Sewing Tricks

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I am going to finish the year 2019 with 5 sewing tips.

Threading a needle

When I was a young girl, I used to watch my mom and my grandmother sew clothes and crafts. Every time they needed to re-thread the needle, they would bend their head down to the thread and moistened the end of the thread with their mouth and then twist the thread between their thumb and index finger. This process brought all the thread fibers together to a nice point which made it easier to pass the thread through the eye of the needle.

You don't have to lick your threads. Just give the end of the thread a clean cut on the diagonal with your scissors and it will thread into the eye of the needle nicely. You are basically cutting off the split ends.

Sewing peddle

I am not very tall and when I would sew I would get leg cramps. The cramps came from the fact that my leg and foot had nothing to rest on. I was reaching and pressing the sewing peddle with my toes; my heel dangling in mid air. Much like I do when I am driving a large vehicle.

I have two foot peddle positions that I use. In both positions, I rest my entire foot on the peddle.

In the first position, with my entire foot on the peddle, I press down with my heel.

In the second position, I rotate the peddle 180 degrees so that it's backwards. I rest my entire foot on the peddle and I push down with my toes.

Layers of jeans

Like a kitchen mixer is graded on how many cups of flour it can mix, a sewing machine is graded on how many layers of jeans it can sew through. If this is the case and I have a machine that can sew through 12 layers of jeans, then why am I having such a hard time sewing through the layers when I hem jeans?

It's not because of the layers, it's because of the angle of the foot. The sewing foot needs to be level to sew properly. There are gadgets, such as the Jean-a-ma-jig from Dritz that you place under the foot in front or behind the clump of fabric depending on how the foot needs to be leveled.

I suggest that you keep near your sewing machine a piece of scrap jean fabric. When needed, fold the fabric to the desired thickness and place that under your sewing foot to level it.

Sewing chiffon

Chiffon is a very difficult fabric to cut, pin and sew. It is slippery. It moves easily and it will distort its shape as it shifts.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you work with chiffon.

• Use a rotary cutter to cut your fabric. Scissors will cause the chiffon to shift as you cut distorting the fabric.
• There are special pins made for delicate fabric such as chiffon. I do not use them. They are so thin that I am constantly stabbing myself. I have opted to use weights instead but even with the weights the chiffon still moves.  
• If you need to line the chiffon garment, I found that it was best to use a temporary adhesive and temporarily bond the chiffon fabric to the lining fabric. Then you would cut the two layers simultaneously as one layer. The chiffon does not shift and it is easier to manage.

Professional looking sewing projects

Here are some quick tips for improving the look of a finished sewing project.

• Clip any stray threads. Even if the threads are on the inside of the garment and no one will ever see it, clip your threads. 
• Press hems. I dislike ironing but when I took classes at the local fashion school, they were forever reminding us to iron our seams and hems. After about two years of classes, I started ironing my seams and hems. OMG what a difference that makes. I bought a tailers clapper at Fabricland to make my hems that much more crisp. It definitely made my sewing projects look more professional.

Hope you have a relaxing and safe holidays. Wishing you all the best for 2020.

Christmas Embroidered Pillow Cover

"Beauty is in the details" could not hold more true that in this project.

I loved the Retro Christmas Truck embroidery design from Embroidery Library and wanted to try embroidering a pillow cover to either give as a gift or decorate my living room for the holidays.

I purchased a plain coloured pillow cover from IKEA and began embroidering the design.

This pillow cover, although large was difficult to embroider due to its narrow opening. Once you got the pillow cover hooped, there was very little space left to embroider. With my hands in the space and my fingers near the needle I kept the fabric out of the way and maintained a clear space for the machine to do its work.

As the image stitched out, I was becoming more and more disappointed with the image. I did not like it. I was second guessing my colour choices. Look at it. The tree has no definition - maybe I should have gone with a darker green. The truck highlights were too bright, next time I would select a deeper shade of peach.

However, I have learned over the years, after many crafty failures, not to give up.

The last step in the embroidery design was the black stitching. Wow, what a difference that made. I absolutely love the image. The black details changed this image. It brought definition and pop to the design.

Sorry family but I am keeping this one to decorate my living room.

Christmas Stocking

For a few years before I met my husband, it was only me and my shadow in my house. I love my family and felt a little alone as I decorated the house for Christmas. It was an adjustment to decorate by myself instead of our family tradition of Christmas music and decorating the tree together. 

