How to stitch Molar Feathers

May 8, 2018

This is one article in a series that focuses on a variety of feather plumes that can be stitched on a spine. (We have looked at traditional Amish Style Feathersspineless feathersGarden Gate feathers and Twisted Feather variations.) I encourage you to play with the different feathers plumes and become familiar with their different paths. As always, it is helpful to doodle these out first before taking them to the machine to stitch.

Today we are going to look at the molar feather.

It is also sometimes referred to as a lettuce leaf feather. This feather variation is related to the basic Longarm Feather which is formed independently of any adjacent feathers. To better understand how a longarm feather is formed, take a look at this great article from Dawn Cavanaugh.

As with our other feathers we’ve looked at we start by stitching or marking a spine- I’ve drawn it in the illustrations in red. You’ll start creating the feathers from the bottom of the spine up to the top. Then you’ll break your thread and start back at the bottom for the opposite side of the spine. Alternatively you could stitch on both sides at once, alternating back and forth as shown in my article about spineless feathers.

The small change we make with the molar feather is to put a little bump in the top of the plume.

Do you see the molar tooth? Isn’t it cute? I tend to like this type of feather with a vein added to each of the plumes.

To add the vein I create the molar plume first and once I return back to the spine I’ll add the little vein.

Here’s what the molar feather with a vein looks like placed on a spine.

In one of my previous articles I illustrated how to make a curled feather. By combining that feather with the molar feather we can achieve a whole new look!

These feathers look wonderful on a spine.

In fact, I recently finished a sweet baby quilt for my friend Linda C. She made this quilt for a grandchild and every block is hand embroidered. I decided to use the curled molar feather variation in the borders  and sashing.

I could have made these curled molar feathers with a vein in them.

You’ll notice I did not make that choice in Linda’s quilt. I felt it would have made them too dense given the small space I was filling with feathers. But if you have a large space to fill, consider how beautiful they look with the vein.

I hope you’ve enjoyed exploring the molar feather and the variations on this feather plume we examined. Doodle them out on paper and then try to stitch them on some practice fabric with your machine. Have fun feathering!

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