Sewing Embellishment Technique: Furrowing

I am always on the lookout for new (or old), unique techniques for manipulating fabric. I found furrowing in "The Art of Manipulating Fabric" by Collette Wolff.

I tried it out on my daughter's holiday dress in 2008 and was very pleased with the effect. This tutorial is for everyone who requested info on how to achieve this effect.

Step 1 Prepare

Prepare two pieces of fabric - one smaller foundation (called a "stay"), and a larger piece to be gathered to the size of the smaller stay.

In this example I use plain muslin. For simplicity's sake, I have also made both pieces square. In the first photo you can see the baby holding a 4x4 inch square, and in the next she highlights the 6x6 inch square with gathering stitches ready (in red thread).

I have also marked the pieces a grid of dots to illustrate their centers. On the 4x4 inch stay, I marked every inch from the edges; on the larger piece (6x6 inches) I marked a dot for every 1.5 inches.

To Gather - pull the threads to match the size of the larger square to the smaller square on all sides. Pin and stitch the pieces together. The larger piece will form a "puff." This puff is what you will tack with small stitches to form the peaks and valleys that make the furrowed fabric so interesting!

Comments

[sewlovely55]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just what I was trying to learn to do!

[random-charm]

Neat technique!

[lilmissmuffett]

This is an awesome technique. Really lovely! I'm sure it will look amazing with beads. How is it attatched to the garment?

[OneGirlCircus]

This is just a sample. If you're using in a garment (like in my black sleeve puff...) you would simply attach the larger fabric within a seam or two. I used Black cotton lawn on top of my black baby wale corduroy so I could have a nice bit f loft in the furrowed piece. Careful fabric selection makes all the difference, too.

[lilmissmuffett]

Okay, I see. I guess it was too obvious for me to figure it out! LOL Thanks!