• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Store
  • Training Academy Login
  • Subscribe

Alanda Craft

Quilting & Craft Tutorials, Reviews & More


e-printables

  • Quilting
    • Quilting Tutorials
    • Quilting Blocks
    • Quilting Products
    • Quilting How To’s
    • Quilting Panels
  • ScanNCut
    • Brother ScanNCut Tutorials
    • ScanNCut DX
    • Canvas Workspace
    • ScanNCut Reviews
    • The Big List of Brother ScanNCut Tutorials
    • Brother Scan n Cut News & Updates
  • Sewing Projects
    • Bag Tutorials
    • Cushion Tutorials
    • Quick Projects
  • Paper Crafts
    • Paper Tutorials
    • Junk Journals
    • Mini Albums
    • Die Cutting Machines
    • Paper Craft Reviews
  • Tools We Love
    • Quilting Tools We Use
    • Top 10 Quilting Tools for Beginners
  • Readers Projects
  • Submit Your Project

How to Machine Couch Without a Couching Foot

Alanda Craft October 4, 2017 Leave a Comment This post may contain affiliate links.

Tweet
Pin704
Share2
706 Shares

how to couch without a couching foot

Watch the video tutorial below or scroll down for the written instructions

What is Couching?

Couching is a technique where you lay yarn, thread, ribbon, etc on top of your fabric and stitch them in place with a zigzag or fancy stitch, either in a similar thread or a contrasting thread.

Couching adds interest and texture to your projects. I love playing around with different wools, threads, embroidery threads, lace, wool roving, and assorted cords to make my projects pop.

 

Do You Need a Special Couching Foot?

A specialized cording foot is a great machine accessory if you love embellishing your fabric projects. But what if you don’t have a couching foot for your machine? Well, that’s okay, you don’t need to have a special foot to do this.

What Can I Couch On?

  • You can couch on just about any type of fabric, always do a test first to make sure your machine can handle it.
  • If you are using quilting or lightweight fabric you will need to add a piece of batting or some sort of stabilizer to the back, otherwise, the fabric will pucker and ruin the look of your piece.
  •  If you are using denim, canvas or a heavyweight fabric you may not need to add stabilizer. But do make sure that you do a test piece to start with as you don’t want to ruin your project.

  • You can also add the backing if you are making a quilt or bag. The couching stitches will help to keep the quilt backing into place. If you don’t want to have the couching stitches show through on the backing piece, then leave it off until you have finished couching.
Note:
Some projects won’t require a backing fabric but finer fabrics will always need a stabilizer.

So What Do You Need?

  • An assortment of wool, cord, wool roving, ribbon, lace and even thin strips of fabric will work. In fact, you can use just about anything that your machine will handle.
Note:
Make sure the wool is not too thick. Up to about an 8 ply works well. You need to be able to zigzag over the wool etc.
  •  Check your machine’s manual to make sure you have the right foot attached. It needs to be the foot that you use for zigzag stitches.

What to do Next

  • Select the zigzag stitch on your machine.

  • Place the cord, wool, etc on top of the fabric, have it extend about 2″ past the edge of the fabric.
  • Line the cord up with the center of the foot.
Note:
Manually test the zigzag stitch is going to go right over the cord and that the needle isn’t going to come down in the middle of the cord and split it. You can do this by turning the handwheel on your machine. This will also ensure that your needle doesn’t hit the foot.
  • Adjust the length of the stitch to what appeals to you. Bear in mind that you don’t want it to be too narrow as it will totally flatten the cord, and we want it to be puffed up so that it sits nicely above the fabric.
  • Once you are happy with the stitch placement, sew down the length of the cord.

  • You can just sew straight lines or do some gentle curves.
  • Geometric lines look great as well.
  • You can even draw or trace a line drawing onto the fabric and couch around it.

couching, quilting, sewing,

So as you can see there are so many options to how you can add couching to make your projects look great.

 

image_pdfimage_print

Filed Under: Quilting How To's Tagged With: couching, how to couch

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

FOLLOW US!

  • Amazon
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Welcome to Alanda Craft - We are Wanda & Paula, two friends who love to craft. Our goal is to show you techniques on how to improve your crafting skills. Learn how to use your ScanNCut, your Dream Machine, make quilts and create quick and easy sewing projects! Learn, Create, Enjoy!

Recent Posts

  • Can you use denim for quilting? A Complete Guide
  • What is Quilting Fabric?
  • Making Money on Etsy: A Beginner’s Guide to Selling Printables
  • Heart Quilt Block Tutorial
  • Make a Valentine’s Day Card Using the Aufero Laser 2

Popular Posts

10 Ways to Use Up Your Fabric Scraps – Easy Projects166K Total Shares
Quilting for Beginners – The Easiest Quilt Ever – Step-by-Step Tutorial105K Total Shares
Machine Binding a Quilt: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide for Beginners (with video)88K Total Shares
Origami Fabric Bag Tutorial: Easy to Make Market Tote Bag86K Total Shares
Crumb Quilt Technique Tutorial – Crumb Quilting50K Total Shares
Easy Quilted Christmas (or Fall) Table Runner47K Total Shares
Quilt As You Go Quilt With Sashing – Reversible Quilt44K Total Shares
Quilt Block: Jack in the Box Quilt Block Tutorial34K Total Shares
Quick & Easy Pot Holder Tutorial – Using Layer Cake Squares28K Total Shares
10 Fabric Jelly Roll Projects27K Total Shares

Footer

  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
Copyright 2020 - Alanda Craft - AlandaCraft.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.