Faster Stitching (how-to)

[mc]

Hi folks.

I've recently drastically dropped my stitching time, partially because I now consciously try to stitch with speed and efficiency, and partially because I kept some good techniques and changed a few others.

If you combine a speedy attitude with speedy technique, you can crank out great shred bags in no time.

So, here are some of the techniques I've used recently that you might consider for your own stitching.

1. Do 2 stitches instead of 3.

two-stitch footbags play just as well as their three-stitch counterpart (or at least the way I make them, they do). The main differences between the two styles are that: a) it's a lot faster to do 2 stitches than 3, and b) they look different.

2. Use short pieces of floss

I've never tried to stitch with anything other than floss.

The thing I like about floss (as opposed to all the other options that I know of) is that ***you don't have to tie knots*** (until the very last knot you put on to close the bag, because you have to put the end of the string exactly where it has to be, and this is a lot easier to do from outside of the fully stitched bag with a knot in the floss than without).

INSTEAD of tying knots, you use a lighter, and hold the floss in the blue flame just at the tip of the lighter for a second, then remove it and let it burn into a black ball of wax and burnt floss. then, before it hardens, I pinch the black ball to make it flat. This all happens within about 2 seconds.

At the end of a pent, I cut the floss so it's about .75cm, and put it back in the blue flame, and let it burn down to the facile and quickly blow it out when it gets there.

As I said, I use SHORT pieces, less than a foot long.

That's because shorter pieces don't take as long to pull through the fabric as longer ones, simple as that.

3. I cut out my panels 4 at a time without tracing, as opposed to tracing each piece, then cutting it out individually. (Thanks to TOM MOSHER for inventing this footbag stitching technique and teaching it to me)

Even with the amount of time this saves me, I think it's a pain in the ass to cut panels. I can't imagine myself tracing and individual cutting. I mean, I can imagine it, but I can't imagine myself doing it in real life.

Here's how I do it.

I buy my facile at 1/8th of a yard (or whatever fields's smallest size is).

I cut a piece of it off of that is as wide as a pent.

I fold that piece twice so that it is slightly larger than the size of my template.

I put my template on top and put a magnet on either side to hold it there. My template is made of a starbucks gift card. I printed my template shapes with a labelmaker and put the label on the gift card. This made my best templates yet (as opposed to printing the template shapes on printer paper, stapling it to a similar gift card, and cutting around that, which I do not recommend).

Then, I cut around it with my scissors, and make 4 panels at once with no tracing.

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So, in review, I make 2 stitch bags with floss, I cut out my panels in the fastest way I can think of (without a punch wheel that I could just feed facile into and turn a crank that pops out panels (copyright!)), and I try hard to stitch as efficiently, consistently, and quickly as possible.

That makes for some damn fast footbags.

Then, I throw some lead in there and a little bit of rubbery plastic, and, badabing, I've got a bag that plays great.

[shredzilla]

Cool tips Matt, thanks for that, I'm sure it'll help a lot of people interested in making bags more quickly. I ought to try that 2 stitch method, I haven't done that since I first started stitching so I imagine it would work great now.

It's funny, you totally answered a question I've had for a long time about what to do on the last panel with floss haha.

[kidzanshin]

do you not find that a 2 stitch plays any different to a 3 stitch?
i can just imagine a 3 stitch feeling a bit tighter (abstract description) and 2 stitch being a bit floppier if both had the same gather

[jay7]

Matt Cross speaks the truth, and as an owner of a 2 stitch bag, there is no difference between the play of it and his 3 stitch bags.

I can also vouch for the Tom Mosher magnet technique,

I can also vouch for the no knotting technique.

First hand in a car ride Matt can fly through a bag, and at the "Jampionships" the main shred bag for all circles seemed to be his 2 stitch he made the day before. He is indeed badass,

[kidzanshin]

cool, hopefully ill get to try one soon!!

cheers Jay

[Jordan]

i will try that magnet method on my next bag. it sounds sweet

[BenRea]

And the average time for this process is...?

[Chase]

Sorry, i know this is supposed to be a "Fast Stitching" topic, but i have to disagree with the statements about playability of the 2 stitch...


2-Stitch bags totally play better...

edit: Oh yeah, and to stay on topic, 100 minutes is screamin fast... My record is 2 hours...

[BenRea]

100 minutes is screamin fast...

It takes me that long to do a 12 panel!


Your a beast Matt.

[mc]

do you not find that a 2 stitch plays any different to a 3 stitch?
i can just imagine a 3 stitch feeling a bit tighter (abstract description) and 2 stitch being a bit floppier if both had the same gather

Could you reword that first question without using the word "not"? I really don't know how to answer it.

You said "if both had the same gather".

I don't use the same gather. I gather 2 stitch bags more.

[kidzanshin]

sorry, do you find a 2 stitch plays differently to a 3 stitch?

[mc]

two-stitch footbags play just as well as their three-stitch counterpart (or at least the way I make them, they do).

Matt Cross speaks the truth, and as an owner of a 2 stitch bag, there is no difference between the play of it and his 3 stitch bags.

[kidzanshin]

fair do's

thanks matt

[Jordan]

i believe that after break-in.... a 2 or 3 stitch bag would play the same...

Before break-in, im not so sure...

I like the way that 4 stitch bags look.

But 3 looks the coolest to my eyes.

[Hacky_Sack_Demon]

Does anyone know how to stitch an 8 panel

[Wasabi]

2-Stitch bags totally play better...

Two stitch bags play awesome. Two stitch bags made by Matt Cross, on the other hand, are exceptionally awesome. I should know, I was at the Jampionships with Jay and Matt when we were playing with the bag in question.

In fact, I think the owner of that bag is Drew Martin, a fellow NYFA member.

I cannot say that bags made by the two stitch method play better than bags made through the three stitch method. That's an arbitrary and objective claim. A lot of factors come into mind that can be said otherwise for both methods. However, having played a lot of bags made by Matt over the years, I can very well say that he knows what he is doing, and he puts a lot of thought on the production and performance of his bags. They are fantastic!

And I felt a bag made by you, Chase, at our recent NYFA tournament. It was a colorful bag owned by Adrienne Dukes, I believe. It was nice and stally, and really shimmery from the choice of colors. I didn't get a chance to play with it, though.

[Chase]

I started using shorter lines of floss and knocked 10 min. off my time!


Thanks for the tip Matt!!!

[Hobit]

Awesome tutorial . Short and simple .

Any way you can give a decent description of how to perform the two stitch
method . Possibly involving an image or two would be great . Thanks .

Hobit

[LEGOMAN]

wats goin on in dis topik

[shredzilla]

Any way you can give a decent description of how to perform the two stitch
method . Possibly involving an image or two would be great . Thanks

If you know how to stitch a 32 paneled footbag, it's the exact same procedure except when you're looking at the pentagon you're stitching, it shows 2 full stitches instead of 3. (4 holes instead of 6)