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Wedge Iron
What is it? – Pressing is an essential part of most sewing and many craft projects. Pressing during sewing construction creates accurate assembled pieces which match up beautifully into quilt, fashion, heirloom or home decor finished projects. Unfortunately, the modern pressing tools available to us do not always provide the specific features and capabilities we might need. In an attempt to provide special feature ironing solutions, many manufacturers have merely miniaturized their full sized irons. This only made smaller versions with little effect for making them more relevant. To provide…
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Chalk Marking Tools
What is it? – Almost everything we do in sewing or quilting requires measuring, marking and cutting. Because it is so important to our resulting project, we go to great lengths to make very precise measurements. But once we arrive at that measured point, how do we mark it? How do we identify a desired point, line, circle or curve? Keep in mind that cotton, wool, fleece, spandex, or any number of other fabrics all have different textures and fiber characteristics. Add to that mix having to allow for…
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Marking Pens
What is it? – “The devil is in the detail”. It’s a common enough phrase. Perhaps some of us has even used it. But what does it really mean, “the devil in the detail”? How often do we start a project that looks like it’s going to be a snap, only to get bogged down in all of the details. You know, all the little things that consume so much time, make us a little crazy and eventually affect the quality of our finished project or maybe even determine…
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Nancy Zieman Bodkins
What is it? – Bodkins. Only someone who sews would know what a bodkin is. Simply put, a bodkin is a tool that is used to pull various thin materials through a sewn fabric casing. Elastic, ribbon, cording or other “drawstring” type materials can all be pulled through the casing to serve any desired function. A bodkin usually resembles an over-sized sewing needle with a blunt point and a large eye. The bodkin is attached to the cording and manipulated through the casing by hand. The round point prevents…
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Straight Pins
What is it? – In some of the oldest archeological digs around the world you can find ancient straight pins. They’ve been around that long and probably always will be. There are so many uses for them and in many cases there really is no substitute. We use them to hold patterns in place on our fabric, bind fabric pieces, tailor fabric to our bodies, hold seams together, anchor trims, beads or other embellishments in place and even block knitted products. Because of this wide variety of uses for…
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Clover Vision
What is it? – Time. Space. Cash flow. Rare commodities. One of the most important functions of any shop owner is to select and maintain a profitable product line. Knitting, sewing and, crafts there are thousands of variations and combinations for store owners. You only have so much floor space, shelf space, counter space and wall space. Every inch must be maximized for sales. So what is the solution? Clover Vision. Working with sewing and knitting luminaries, current and former shop owners and our own staff of experts, Clover has…
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Hold It Precision Stilleto
What is it? – Check out “stiletto” in the unabridged dictionary and you start reading about stylish heels or a long narrow knife with a sharp point. Look it up in the Clover dictionary and you read about something entirely different. The Hold It Precision Stiletto is an incredibly useful sewing tool designed by Clover in conjunction with Joan Hawley. Much of what the modern sewist does requires precision cutting, sewing and pressing. Unfortunately some of these activities put our fingers in precarious proximity to either hot things or sharp…
