Working with Boucle... made easy!
Boucle- what an amazing thread. There’s truly nothing else on the market like it!
Sadly, boucle gets a bad reputation as a difficult fiber... but we've put together a few tips to help make working with this thread as easy as can be.
Take a look at the thread itself. It has an amazing ribbed texture to it- making it an awesome choice to use for hair, plants, flowers and so much more. Plus... just look at those colors!
Because of the bumpy texture we don’t recommend using it to Basketweave- particularly not on 18 count canvas. It’s just too difficult of a thread to pull through the canvas.
Below you’ll find two alternative techniques to use when you try out this fabulous thread!
Long Stitches:
One of the easiest ways to work with Boucle is to use it to do long stitches. This minimizes the number of times you have to pull the thread through the canvas. The long stitches also really allow the texture of the thread to be seen!
Whenever you are doing long stitches on a canvas, you want them to span the length of the line painted on the canvas. Follow the pattern and lines painted on the canvas. You'll need to use your artistic eye for this technique! Stitches can span in length and fall on different angles.
Try this technique out on hair and for greenery. You'll be glad you did!
Couching:
Couching is another great technique to use with Boucle because again, it allows us to minimize the number of times we're pulling the thread through the canvas.
To couch, you will need two threads:
1. A laid thread- in this case we will be using Boucle
2. A couching thread- a single ply of floss, Splendor or beading thread in a corresponding color to your laid thread.
Secure both your couching thread and the boucle to the back of the canvas by running it through the back of your stitching. Thread both threads and bring them up in the front of the canvas wherever you would like to start stitching. We will use the couching thread to tack the Boucle in place. We want to make our couching stitches as small and imperceptible as possible, so wherever you can, come up and go down in the same canvas hole or over a single thread.
Try these stitches out on a project and share your photos with us by tagging us on Instagram @kcneedlepoint and using #kcneedlepoint. We can't wait to see your next project!
