Stitching Experiments and Six Pointed Stars: The Whip Stitch

Hello Friends and Welcome Back!

After last week’s exceptionally positive start, I’m excited to be continuing my stitching experiments again today!

As explained last week, I’ve chosen to assemble the first four of my Six Pointed Star blocks using a variety of stitches that differ from my usual method. All six seams of each applique will be assembled using the same stitch, giving me enough practice to see how I feel about that stitch, possibly changing my current opinion!

To learn more about how I chose the fabric for these first four blocks, check out my Colour Scheming post!

To read about my first stitching experiment, the ladder stitch, check out last week’s post! That post also includes a segment about my usual stitching method, the invisible feather stitch.

For this week’s experiment, I’ll be exploring the whip stitch! This quick stitch is not one I’ve used often, but is definitely a popular choice among English paper piecers. I’m excited to see if the extra hand sewing practice I’ve had over the last few months will have an impact on a stitch that I decidedly haven’t been practising!

Before we go any further, I would like to remind you all that this post is a record of my experiences, not a tutorial. I am interested in sharing my thoughts on the stitch and any changes of opinion, be they positive or negative. I will be including a link to a proper whip stitch tutorial that you can check out if you’re interested in learning this stitch for yourself. It can be found later in the post.

Now, without further ado, let’s talk about the whip stitch!

An Introduction to the Whip Stitch

The whip stitch is a fairly popular hand sewing stitch commonly used to sew seams along a folded edge of a project.

The whip stitch can be used for all the same purposes as last week’s ladder stitch; to close holes from the right side of a project, to attach applique or binding, and to piece together fabric, but with a much more visible result. While whip stitches will always be visible from both the right and wrong sides of a project, use of a matching thread colour and a neat hand while stitching will make them considerably less noticeable.

But what this stitch lacks in invisibility, it makes up for in speed. The whip stitch is well known as a fast stitch to sew; the cyclical motion of the stitch is very easy to learn and it doesn’t require any finicky precision to sew well.

The combination of speed and visible stitches results in some mixed opinions regarding the whip stitch. Some people find the effect of the visible stitching to be a delightful reminder of the hard work and human touch that went into making the project, and appreciate the speed with which the pieces come together. Others prefer that stitching be thoroughly hidden and are happy to take the extra time to make that happen.

I recommend taking some time to try this stitch for yourself so that you can decide which of these perspectives is more your style. After all, they both have their own charm and merit! I enjoyed Laura Ann Coia’s video, How to Stitch a Whip Stitch produced by SewVeryEasy.

Preconceptions of the Whip Stitch

The whip stitch is not one that I'm particularly fond of. Although it is a fast stitch to sew, I feel quite strongly that it's messy, and because the stitches show on the front of a project, I believe that any unevenness in those stitches will be plainly visible.

Like last week's ladder stitch, I learned the whip stitch as a child. At that time, I was much more interested in machine sewing and didn't spend much time attempting to refine my hand stitching, so the perception of the whip stitch being messy may have come from then.

But I think not.

More recently, while revisiting hand sewing over the past year and becoming somewhat more enamoured with it, I used the whip stitch to make a mini quilt for this summer's Summer Mini Quilt Challenge. Check out that post here!

I distinctly remember thinking that the whip stitch was kind of messy, but knowing it was a fast hand stitch, chose to use it anyway. That project got me really interested in English paper piecing, but was also the reason I chose to learn the invisible feather stitch, since I hadn't liked using the whip stitch.

But that opinion seems to only extend as far as my own ongoing projects. Looking at that mini quilt now, I don't think it looks messy, and I've definitely seen quilts made by other creators that used the whip stitch to very lovely effect.

I wonder then, perhaps I dislike the way the whip stitch looks from the wrong side of the fabric? An interesting theory.

Sewing the Whip Stitch

New theory aside, I took my negative perceptions of the whip stitch into account while choosing which of my stars to stitch.

A visible stitch will require matching thread and perhaps a busy print to help camouflage it. So for the whip stitch, I chose to work with my single tone star; a white and floral printed star on a purple background:

I already have a white thread that should match the white background of the print quite well, and the variety of foliage and text should help to distract the eye from any uneven stitches!

With my fabric and thread chosen, there was nothing left to do but start sewing!

Despite knowing its reputation as a fast stitch, I was still surprised by how quickly I was able to piece this star. I haven’t used the whip stitch in quite some time, so I’m out of practice, and because I was worried about it being messy, I was very careful about the size and spacing of my stitches. Even so, within a single evening of stitching, the Six Pointed Star applique was complete!

If using my usual stitch, the feather stitch, I would estimate that it would take a similar, but slightly longer amount of time. Keep in mind that I am well practised in the feather stitch, and I no longer feel it’s necessary to work carefully, so I’m sure I could work the whip stitch even faster with a little more practice.

As for my concerns about the whip stitch being messy, I’m not convinced this experiment has changed my mind. Objectively, I think the stitching looks amazing! From a technical standpoint, the stitches are small, fairly even, and barely visible from the front side of the project. However, something about my whip stitches just doesn’t feel right to me.

I think that, because I am intentionally using tiny stitches, the slightest bit of unevenness becomes much more obvious. This somehow makes the pattern of the stitches feel less than great to me, which I think proves my earlier theory; I don’t believe the whip stitch looks bad on a finished project, I just don’t love the way it looks from the working side.

Maybe I’m being too picky, and maybe the familiarity of the feather stitch is enforcing a bias, but after the experiment, I’m maintaining a fairly strong preference against the whip stitch.

Wrapping up my thoughts; the whip stitch is indeed a very fast stitch, but the aesthetic appearance of the stitching from the working side of the project makes me less enthusiastic about using it. I suspect I won’t be using it much in the future, but it’s good to know that I am able to work the whip stitch in an objectively even and neat way.

With that Friends, thank you once again for joining me for another stitching experiment! Although I still have no particular love for the whip stitch, I’m glad I gave myself a little more practice with it!

If you have any tips for whip stitching that might help to change my mind or that you simply think will help others to improve their stitching, please leave those in the comments below! I love having any opportunity to learn from the experience and experiments of others!

For anyone who doesn’t already know, these Six Pointed Star blocks are part of the Generations Quilt project which I’m undertaking together with my Mother and Grandma. You can read more about it in my Generations Quilt post!

Next week, however, I’ll be taking a brief break from the Generations Quilt to share a new Project Update. But don’t worry, I will be back with more stitching experiments in the weeks that follow!

Until Next Time Friends, Keep Creating!

VA

Citations:

• Coia, Laura Ann. “How To Stitch a "Whip Stitch".” YouTube, uploaded by SewVeryEasy, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_l2Vl6YweM.