To beat the blahs, I decided to create a Christmas stocking for each family member and hang them on the wall with 3M removable hooks. For some reason, these personalized stockings gave me a little peace and warmth. 

Anyways, enough with the mushy stuff. In this blog I will provide you with the instructions and the pattern to make your own personalized Christmas stockings.

Supplies:

• Christmas fabric - 40 inches wide by 20 inches tall
• Lining fabric - 40 inches wide by 20 inches tall
• Thin batting or fleece - 17 inches wide by 20 inches tall
• Medium weight iron-on interfacing - 17 inches wide by 6 inches tall
• Ribbon - 5 inches long
• Stocking pattern (ensure when printing the pattern that the printer is set to scaling "none" or "actual size" so the pieces print at the correct size. The one inch square should measure one inch)
• Matching thread
• Sewing tools - sewing machine, scissors, pins, etc.

Cut pieces:

• 2 external stocking
• 2 lining stocking
• 2 bands
• 1 interfacing band
• 1 ribbon

Instructions:

1. Quilt fabric.

With a sewing machine

Before I had my embroidery machine I would place the Christmas fabric on top of the fleece or batting and sew a diagonal line. I would rotate the fabric 180 degrees and sew another line a quarter inch from the line I just sewed - running the edge of the presser foot along the sewed line as a guide. I continued sewing these straight lines until the required area was quilted.

With an embroidery machine

Since I got my embroidery machine, I have been using this stocking project to play around with the quilting features of the machine. I sandwich the Christmas fabric, a layer of thin batting and a layer of whatever cotton fabric I have on hand (this backing fabric will be hidden after the stocking is assembled). I place the layers of fabric in my hoop, select my quilting design and run the machine. Since the machine can't quilt the entire piece of fabric in one go, I have to take it out of the hoop, reposition it and run the machine again. I will do this as many times as needed to quilt the size of fabric required for the pattern.

2. Once the fabric is quilted, place the stocking pattern (toes facing left) within the quilted area and cut 1.

3. Flip the stocking pattern so that the toes are facing the opposite direction and cut another from non-quilted external fabric.

4. Fold the lining fabric in two, place the stocking pattern on the fabric and cut two stocking lining pieces.

5. Place the band pattern on the fold of the lining fabric and cut. Repeat so that you have two band pieces from the lining fabric.

6. Place the band pattern on the fold of the interfacing and cut.

7. Iron the interfacing to the wrong side of one of the fabric bands.

8. Place the quilted front stocking piece and the back external stocking piece right sides together. Sew along the side, around the toes, the bottom and up the other side. Do not sew the top.

9. Notch the inner curve.

10. Repeat number 8 for the lining stocking. There is no need to notch the curve on the lining stocking.

11. Transfer the center point mark from the band pattern onto the non-interfaced fabric band piece, ensuring that the fold is on the left side.

12. Embroider, iron on vinyl or fabric paint the name on the non-interfaced band using the center point marking to position the name.

13. Place the bands right sides together and sew the bottom.

14. Open the band and iron the seam allowance towards the non-interfaced piece.

15. Fold the band wrong sides together and press. Open up the band.

16. Fold the band in half, right sides together matching the sides and sew.

17. Turn the external stocking right side out and press.

18. Place the lining stocking inside the external stocking, wrong sides together.

19. With right sides together match the edge of the interfaced band with the top of the external and lining stocking. The band side seam should be lined up with stocking side seam (heal side of stocking).

20. Pin together all three layers - band, external stocking and lining stocking.

21. Sew all three layers along the top.

22. Fold the band upwards so that both bands are wrong sides together.

23. Fold over the top edge of the non-interfaced band by 3/8 of an inch (the fold should be at the stitch line done in number 21) and press.

24. Fold down the seam allowance that includes the band, the external stocking and the lining stocking and pin. This step is essentially tucking the seam allowance in behind the band.

25. Fold the ribbon in half and place it between the band and the stocking at the side seam (heal side).

26. Slip stitch the top of the band to the stocking.

27. ENJOY!!!!

DELAY

Unfortunately, due to family commitments, the blog post that was due today will be delayed.

Fingers crossed that I will get the post online by the end of the week.

Happy Monday!

Fall Cards

A little something different than what you have been seeing for the past year.

