Custom Totes! Using the Couching Technique for a Stylish Look
I organize my life in totes: one for classes, one for car necessities, one for… whatever! This pattern is pieced a little differently from most, creating a central panel that's perfect for showcasing a border design: a favorite fabric print, a pieced strip leftover from your latest quilt, a continuous embroidered border, or anything you fancy.

new couching tools and designs, I've opted for a couched-yarn pattern on my center panel. I'm calling it my Plan B Tote because I intended to use programmed embroidery motifs for my decorative panel, but found that my yarn is a bit too small. Turning troubles into opportunities may be cliché, but in this case I really can: keep reading for details on the differences I discovered between couching as a sewing function and couching embroidery designs. I hope you're also curious to know how I found seven yarns that match my upholstery fabric perfectly. Read on!

Couching: Sewing vs. Embroidery
Couching accessories are available for many Brother machines, so check with your local dealer to find the right accessories for your equipment and project. The function of the accessory feet and feeders is to position the yarn precisely under the needle where it will be caught – couched – by the stitching thread. The first advice, of course, is to read and follow the instructions that come with your accessories. Here are a few highlights and lessons that I learned: 1. Be sure there is no tension or drag on your yarn as it feeds. 2. The embroidery designs and their couching accessories feed the yarn from the back and stitch through the yarn. The yarn needs to be large enough to completely fill the stitch field; it's a tiny space, but as I said earlier, my yarns for this project are just a bit too small. They lay to one side of the area under the embroidery foot, and the couching stitches landed beside the yarn rather than on top of it. When I switched to the recommended worsted-weight yarn (size 4), the equipment and designs functioned perfectly. 3. When couching with sewing stitches and the even-feed foot, the yarn feeds from the front. The recommended zigzag stitch doesn't need to pierce the yarn; it can stitch on either side of the yarn, making a sort of tunnel. You have more flexibility in yarn selection, but you'll be couching in straight or gently curving lines only. Think in terms of grids or parallel lines. 4. Be sure that the even-feed foot's roller is in the down position behind the needle so that it can help keep the couching yarn in place.

Tote Instructions
- Finished Size: 14" x 12" x 4"
- Seam allowance is 1/4"
Materials
- 3/4 yard of upholstery fabric (chenille or tweed; not backed or laminated), 54"-60" wide
- 1/2 – 5/8 yard of quilter's cotton (coordinating solid color), 45" wide
- 1/2 yard of lining fabric, 45" wide
- 2 yards of fusible interfacing, 20" wide
- Threads for couching and sewing
Note: Upholstery fabrics are sometimes made from synthetic fibers not used in garments, and they may be very sensitive to heat. Check your iron settings on a fabric scrap to avoid melting the fibers. A pressing cloth may also be necessary.
Equipment
- Luminaire XP1
with upgrade kit 1 - Rotary cutting mat, ruler, and cutter
Cutting
Note: Please read through all of the instructions before cutting your pieces. From the upholstery fabric, cut: • 2 rectangles, 12 1/2" wide x 16 1/2" high From the coordinating fabric, cut: • 1 strip, 5" x WOF (about 42") • 1 rectangle, 8" x 30" From the lining fabric, cut: • 2 rectangles, 18 1/2" wide x 14 1/2" high From the interfacing, cut: • 1 strip, 1 1/4" x 42" • 1 rectangle, 8" x 30" • 2 rectangles, 12 1/2" x 16 1/2"Prepare Yarns for Couching
Take a good look at your upholstery fabric to determine which edge is cut closest to the actual grainline. Begin unraveling the fabric at that edge. You'll probably find that each row of warp (running selvage to selvage) is an individual yarn, so the maximum length of your couching yarn is about 60". As you work, wrap the warp yarns around a paper towel or toilet paper core to keep them tidy and unknotted.
Embellish the Center Panel
1. Set up the Luminaire for sewing with the even-feed assembly and attach the couching foot and guides for handling the yarn. Following the kit instructions, thread the needle and bobbin threads and the couching yarn into the appropriate guides. 2. Following the manufacturer's instructions, fuse the 8" x 30" interfacing to the wrong side of the corresponding fabric. 3. Using chalk or a removable marking tool, draw placement lines for the couching. For the sample I chose a vertical-diamond grid with lines 1" apart. Use the 30- and 60-lines on a rotary-cutting ruler to angle the guidelines. 4. Couch along the guidelines. For the sample, I used a zigzag stitch (1-10 on the Luminaire) set 3.0 mm wide and 4.0 mm long. The long stitch length keeps most of the couched yarn visible. I decided to double some of the lines with a second couched yarn about 1/4" away from the first. Change yarn colors as desired.
Make the Handles
1. Fold the 5"-wide coordinating strip in half lengthwise with wrong sides together and press. Open the folded fabric and position the 1 1/4"-wide interfacing strip, fusible side down, on the fabric wrong side, aligning one long edge of the interfacing with the center crease on the fabric, and fuse.


Shape the Sides
1. Fuse the remaining interfacing rectangles to the wrong side of the upholstery-fabric rectangles (the side panels). 2. Lay a side panel on your worktable. Be sure that the 16 1/2" dimension runs top to bottom and that any print or pattern is positioned right side up. Measure and mark a 4" square at each bottom corner and cut away the squares. Repeat for the second side panel.


Assemble the Tote
1. Match the long edge of one side panel to one long edge of the center panel and stitch. Repeat to join the second side panel to the other long edge of the embellished center panel. Press the seam allowances open.



More Couching Ideas
- If you are making a long ruffle, use the couching accessories to couch fishing line to the fabric that you want to gather. The zigzag stitches don't catch the fishing line as the couching guide holds it in place, so it's simple to pull the fishing line afterwards, forming gathers.
- Vary the stitch length as you couch a yarn in place, alternately hiding and revealing the couched yarn.

- Periodically raise the couching presser foot and use a small tool to pull and twist a short loop of yarn to one side of the stitching. It takes a bit of practice, but adds interest to a line of couching. In the photo above, you can see the alternative appearance of longer, untwisted yarn loops.


- Use water-soluble stabilizer as your background fabric. Couch a grid of yarns, stitching them securely across each other. After the grid is complete, add other couching as desired. Wash away the stabilizer to reveal a fabric made from your yarns – great for a scarf or other accessory!
