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LEARNING CENTER
CONTENTS
Mock Chenille Made Easy!
What Makes These Electric Scissors Different?
The Whys and Hows of Prewashing Fabric
Basic Tools and Notions for a New Quilter
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BBB Online
MOCK CHENILLE MADE EASY!
by Anne Brennan
Look around any sewing and quilting show, and you'll see lots of mock or faux chenille. Since Christine Bramhall's "Stitch-and-Slash Jacket" appeared on the cover of Threads magazine in October/November of 1996, sewing and quilting enthusiasts have fallen in love with this lush fabric-manipulation technique, which was first popular in Renaissance Italy.
What is mock chenille? It's a fluffy, fluid fabric created by stacking four to six pieces of cotton, rayon, or silk fabric, quilting the layers on the diagonal with parallel lines 1/4 inch to an inch apart, slashing all but the bottom layer of fabric between the stitching lines, then machine-washing and -drying the fabric sandwich to make the cut edges "bloom." Because the stitching and slashing are done on the bias, the edges fluff up in a cushy pile with no ravelly ends.
The color of the bloom depends not just on which fabrics you choose, but also on the order in which you layer them. The drape is determined by the fabric type(s). The softest drape comes from rayon. Placing a sturdy cotton as the bottom layer will result in rayon chenille that's a little more stable. For a chenille with a soft sheen, use raw silk. You can even combine fibers in one fabric sandwich. Experiment with small pieces until you find the effect you like before committing yourself to one combination.
For a thick, luxurious bloom, you can use a layer of Warm & Natural® quilt batting with several layers of cotton. Warm & Natural now comes prequilted between layers of cotton muslin. This product, called quilted muslin, is available in two-, three-, and four-layer styles, some stitched with straight lines and some with wavy lines. The stitched rows are an inch apart, ready for slashing. Use quilted muslin as is or dye it in your favorite colors. You can layer it with other fabrics or use it alone to create mock chenille.
All kinds of new notions are available to help you make chenille. If you're planning to do straight rows of stitching, you can use Omnistrips™. These are narrow, flat, 24-inch-long cutting mats that you slip into the channels between your stitching lines, just above the bottom layer of fabric. You can then use your rotary cutter to slash the fabrics. Omnistrips are available in two sets, one containing 1/4-inch, 3/8-inch, and 5/16-inch strips, and the other containing 3/8-inch, 1/2-inch, and 5/8-inch strips.
Clover's Slash Cutter works without any cutting mat at all. This rotary cutter has a slender foot that slips into the layer above your base fabric. The blade runs along on top of the foot, cutting the upper fabrics. You can use the 1/8-inch-wide foot or the 1/4-inch foot, depending on the width of your channels. If you'd like a shorter foot for easier maneuvering, look for Clover's Slash Cutter II.
For wavy or zigzag channels, check out the new electric scissors by Prym Dritz. Unlike electric scissors from the past, these ones cut smoothly and consistently. And they won't jam, even after you've slashed enough fabric to make an entire garment. Their ergonomic shape makes them comfortable to use, and their short points make them easy to maneuver around corners. Dritz's electric scissors come with a rechargeable battery, an AC adapter, and a shoe foot that holds paper patterns against your fabric.
If the thought of marking all those parallel lines stops you in your tracks, there are products to help with this task, too. June Tailor's Grid Marker is a plastic template with slots that accommodate a pencil or a Clover Slim Chaco Liner, letting you mark lines 1/2 inch apart.
Chenille the Easy Way is a new line of tissue patterns printed with parallel lines in chevron and zigzag designs. Simply pin the paper to your fabric sandwich, stitch on the lines, tear the paper away, and slash your fabrics!
Lots of small companies publish patterns for mock-chenille garments and craft projects. Be sure to look through the SewAndQuilt.com Shopping Center for some of these time-saving books and products!
Check out these products for making mock chenille!
Variations in Chenille by Nanette Holmberg
New Directions in Chenille by Nanette Holmberg