I may have mentioned that I enjoy doing all sorts of crafts. My primary crafts are sewing and paper crafts. I love them both equally. Each challenge my mind and creativity in completely different ways.

This past September, I purchased the Gina K. Designs Autumn Wreath Builder.

I was excited to try this new stamp and apply techniques that I learned from Gina K. videos (around 9.40 into the video). She demonstrates how to build a wreath with her template and stamps. I also wanted to try the multicolored inking technique that I learned from Jennifer McGuire.

Let me know in the comments which card is your favorite.

Reusable Gift Bags

It is Waste Reduction Week here in Canada where all the schools and the workplace are encouraged to reduce the number of items that are thrown in the garbage.

I thought this project would be fitting for this week.

This post will give you instructions on how to make reusable gift bags. Depending on the fabric you choose for the outside of the bag will dictate what celebration for which you would use the bags. If you leave the fabric neutral then they can be used for all gift giving events.

Let's start sewing - shall we?

I will show you how I made my reusable gift bag but this project can be adapted with whatever supplies you have on hand or for whatever your preference may be. At the end of the post I have shared the reasons why I made the bag this way and you can choose to include it in your bag or skip this step.

Supplies you will need are:

• Fleece - 1 yard
• Cotton fabric - 1 yard
• Small piece of clear vinyl - 4.25 inches by 2.25 inches
• Ribbon or binding
• Rope, string or more ribbon
• Cord lock or plastic toggle spring stop
• Your sewing supplies - thread, scissors, sewing machine, etc.

Instructions:

I take a yard of fabric and try to make as many bags from the one yard that I can. I start with the biggest bag that I want and with the leftovers I make a medium sized bag and then a small bag. From one yard I will usually get 3 to 4 bags.

For this bag, (finished size 12 3/8 inches wide by 26 3/8 tall)

• Cut the cotton fabric to 26 inches wide by 28.25 inches tall. 
• Cut the fleece fabric to 26 inches wide by 26 inches tall.

No matter what size bag you are making, you want the cotton fabric to be 2.25 inches taller than the fleece fabric. You don't want the bulk of the fleece in your drawstring casing.

I used to attach name tags to the drawstring but this year I created these name tag inserts. We will see how they work.

To do the inserts:

• Fold the cotton fabric wrong sides together so that it measures 13 by 28.25 inches.
• Measure 5 inches from the bottom (depending on the size of your bag, you may want to measure less if it's a smaller bag) and draw a line.
• Measure 4 inches from the left side and draw a line.
• This will be the area that you will sew on the vinyl.
• Open up the fabric (you only want to sew the vinyl pocket to one side of the bag), place the vinyl in the marked area (above the 5 inch line and to the right of the 4 inch line).
• Fold the top part of the ribbon to make the edge neat and place the ribbon onto the vinyl - half on the vinyl edge and half on the fabric.
• Sew the inner portion of the ribbon until you get to about a quarter inch from the bottom.
• Leave the needle down, lift your pressure foot and rotate the fabric so that you are ready to sew the bottom of the vinyl.
• Flip the ribbon over so the back side is facing up. Place the ribbon along the bottom portion of the vinyl. Put your pressure foot down and sew the inner portion of the ribbon until you get to about a quarter inch from the side.
• Leave the needle down, lift your pressure foot and rotate the fabric so that you are ready to sew the side of the vinyl pocket.
• Flip the ribbon over so the good side is facing up. Place the ribbon along the side portion of the vinyl pocket. Put your pressure foot down and sew the inner portion of the ribbon to about a half inch from the edge.
• Leave the needle down, lift your pressure foot and cut the excess ribbon away. Leave the ribbon a quarter inch longer than the pocket so that you can tuck it under to create a finished edge.
• Tuck the ribbon under, put your pressure foot down and continue sewing the inner edge to the end.
• Finish off the name tag pocket by sewing the ribbon's outer edges.

• Place the fleece wrong side up on your work surface.
• Place the cotton fabric right side up on top of the fleece, matching the side and bottom edges.
• Ensure that the opening of name card pocket is facing towards the top of the bag.
• Fold both fleece and cotton together as one unit in half so that it is 13 inches wide.
• Starting at the fleece at the top of the bag sew the side seam with a 5/8 seam allowance (do not include in the side seam the cotton extending past fleece at the top). 
• Sew the bottom of the bag with a 5/8 seam allowance.
• With pinking shears trim the seam allowance by half - about 1/4 inch.

