FANCY FOOTWORK WITH THE 3 SLOT CORDING FOOT

If you've been watching the latest It's Sew Easy TV show on your local PBS station you know that the 900 series is highlighting historic embellishment ideas, revamped for modern day sewing enthusiasts. In a recent segment I used one of my all time favorite embellishment accessories, the Three Slot Cording Foot. Along with a few other techniques, I used this foot to accent a pretty little baby sundress. I thought you might like to know more about this foot, the cording embellishment, and a little more about the dress itself.

This technique is probably one of the easiest ways to accent most any thing you can think of . . . from home decor to dresses and more! You'll see a variety of thread options on the show. Would you believe the featured thread on this dress is ordinary Size 5 DMC Pearl Cotton?

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On episode 902-3 I used the highly rated Brother  Model 40-e, with a wide variety of utility and decorative stitches. The dress features stitch #21 but on the show you'll see a sample of stitch #23. Both stitches are light and lacy, perfect for the soft cotton sateen baby dress.

Setting up for this technique is easy. You have an option of inserting decorative thread into one, two, or all three slots by snapping the thread under the small clips on top of the foot. Be sure the thread moves smoothly under the clip, then simply select a stitch that skips over the threads and anchors them in place. The stitch should easily flow over the threads. Be sure to test on scraps and see if you like the look with your chosen thread. 

Don't be afraid to experiment but if you're looking for some tried and true stitches you may want to try something that looks like one of the stitches seen below. I've used both of these selections many times with this particular cording foot. The one on the left is called a satin element stitch, the one on the right is a feather stitch. I increased the stitch width on both of these to match the 7mm opening on the cording foot.

A deeper color of this same pearl cotton was used to embroider the butterfly bobbin work designs on the hem of this dress. You'll find this specific bobbin work embroidery design built in to a few Brother Model Machines. If you'd like to watch my previous It's Sew Easy show about this technique you can CLICK HERE. 

Many other Brother machines can use a special Bobbin Work Kit designed for embellishment on the sewing side of the machine. An ordinary straight stitch is the basis for both machine embroidered bobbin work and sewing style bobbin work making this a fun, easy, and artistic embellishment for all sorts of sewing projects.  

The floral embroidery motifs on the dress were resized so they fit across the front, filling in the blank white bodice and creating a coordinated look with the pink pearl cotton.

Although this dress was made a while ago, the pattern is still listed on the McCall's website. It's McCall's Laura Ashley designer pattern #4424, sized for infants. As you can see it includes many other cute variations plus a hat and baby bloomers. Speaking of which, these little bottoms were not part of the show so you're just getting to see them now. They add a fun touch to this adorable little outfit don't you think? 

I hope you enjoy the fancy footwork tips from this episode. I encourage you to visit your local sewing machine shop to see the machines and accessories featured here. Stay tuned, there's lots more Fancy Footwork to come in my future posts!