Can you make a French Knot? The truth is: I can’t. Even when I can kind of “get it,” they are too loose and I don’t like the way they look. I needed a good French Knot Hack which I actually discovered almost by accident.
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My grandmother, sweet Catherine, taught me how to embroider when I was about eight. I remember that I got a sewing kit for Christmas that had embroidered handkerchiefs (even at the time I wondered who would use such a thing), but I learned a back stitch, lazy daisy, chain stitch and the like. And, on and off for the last 30+ years, I have been embroidering. The only problem was the French knots. Both she and my mother tried to teach me how to do them. I followed their directions, however, mine always pulled all the way through, and in the end, someone, either my mother or my grandmother, did them for me.
In the last few years, I have rediscovered the joy of handwork. It’s great for when my kids are at their extra curriculars or in the rare few minutes that I get to watch TV. I tried English Paper Piecing and have a beautiful, almost finished, quilt for Sunshine. However, about three years ago, I returned to one of my early joys: embroidery. Crabapple Hill Studio entered my world and I have never found handwork more enjoyable. But I still can’t do a French knot.
The first piece I worked on was Autumn’s Call. I took a class with my mother-in-law at our local quilt shop. While I followed the coloring directions, I didn’t purchase the Cosmo Floss in the directions, but used instead what I had on hand, which was mostly thread I had purchased for redwork–not embroidery floss. It was in all different sizes some 8, some 12 and when I had to purchase a couple colors they ended up being size 5. And that was when the magic happened. There are a series of blackberries in the pattern that required French knots. Oh no!
Originally I had planned to do a satin stitch. That would have worked, but it wouldn’t give me the texture I desired. To my surprise, I found that because I was using the thicker thread, if I pull that size 5 thread up on the spot which called for the French knot then put the needle back down right next to it without pulling the thread tight, I get something that looks a little like a French knot. The great thing is that doing this still gives the texture you would want from a French knot. Never again will I feel guilty about not being able to make one!
So now, the hardest part of the French knot is threading the needle!
French Knot Hack
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When you are ready to do a French knot hack, thread your needle with all six strands of embroidery floss.
Bring the needle up on the spot where you want the French knot.
Pull the thread all the way through.
Right next to where you brought the thread up, put the needle back in. Pull the thread through, but this time leave it just a little bit loose.
Hint: It is easier to do the French knot hack if the fabric is taut on the embroidery hoop.
These photos are from my current Crabapple Hill Studio Project: The Mystery of the Salem Witches Guild Panel 1. (This is an Amazon link because Crabapple Hill does not have their own affiliate program.)
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