• Turn the side edge of the cotton at the top towards the wrong side a 1/4 inch and press.
• Turn the top edge of the cotton towards the wrong side a 1/4 inch and press.

• Turn down the top edge so that the turned in 1/4 inch edge is laying on the fleece and pin, then press.

You are not supposed to pin in the direction that you sew but it was the best way to make sure that my 1/4 turned under fabric stayed on the fleece.

• Top stitch along the edge of the cotton fabric sewing through the cotton and the fleece. 
• Turn the bag inside out.
• Pass the rope, string or ribbon through the casing.
• With the bag wide open cut the rope to an acceptable length both ends extending about 3 inches past the bag.
• Feed the rope through the cord lock or toggle spring stop.
• With the cord lock or spring stop positioned about 2 inches away from the bag, make a knot in the rope ends. 
• Cut off any excess rope if needed. 
• To prevent the rope from unraveling, you can melt the ends with heat or fire. You may want to test this on a scrap piece first. Nylon rope will melt and seal the ends.

Reasons

I have made reusable bags in the past and the instructions above are based on the evolution of this bag. 

1. I put the fleece layer for two reasons - to protect the present and also to give the bag structure so that it's harder to guess what is inside the bag.
2. I started putting the name cards because I found tying the name tags onto the rope cumbersome and for the young ones it was making it hard for them to open the bag - the tags got in the way.
3. I use the cord locks or the spring stops because sometimes tying the bag close with a knot was almost impossible to open. We don't have anyone in our family that will sneak and look in their gifts, therefore the toggles just makes it easier to wrap and unwrap the gift. 

Re-purposing items

The great thing is, you may not have to buy these spring stops or cord locks. Before I throw out a knapsack or a hoodie ripped with holes, I remove the hardware and save them for projects like this. The string for the bag could be reused shoe laces from old runners. Take a look at your items before throwing them out and see what parts could have a second life.

I am always looking for ways to minimize waste, especially if they are easy ways to make a change. Let me know what you do in your home to reduce waste.

Let the Fabric Speak to You

Rarely will flannel ask to be an evening dress or unicorn cotton print be a man's dress shirt. However, maybe they ask to be these things and I am not listening.

When I saw this fabric at the store it YELLED at me, "Transform me into a bag or a purse!" and I listened.

I used the Locked and Loaded Bag pattern from Sew Sweetness.

I love the purse and it was a fairly easy pattern to follow. I had an opportunity to try new techniques; an adjustable strap and a turn clasp. 

The purse, however, is a little larger than I am used to. I may make it again in another fabric and adjust the pattern for a smaller purse.

If you would like, please share in the comments the projects you have been working on.

Midnight Quilt Show

Good morning and welcome back

On the 15th of every month, my intention is to post a project that I have completed in hopes to provide inspiration. In these posts, I welcome you to share in the comments, projects you have been working on in order to inspire us and your fellow readers. 

On the 25th of every month, I will provide instructions for a project or a valuable and interesting resource that you can refer to when needed by clicking on the appropriate label found on the right hand side of the screen. 

One of my readers suggested the Midnight Quilt Show as a YouTube channel to watch.

Angela Walters is a very interesting woman with a lot of character. She is definitely entertaining.

I have found that many of her quilts give a modern vibe to traditional blocks; maybe it's the vibrant colours she selects. Her YouTube videos will compliment the Missouri Star Quilt and Jordan Fabrics videos I linked to in January 2019.

Angela's love is on the free-motion quilting and it radiates in her show. She focuses less on the construction of the quilt top and more on the quilting design that holds all the layers together. It is inspiring to watch her draw with thread and a machine.

I have linked to a list of free-motion tutorials Angela provides for beginners and beyond. 

If free-motion quilting is not your style and you enjoy more precision, she does sell shaped acrylic rulers demonstrated here. You can find her rulers in your local quilt shop or at least that's where I found them.

If you know of other useful resources, please leave a comment.

Vinyl Iron-On

I am having so much fun with iron-ons and my new Cricut Explore Air 2.

I received the Cricut Explore Air 2 in June to replace the original Cricut Expression I've had for years. The Cricut Expression is a great machine that was still working wonderfully, however, some of its features like using Cricut Craft Room for digital files were no longer supported.

