I originally planned for this to be a small bonus tucked in along with the stuffing tutorial, but as I was editing the video, I decided this deserved its own post.
I’m of course demonstrating once again on my fox pattern, but there will be other times you’ll need to attach a cast-on end to a bound-off end, sometimes in the underarm of a sweater sleeve. So even if you’re not making a stuffed animal, save this one for when you need it!
Smooth Seam
For this particular project, in order to close up the head once it’s been stuffed, I need to create a smooth seam connecting a bound-off edge and a cast-on edge. Since it’s going to be attached to the body at the center point of this seam, I stitch from the corners to the middle, allowing myself to then use the loose threads to attach the head to the neck opening on the body. I’m all about having less loose yarn tails to deal with at the end.
First, make sure your corners are secure or your edges are lined up. You will insert the needle horizontally through both sides of the “V” that is a stitch, as close to the edge as you can get.
Then you will insert the needle horizontally through a stitch on the opposite side, starting at the exit point the yarn came out before, and catching an upside-down “V” this time. Then keep working across like this, always inserting the needle through the previous yarn exit point and alternating upside-down and right-side-up Vs.
Just the right tension
You can pull it pull it fairly tight; you'll be able to feel when you've got it just right: not so tight that it's puckered, but not so loose that that you can see extra large stitches. It should look about like the picture above.
If you’re making the fox or something similar, don’t forget to stop at the middle and start again from the other side! Then you can tie the ends in a knot in the middle and continue with the rest of the animal.
That’s really all there is to it. As always, tag me @becca.j.norman in your projects that I helped you with!
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