Fun with the Flower Stitch Foot

I love playing with the flower stitch foot. If you’ve never used this foot, I can guarantee it is way too much fun. But did you know that you can use this foot with water soluble stabilizer to create all sorts of decorative effects?

The Flower Stitch Foot is only available for machines with a low shank and as you can see from the photo, the foot is bulky so attachments that are already fitted to your machine such as an inbuilt even feed foot, may cause problems when trying to attach the foot.

Although traditionally used for creating small circles on fabric for decorative use, the Flower Stitch Foot can also be used with water soluble stabilizer to create great fringes and dangly things.

And this is how it’s done …

On a piece of water soluble stabilizer, using your Flower Stitch Foot select a utility or satin stitch on your machine and sew a number of circles in random sizes. You will also have to sew a straight stitch underlay to help hold the shape of the stitches once the water soluble stabilizer is washed away.

Draw your fringe design on a separate piece of water soluble stabilizer.

Cut out your circles (but don’t rinse yet) and position them on the piece of stabilizer you used to draw your fringe design. A dab of water will hold them in place.

Using either straight stitch, free motion stitching or a decorative stitch, sew rows of stitching to attach the circles. Remember, if you are using decorative stitches, you will need to sew a straight stitch underlay so the stitches don’t unravel when the stabilizer is washed away.

Rinse away the stabilizer, allow the piece to dry, and press with an iron, and . . . voila!

This technique, along with other great techniques, can be found on my instructional dvd Titivations. Find it in the Instructional DVD Section of the store.