Tips 'n' Tricks: Mattress Stitch

In the process of seaming my Ravelmpic Vest, I discovered a neat little trick I'd like to share with all of you. I have a few of these rattling around in my brain, so I'll start a series called Tips 'n' Tricks.

This trick assumes you already know how to do mattress stitch. If you don't, there's a great tutorial at Mochimochi Land. This tip will work for all three techniques that Anna describes.

First, seam up your sides until your work looks like this. Don't go too far before proceeding or you might have a tough time snugging up the stitches.



Grab hold of the top strand of yarn connecting the two sides and...



...pull! Watch as your little floats disappear and bring the two sides nicely together.



Now all you have to do is follow that long strand back to the seam to find where to insert your needle (pssst ... you insert it in the same place where the strand is coming out of the seam)



If you just pull on the very end of your seaming yarn, your top float disappears along with the others and it's really difficult to find where to re-insert your needle.



This trick is also available in a Flickr set, click here to begin.