Hanging Sleeve Tutorial

This is not going to be a tutorial on how to make a hanging sleeve for a quilt because there is a wonderful video tutorial by AQS's Bonnie Browning available on youtube. Bonnie explains how to add a sleeve or rod pocket to your quilt for entry into an AQS quilt show.

No, what I am going to show you is how I hand stitch that sleeve/rod pocket to the top of the quilt.

I tie a quilter's knot in the end of the thread and insert the needle somewhere about an inch from where it needs to come up next to the sleeve. Tugging on the thread a bit, I pop the knot in between the layers of the quilt. Then I bring the thread up through the very edge of the sleeve and then back down right next to the stitch and feed the needle through the layers pulling the needle through about 1/8" away. The second and third stitch are made the same way. This is pretty standard stuff. It is the fourth stitch that is just a bit different.

On the fourth stitch I go ALL THE WAY THROUGH the three layers to the front of the quilt. Taking an itty bitty stitch on the front, the needle then goes all the way through to the back again. The second photo shows the front of the quilt and if you enlarge it, you might be able to see the line of itty bitty stitches. Or not.

Why do I sew on the sleeve this way? Quilts are heavy, right? If the weight of that quilt is hanging only from the back, there is the possibility of a rip. Now we don't want that! So putting every third or forth stitch all the through the quilt, helps to distribute all that weight. I hope this helps prevent a disaster in your quilt making.