Book thong help

[yarngal]

I am trying to make the book thong from Donna's pattern - and for the life of me I am not able to get the long chain perfect and uniform and untwisted. All those that I make are all twisted and the chain looks very weird and each chain stitch is of a different size and eventually land up being ripped. Is there any trick to getting this right? Please help me - because I really like the book thongs so many of you have made and went overboard and bought a whole bunch of beads

 

Thanks,

Subha

[wrenlover]

I am the same way with making a chain, I want it to look even and uniform. Ususally, if you are going back through the chain with stitches, it works it self out. But, instead of fighting with it, I just thread "seed beads" on to my thread, the length I want and attach a big bead at the end. I use a butterfly pattern for the top of my bookmark. Using the seed beads won't crease the book pages when you close it either. Hope this can at least give you an alternative.

 

Lisa

[xantha]

Subha, when I first started working with thread, I had this problem, too (and it made me stop entertaining the idea of working with thread). I found that I have to pay close attention to my chain, and really watch it to keep it consistent. If one chain over is significantly tighter/looser than the next, it'll warp the entire chain, especially a long one.

 

Also, when you're dealing with a chain as long as this one, it's going to act a little strange until you slip stitch into the chains (when I made Donna's book thong, I hdc into the chains instead of slst just to make it more stable). Try finishing it if you can, and then you can try another thing --

 

You can also try to wet-block the book thong once it's done. This will help it stop curling in on itself.

 

What you do is finish it, weave in the ends, and then dampen it with some water and pin it to a board of some sort. Some people use corkboard, some people use thick foam board (the kind that kids use in presentations in school) -- basically anything that you can stick pins into. Then you let it dry. Once it's dry, it's (usually) basically straight.

 

Hope that helps! It's a great pattern, and I know you can do it!