Talkin' Techniques--Do You Chimizi?

No, it's not a dance, or an exercise or a new diet program! It's--thread!

I love decorative/embellishment sewing techniques. Threads. Paints. Sewing machine feet. All that cool stuff. I thought I'd post some ideas that I've played around with.

Chimizi is a thread that shrinks when you shoot it with steam. It is bobbin thread. Looks like a fine-weight embroidery thread.

The purpose of this thread is to cause fabric to pucker, giving a dimensional effect. With regular sewing thread or embroidery thread in the needle, and Chimizi in the bobbin, you sew some type of design on fabric. In the sample below, I stitched a 1/2" grid. When the stitching is complete, hold an iron above the fabric and hit it with steam. The Chimizi starts shrinking,
causing the fabric to pucker. It's really cool to watch--kind of like the old "Shrinky Dinks"!

My samples below are stitched on muslin, using red thread in the needle for clarity. If I were actually making something, I would probably blend the needle thread with the fabric.

Before Shrinking / After Shrinking

I can't get a really good photo of how the puckering actually looks, but it draws up quite a bit. The shrinkage depends on the density of the stitching pattern as well as the fabric.

Here's a sample using a design made on the embroidery machine. It's a small sample--3"x3", so shrinking is minimal. Still, it did shrink some and could look interesting on a larger piece.

Chimizi works best on natural fibers. The looser weave, the more the fabric will pucker. Free-motion scribble quilting would be a good design to use with this thread. Decorative stitches on the sewing machine will also work.

What can be made using this technique? I was thinking about a blouse, with a yoke stitched in Chimizi. Or, a jacket with a yoke. Cuffs. Collars. Pockets. All of those small details might look neat in puckers. Handbags are a good candidate for using different embellishments.

Chimizi is available at your Viking dealers. It's a little pricey. But--what price fun?

So, pucker up people! If you have any ideas about where to use this technique, please share it with me. Just in case my queue gets too short!