Author: Tess Chatham
Date: 09-25-06 10:29
Are you doing french knots individually or in a cluster? If in a cluster or as the center of some already finished flower, there's not much of a problem...anchor a few backstitches somewhere in the underside of all ready finished work, or make a waste knot right just outside that flower where you will be sure to make several french knots over the "tail" of it and then you will be able to cut away the waste knot and what's left of the "tail" of it on the underside and still have your french knots anchored.
Trouble comes when these french knots are out there all by themselves... singly or in just tiny clusters. It's a little trickier, but still can be done. You've got the right idea.... take a couple straight up and straight down tiny stitches over just a thread or two of fabric, leaving about a 3" "tail" of thread on the underside. Then make that single or tiny cluster of french knots right over those tiny stitches. Then weave the tail of thread that is still in the needle around the tiny stitches on the back side of that french knot before cutting it away. Rethread the 3" "tail" and do the same thing... a bit of fine needle weaving. It helps if your fabric is not too sheer and a bit loosely woven to catch just the underside of some threads of fabric. If your fabric is more "sheer" or very fine.... as in shadow work, you've got to do some really tiny weaving or stitches keeping everything just under the french knot. Making one tiny stitch in one direction and then turning about 90 degrees to make a second one usually works better than stitches in the same direction.
There isn't really anything "magical" about it... you just do whatever works... and practice getting really tiny stitches! A number 12 needle helps, if you can handle it. The smaller the needle, the tinier the anchoring and weaving stitches you can take.
Tess
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