to keep them from getting out of synch -- and further mark this bobbin as being double wound. Since this knot is in the waste thread that will be behind the presser foot when you start sewing, there is no need to cut it off before sewing.
[parenthetical remark snipped]
When you remove the bobbin from the machine after using it, tie another knot in the ends of the remaining thread. If ever one thread gets a wrap ahead of the other, the two threads will snarl each other and you'll end up cutting them off the bobbin. (A seam ripper is convenient for this procedure.) If your machine doesn't have two spool pins, you'll have to improvise. I've heard of stacking two bobbins on a single spool pin, but I think it would be easier to put two spools on a knitting needle thrust through a shoe box. =========================================
My thread dispenser is a knitting needle thrust through a box of
3 1/2" x 2 1/4" pinfeed cards. It was cluttering up the sewing room anyway, and I figured it might as well earn its keep. Haven't dispensed thread from it lately, but I still use it to store spare balls of thread. (Since I have to mail-order 100/6 cotton, I get half a dozen balls at a time.)
Joy Bees> >> I can't comprehend how one uses double threads in the bobbin.
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