Can you be stupidly excited over how to tie a knot at the end of your thread? Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest impact!
For years I didn’t know how to tie a knot in the end of my thread easily. And if I needed a larger knot that wouldn’t come through my fabric, I would spend aaages trying to get all my knots on top of each other in one spot – often without much success.
The result of this meant I used to cut stupidly long lengths of thread to stitch with, so I could stitch for longer without having to stop and tie another knot. You can guess what this led too – thread, that was always getting tangled and snagging and making my life even more frustrating.
But sometimes it only takes one little piece of information to fill in a big piece of the puzzle. This simple 2-second knot is one of those little pieces. You might have grown up knowing how to do this – or it might be completely new to you!
Let me know in the comments!
The Step by Step 2-Second Quilter’s Knot
Here’s how to tie this knot for a right hander:
Start with a threaded needle.
Step 1: Pinch the shaft of the needle between your thumb and finger on your right hand.
Step 2: Place the end of the thread behind the needle by about ⅜" (1cm) and pinch between your thumb and finger.
Step 3: Take the other end of the thread (the 'working end') and wind it counterclockwise around the needle
Step 4: Pull the 'working end' down between your thumb and fingers and pinch it as well.
Steps 5 & 6: Keeping your fingers pinched (firmly but not too tightly) slide the shaft of the needle up out of your fingers with your other hand and slide the loop of thread down the length of the thread until you feel it stop.
One knot tied! Once you’ve practiced this a few time, you can tie this knot in 2-seconds easily!
You can watch this knot demonstrated in real time here as well:
If you’re left-handed (like me!) you reverse this process and wrap the thread clockwise instead.
Make Your Knot Larger
This knot is useful for all hand sewing whether you’re hand quilting, appliqueing or just sewing on a button.
You can tie this knot with regular sewing thread, or heavier weight thread like perle 8.
For me, the beauty of this knot is that you can make it as big or small as you need, simply by increasing the wraps of thread around the needle. The amount you can successfully wrap and slide will depend on the type of thread you’re using and the weight, but wrapping 5-6 times is not usually hard.
The more times you wrap, the bigger your knot will end up! You won’t be struggling anymore with your knot popping through your fabric, or having a huge knot when you really don’t need one.
Total game changer!
Trouble shooting
As with any new skill, you might find this takes a bit of trial and error to make it work smoothly for you.
If you find your loops are not sliding over the end of your needle nicely, it could be that you’re wrapping the thread too tightly or pinching too tightly. Try loosening your grip a little bit and you should find this knot slide down the thread much easier.
Also, make sure your thread is not twisted when you come to tie a new knot as this can make it wind up on itself and be prone to tangling as you slide the loops along the thread. I like to run the length of my thread between my fingers to untwist any extra tension that might have developed before tying a new knot.
I hope this little tip has been useful. Let me know in the comments below if this little knot is new to you, or you’ve been tying this forever!
As always, happy sewing!
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