It’s been far too long since I did some proper Sew Fun posts but here’s a little one to tide you over. Today we’re going to learn to use your new best friend: a quick unpicker.
Basically this tool is a little pointy blade on the end of a handle which makes unpicking crappy stitching a breeze!
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Here is the basic anatomy of an unpicker…
 So taking a look at a standard hem on a skirt, there are two parts of the stitching: the overlocking/surging and the hem seam. The hem seam is the part you want to unpick if you’re undoing the seam.
 So pick a spot to start and poke the point of the unpicker through one of the stitches.
 Continue sliding it upwards and break the thread with the blade. It will probably pop up like this:
 Now wedge the unpicker into the stitch next to the broken one and angle the blunt end up so it pulls the broken end of the thread through and undoes that stitch too.
 Continue using the unpicker to unthread stitches like this. You can just cut them but then you have to clean up a million tiny pieces and thread.
 This way you can have one long thread to get rid of at the end.
 Done!
  Now unpicking things like zippers is a little more difficult.
 This is the back of the zip.
 When you gently pull the zip away from the fabric you can see the seam holding them together.
 Gently poke the unpicker through the gap between them and use it to hook a stitch.
 Slice the stitch and it will pop open and probably take a few either side of itself under the pressure.
 Continue popping stitches like this until you can get the entire zipper out.
 Pull the zip away from the fabric gently so you can get at the threads easily. Be careful not to cut the fabric with the unpicker.
 All done!
 And that’s it! You now know how to use a quick unpicker! Hopefully you found this edition of Sew Fun useful and let me know if you have any suggestions for what I should cover next! |
