I need to know which techniques I should be using for the pent to hex stitch as well as the hex to hex transition stitch.
When joining the pent to hex is it best to use two stitches on each side, three on each, or three and four? Ive seen all mentioned but i dont know which will make for the nicest bag.
Lastly, how exactly do you stitch your transitioning stitches from one hex to the other when starting a new side on a pentagon, i learned from the skillteacher guy off you tube but his method seems flawed.
P.S. will using a fisherman's knot with dental floss make the bag more flexible vs double threading the floss and is there such a thing as too much gather in terms of making a nice bag that is not too stiff or should one air on the side of gather?
Thanks for all answers, hopefully there is some advice you guys can enlighten me with
Single threading is much better than double threading in my opinion. Double thread will leave your bag too stiff.
And floss is definitely the way to go. I saw thread in you pic and would strongly recommend using floss.
The skillteacher guy's bags in his video look pretty nice (although many a bit big). I have seen a few "flaws" in his technique. You want to strive for evenness across your entire bag. If one pent of even one side of a pent is really off it can throw off your whole bag.
As for gather, you want even gather more than a specific taught-ness. Most stitchers gather around a tool (ie a battery or a pen cap). This allows for a more even gather (although this is impossible with the skillteacher method since he "re-loops" stitching "hex-->pent" (many stitchers knot on the hex, opposite his technique)). [side note- some stitchers do gather "as they go" or "a side at a time," but i feel this takes a different feel as you cannot depend on a tool]
Also, the way he ends the last stitch loops back around the hex-hex and not the pent-hex, leaving the final point of the pentagon uneven from the other four.
I hope these make sense.
Many stitchers also have a lot of their own quirks that they pick up from other stitchers, critiquing their own technique, and modifying they way they stitch. You've got to keep experimenting to find the techniques that allow you to make the bags you want to make.
~Donovon
something i always do is to double stitch the final stitch. meaning that the first place you poke your needle through should also be the last. this way when you gather, the floss goes fully around, and doesn't leave one gatherless stitch between start and stop.
personally, i've never done single floss, but i know a lot of stitchers who do. i don't know how much of a difference it could really make, but that's just one of the little details of stitching that keeps it interesting
I never thought about it until someone suggested it to me.
I definitely saw improvement in my bags right away, but they are generally a little smaller than yours i think. I also gather differently, so i think it would make more of a difference they way i make mine than using a tool.
Took a couple bags to get used to though.
"When joining the pent to hex is it best to use two stitches on each side, three on each, or three and four? Ive seen all mentioned but i dont know which will make for the nicest bag."
My nicest bags have 3 total stitches, and in terms of the options you gave, that would be "three on each".
"how exactly do you stitch your transitioning stitches from one hex to the other when starting a new side on a pentagon."
Being that I am one of those people who gathers as they go from edge to edge, (not at the end of the pent),
I make a hex to hex stitch right past the corner of the pent. Then, I gather. Then, I go through the exact same hex hex stitch hole again (doubling the stitch) which locks my gather in place.
"will using a fisherman's knot with dental floss make the bag more flexible vs double threading the floss and is there such a thing as too much gather in terms of making a nice bag that is not too stiff or should one air on the side of gather?"
I have double threaded my floss in the past, but now I use single. I don't think there is a huge difference between double floss and single floss in terms of playability, especially with heavy bags like mine.
The main benefit of single floss to me is that if you break a needle while you are still in the middle of a pent, you simply remove the needle, put a new one on, and finish the pent. Another benefit is that you use less floss, and another benefit is, yes, the bags are slightly softer.
The way I use single floss is like this: Imagine the whole straight piece of single floss. I put the needle at about the 3/4ths mark, then fold there, then twist the two ends (one longer, one shorter) together, making a big long piece of single floss that is double just a little bit up by the needle.
To make my stopper at the end of the thread, I do not use a knot. I use a lighter, burn the very tip of the floss until it melts into a little lump (usually about 1-2 seconds) then quickly blow it out, then quickly squish the hot wax floss ball between my fingers. This saves me from having to tie knots until the very end of the bag when I use one knot to finish the bag.
As gather goes, I like gather that bunches the fabric entirely together on the thread, but does not tighten any further from that point. Experiment like this - make 5 bags. The first should have next to no gather, the last should have a lot of gather, and the rest should be a progression from "little" to "lots" of gather. Then, squish them in your hands and give them a try. I recommend you make them 70-80 grams.
If that doesn't help you figure out what amount of gather you like, nothing will.
The most important step in stitching is this: KNOT YOUR WORK ON THE BEGINNING AND AT THE END PER PANEL.
It pains me, literally, to see bags that break-in beautifully and then have one (or few) oblong pentagon(s) eventually expand and pop a stitch. This cannot go on any further. The moment you see a bag with this shoddy stitchwork, immediately review this bag with constructive criticism, because half the time the stitcher doesn't know the life expectancy of the bags they sell, and they can be miles away from you to help repair the bag.
Bags made to sell should be made to be tough and not blow stitches. If you're a stitcher, you bet your needle that you should make bags that have an excellent foundation in your stitching. The days where simple knots, or threads that end somewhere with this big bulb of thread made to be a "stopper," but don't directly knot *exactly* where the stitching begins will eventually bust with enough abuse.
I knot where I begin a panel, and end my stitching exactly where I first began by knotting with tight, consecutive single thread knots. I have never experienced a popped stitch since having revised my technique at the end of World's '07.
Waylon Lew - maker of Wasabi bags
NYFA represent.
"Footbag can be pretty frustrating when it's supposed to be fun. I was partly driven by this forum - practice, practice, practice... As that is true, I think someone can be too focused on progressing and training that they miss the fun aspect of it." - Bander87
all great information above. matt and waylon (wasabi) are two old timers on here, listen to what they have to say
one thing which wasn't mentioned but is worth understanding is bite depth, or how far from the edge of a panel you put the needle. you will want to be roughly 1mm from the edge of the fabric. with less material in the seams, the bag will be softer initially and break in very quickly. you can complement that with medium to high gather to maintain roundness, and viola! you have a round, consistent bag with a fast break in time and good stally behavior. the bottom line is experience will be your greatest teacher, so go nuts and experiment with everything you learn here
