We are already very close to finish the hand sewing of the fast and easy pouch. It took several steps and detailed photo tutorials but I have great news for you: there are just two small steps concerning the hand sewing part left. 😀

The last posting was about the practical application of chain stitch as a decorative hand sewing for the top of this pouch project. But well, no sewing or embroidery thread is endless therefore:

Todays motto is:
“Chain Stitch & how to start a new thread”

Todays detailed photo tutorial is especially devoted to the readers of my blog who are new to hand sewing or hand embroidery (and the chain stitch). The following tutorial will show you how I finish the “old” thread and start the “new” thread. Furthermore it also explains what I do with the “ends” of this “old” and “new” threads and how I hide them . 🙂

I think that even such rather easy and “unimportant” steps are quite important for a good overall look. Furthermore they also ensure a long lasting pleasure at your own creations. And if you give them away as a gift, it ensures that your presentee will be able to enjoy the present for a long time.

…and now back to todays tutorial. Adding a new thread and hiding it is always a little bit tricky. As you might remember, I already wrote two postings for this fast and easy pouch tutorial about “starting a new thread and hiding it”. If you would like to re-read them, you can find them here:

• Step 2.2) How to start a new thread & hide it…
  …how I start a new thread while I am working at a seam finishing and how I hide it…
• Step 3.2) Hand sewing – how to start a new thread & hide it .2
  …how I start and hide a new thread in an already finished seam.

What makes this “adding a new thread” a little bit more tricky, is that an embroidery stitch is involved this time – the chain stitch. In the following tutorial I will show you how I “pause” the chain stitch and start a new thread:

Chain Stitch & how to start a new thread

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I think you know this problem – there is still a lot of (Chain Stitch) embroidery still left but you are just running out of thread on your needle…

In the majority of cases this tends to happen when one really doesn’t need or want it.

Yes, I have to admit that I know this experience very well. I really don’t like to get to the end of my thread and have to start with a new thread but well, it seems to be part of the game, isn’t it… *lol* 😉

Regardless if I am using the chain stitch for embroidery or for hand sewing – when I get to the end of my thread, the first thing I normally do is that I “secure” the last “loop”/”chain”.

To secure the last stitch, I do a stitch as you can see on the picture above.
For this I go with my thread and needle from the inside of the “chain” -> over the “chain”
-> to the outside of the “chain” -> and into the fabric again.

This way, regardless what I do next, the chain stitch is “secured” and can’t unravel again. Now we can take the needle from the “old” thread and put it on a new thread.

Underneath you can see the pouch turned inside out. In addition I took the overlaying surplus fabric next to the drawstring casing at the inside and “opened up” the part with the overlaying surplus fabric. This way I am able to continue my work between the inside fabric of the pouch and the inside of the later seam finishing of the overlaying surplus fabric of the drawstring casing. This is the place where I will hide the joining and the “old” and the “new” thread.

Btw. the part with the embroidery – which was on the left side (like you can see it on the picture above) is now on the right side! Therefore the first stitch, like you can see on the picture underneath, should be placed about 1mm next to the “old” thread and go through the inside of the last “chain”/”loop” of the chain stitch embroidery.

Please check if your needle really points through the last “chain”/”loop”. If not, please adjust your needle until you are at the right position and then pull the thread through until you reach the end of the thread. Now you can make two small knots like shown at the next picture.

Please be careful when you pull the knots tight and don’t apply too much force to the “old” thread. Too much force would not only pull your knot tight but also the last stitches of your embroidery. It would directly affect the last “chains” of your decorative hand sewing which are visible on the outside of your pouch. “Straight” chain stitches are unfortunately not as beautiful as slightly round ones… 😉

Then shorten the thread ends to about 1-2 cm…

…and turn the pouch again to get back to its front. Before continuing please check one last time if your thread is really going through the last “chain”/”loop” of your chain stitch row. If it does, you can continue working your chain stitches till you reach the beginning of your chain stitch row again. 🙂

Yes, it is rather easy to start and hide a new thread if you know how to do it. I hope you enjoyed my new photo tutorial for this step. 🙂

…and next time I can already show you the last step – the final step of the hand sewing process for this pouch. 😀

You can find all postings about this project in the category:
Craft with Racaire – #2 fast & easy pouch

Short overview of the postings till now:
Step 1) Fast and easy pouch tutorial & how to work with “rapports”
This posting explains how to calculate the needed fabric for the easy pouch tutorial. I also added some extra information: “how to work with rapports” (repeating patterns).
Step 1.1) Hand sewing stitches: Running Stitch…
This posting is an in-depth description of the first and most basic hand-sewing stitch you will need for this tutorial – the Running Stitch.
Step 1.2) Hand sewing stitches: Back Stitch (and Stem Stitch)…
Another in-depth description of a basic and helpful hand-sewing stitch you will need for this technique – the Running Stitch.
Step 2) Hand sewing the sides
Here you can find a detailed step-by-step photo tutorial about how I hand sew the sides of the “fast and easy pouch”. It includes all important basic steps for this process including the pinning, how to start with the sewing, how to secure your thread from slipping,…
Step 2.1) Hand sewing the corners
Another detailed step-by-step photo tutorial that shows you how to hand sew the nice pointy pouch corners of your fast and easy pouch.
Step 2.2) How to start a new thread & hide it…
Here you can see how I start a new thread while I am working at a seam finishing and how I hide the beginning of the new thread as well as the end of the old thread inside the seam.
Step 3.1) Hand sewing the top – pinning
This posting is about how I pinned the top of the pouch for the final hand sewing.
Step 3.2) Hand sewing – how to start a new thread & hide it .2 🙂
Sounds similar to “Step 2.2” above but is very different – in this step-by-step tutorial you can see how I start and hide a new thread in an already finished seam.
Step 3.3) Chain Stitch and how to use it for hand sewing
Another in-depth description of a basic embroidery technique – the Chain Stitch.
Step 3.4) Chain Stitch and how to use it for decorative hand sewing
This step-by-step photo tutorial shows the practical application of the Chain Stitch for decorative hand sewing as described in Step 3.3 above.*

* You can find an example of Chain Stitch used for a medieval inspired embroidery project here: 14th century hood with daggings, long liripipe & decorative chain stitch embroidery