Feather Quill Thread-Work Tutorial

I’m finally getting around to a tutorial on thread-work….flat style (not stacked).

Materials:

• Something to wrap…feather quill, dowel rod, etc.
• Thread…I love Sulky brand rayon sewing/embroidery machine thread
• Scissors…small and SHARP!!!
• Glue…whatever you like…I like Aleens Tacky Glue…dries clear and flexible…washes off fingers easily!
• Ruler or measuring tape
• Pencil or pen…I like Micron pens (indelible ink, super tiny point)

Prepping surfaces to wrap:

Bare quills: normally very slick…you might need to scratch the surface with very fine grit sandpaper…or coat with a thin layer of glue (let dry)…I usually over-wrap real quills with thin buckskin first.

Wooden dowel rods/bamboo skewers…don’t really need prep work

Choose your colors!

I always plan out my color scheme first…count colors and do a little math to figure how I want my wrapped segments to look.

Mark your segments directly on the stick…this is where you will change threads for a new color.

Marking on buckskin is easy with marker or really sharp mechanical pencil.

Marking on dowels is easy too, but I suggest a light coat of clear fingernail polish over pencil marks to keep em from rubbing off the wood as you work!

Now you’re ready to begin wrapping…

Please note in this pic, I’ve created a paper cone/collar to hold the feathers out of the way…otherwise you’ll go crazy trying to avoid catching fluff in the top of your threading!

I’m right handed:

Hold the thing you’re wrapping (I’ll keep calling it a “stick”) in your left hand and hold the thread in your right hand.

Create a vertical “tag” with the end of the thread and hold it down tight against the stick with your left thumb, then wrap around and over the tag once or twice to hold it secure.

Now you shouldn’t have to hold on to the tag any more and you can freely spin the stick in your left hand while guiding the thread with your right.

Wrap with good, even tension, carefully keeping the wraps close

Tension while wrapping sticks isn’t much of an issue (other than too much of it resulting in broken thread)

Tension while wrapping over buckskin can be tricky: altering tight and loose tensions will result in bulges and indentations in the finished product…a little practice will help you find your groove!

Keep wrapping until you reach your mark.

PS: About holding your thread in your right hand…I don’t wrap directly off the spool (though you certainly can do it this way)…I set the spool down and run the thread through my hand, going around some fingers on the way, ultimately pinching it between my thumb and index finger…this helps me control the wraps and tension really well…and yes, results in a few cramps and callouses! lol

Practice lots to get a grip on what works best for you! 

Now let’s change colors!

Hold your last wrap down against the stick with your left thumb and cut your thread leaving about a 2 inch tail.

Then carefully start a new color by creating a new vertical tag and sliding it under the same thumb that’s holding the first tail.

Tag and tail should be practically on top of each other

Then loop around again once or twice with the new color to hold the tag and tail in place.

Adjust your grip, spin that stick, and wrap to your next mark!

You can continue to wrap over your tails, or you can trim em as you go… I like to trim as I go because some colors show thru a bit (like thru yellow or white)

Just clip the tails in the middle of a wrapped section and keep on wrapping to hide em underneath.

Now start your next color holding those tags and tails and maintaining even tension!

Continue til you come to the last segment!

This time leave a long tag that will not be clipped off and will hag out of the last finished segment…red tail in pic is a good 4-5 inches long

This is what I use to tie my one and only knot at the end of the stick.

I usually place the stick between my knees so it doesn’t roll, then use the final thread to tie a square knot with the final tail.

Then bring the 2 thread together, clip em short and place a tiny dot of glue on that knot.

Use your left thumb to smear the glue (with one last spin of the stick) around the very last wrap and glue down the final tail too! this will help hide them into the final wrapped segment.

Finished!

Some examples of my more advanced work (over buckskin):

The one on the left is 2mm segements with some metalic threads too.

The one on the right is 3mm segment