I have only dabbled in a couple of projects since getting the new machine but don't be surprised if I post a couple more before the end of this year.

Here are projects using two types of t-shirt iron-on vinyl also known as HTV - heat transfer vinyl. The first one was made with Siser Easyweed Stretch HTV and a design from Craft Genesis that I could not resist.

and the other was made with Cricut SportFlex Iron-On vinyl and a design purchased on Etsy. It is amazing the stretch these products have which definitely work well on t-shirts.

Prepping the design prior to applying to the shirt;
weeding out the negative space

I made three shirts with this design

I found that on average you can machine cut one t-shirt design per every 12 inches.

I also learned that the final product needs to be laundered with care. The t-shirt should be washed inside out in cold water and hung to dry. I had placed my first project (the cat) in the dryer and parts of the design were pealing away. Since none of the design was completely off, they were just lifting in areas, I ironed them back in place and it was new again.

If you have a cutting machine, let us know what projects you are creating with it.

Wine Gift Bags

Gift bags for wine bottles are great to have on hand. You can use it to wrap a wine bottle for those last minute gifts. They are also great to gift wrap a rolled up T-shirt to give as a gift.

Yes, you could easily buy wine gift bags at your local discount store but why add to the dump sites when you can use scrap fabric and make your own. You could make a bunch in an afternoon and have them ready for all occasions.

Items needed:

Medium weight woven fabric

Ribbon

Thread

Sewing tools – scissors, sewing machine, etc.

Instructions:

You can sew or serge this project. If you sew, it is recommended that you use pinking shears (zigzag scissors) to prevent the raw edges from fraying.

Cut the fabric into a 12.5 inch wide and 16 inch high rectangle.

Cut ribbon to a length of 20.5 inches or 2 lengths of 10.25 inches. To prevent the ribbon from fraying, cut the ends at a 45 degree angle.

I am making two bags today

Position the fabric so that the short sides (12.5 inches) are on the top and the bottom. 

Fold the ribbon in half or match the 2 lengths of ribbon together, place it 4.25 inches from the top of the 16 inch side and baste or pin it in place. 

With fabric folded in half, right sides together, matching the long sides, sew the side seam with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. This will create a tub with the two short ends open.

Fold the top edge 1/4 inch towards the wrong side, press. Fold the top edge again 1/4 inch towards the wrong side, creating a hem, press, and top stitch. If you are serging the project, you can serge around the top edge, fold it in 1/2 inch towards the wrong side, press, and top stitch.

Sew the bottom edge shut using 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Fold each bottom side in 1.25 inches towards the middle creating a 3.5 inch wide bottom base. Sew on top of the previous stitch line. 

If you need a wider base, fold it in less. Maybe fold the sides in 1 inch instead of 1.25 inches.

Turn inside out. Place bottle or rolled T-shirt inside and tie it closed.

This project is quick to create and even quicker if you do a bunch at one time; assembly line style. 

Let me know what you do with your extra fabric in the comments below. We are a community of crafters that learn from each other and we would love to learn from you.

Golf Shirts

As I mentioned in last month's post, I am a mediocre golfer. So when I saw this embroidery design from Embroidery Designs.com (product ID MA5076) I knew it was the most perfect one for me. 

Note: I had a picture of the design here but due to technical difficulties the picture wouldn't stay or allow me to include it again. please click on the link to see the embroidery design.

At the end of July, my husband and I were going away with some friends for a golf weekend. It was a perfect time to wear this design and it would minimize anyone's expectations of my golf game. Unfortunately I did not have any golf shirts that I could embroider on or golf in for that matter. 

What I did have was Silhouettes pattern #225 that I have been wanting to try and some fabric stored away in my stash. I thought the pattern was going to be difficult, specifically the collar but to my surprise it was relatively easy.

Notice the embroidered saying on the grey golf shirt below.

The great thing about sewing is that you don't need a lot of patterns. Take a pattern and make it from different fabric colours and textures. No one will ever notice that they are identical tops. 

Once you can get a pattern to fit you the way you want (I think this is the most difficult part in sewing), go to town, make as many comfortable, well fitted garments you want and fill your closet.

I love these two golf shirts and will make many more; possibly with long sleeves, dressier for work, casual for weekends. Once the fit is right, the creativity is endless.