Rik rak straight stitch
09-14-2014, 07:01 AM
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Burke, Va
Posts: 344
I have an old machine & on small rick-rack I sew straight down the middle. On slightly larger rick-rack and up, I will use a straight stitch, but either use a darning foot with feed dogs covered (or dropped, if you can drop them) or else will just ease the stitch line a bit to the left and right to help tack down the edges a little bit. It does tend to curl a bit with washing. I take my mini iron (or a regular iron) and press down the edges of the rick-rack because I don't like the curled look, but that's up to you.
I use a LOT of rick-rack on quilts and have never pre-washed it & haven't experienced any issue with it shrinking. It's synthetic fiber, so less prone to shrink than cotton anyways. My biggest issue was fraying until I learned that you can melt the raw edges with a match/lighter. No other issues.
I use a LOT of rick-rack on quilts and have never pre-washed it & haven't experienced any issue with it shrinking. It's synthetic fiber, so less prone to shrink than cotton anyways. My biggest issue was fraying until I learned that you can melt the raw edges with a match/lighter. No other issues.
All good ideas. I went into a rik rak phase lol. No it doesn't shrink or curl any more. I glue baste it so I get a straight seam without it moving around. For the ends I use a little fray check - that's a what I use for Serging. It works well
09-16-2014, 09:30 AM
#23
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 38
Thanks all. I won a large lot of vintage rik rak and seam bias off ebay. (With price tags like: $0.39 stamped on the package from the manufacturer…) Good to know about needing to wash it first! I’m so oblivious sometimes… I would have just put it on and then been confused after washing. Great tips. Thank you! It’s all so pretty, I am anxious to use it.
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