Dear French Knot: I Take Back All Those Things I Said About You.

I used to really, really haaaate making French knots.  Mostly because mine were crap.  Like, either they were on this inexplicable stalk and dangling uselessly off to one side, or they un-knotted as they went through the fabric and disappeared before they were even born.  Depressing.

And I’d look at Miriam’s, my grandmother, my mother’s mother, and hers were lined up in military precision, flawlessly marching across her fabric.  Where did I go wrong?

In the interests of pursuing small projects this week, I determined to master the French knot.  This is the result:

Oh, French knot.  I’m sorry I was such a hater.  Please forgive me for my years of ineptness.  I have learned, through many many many iterations across the hem of this pillowcase that really: I (heart) you.  Simple and quick, and so satisfying with your texture.

I have no real idea where this design is going, except that it gets bigger as I get to the end of each row.  But I’m loving making it.  So restful, and such instant gratification.

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  • Lu
    May 22, 2010 at 12:43 am

    I’m glad I’m not the only one who couldn’t get along with french knots! I remember as a kid (probably 12) trying to finish a project that my oldest sister had started when she was about my age (16 years before!) that was just filling in a shape with french knots. I think I did 10 french knots before I gave up. But now french knots and I are friends. I love using them to spice up a simple embroidery, like you can see here on my blog.

  • Kay Stephenson
    May 22, 2010 at 3:39 pm

    I love the French knot and all free-form embroidery. You must come back to this and let us know how it looks in the end.

  • Kellie
    May 23, 2010 at 10:17 pm

    I hope one day, I can say the same. I JUST cannot get that one down.

    Beautiful work.

  • Making Time To Sew: Doing It Bit-By-Bit — Whipstitch
    May 27, 2010 at 1:38 pm

    […] things with a limited scope that could be completed in a single sitting or only a few.  The pillow case I embroidered took all of two hours (well, once I figured out how to actually do the stitch, two hours, but […]