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Tracing Wheels
What is it? – The venerable tracing wheel. The first one I ever saw was as a youngster looking through my grandmother’s sewing basket. I thought it was there by mistake. It was obviously a toy. What could a stick and a wheel possibly have to do with sewing? Fast forward a few decades and it is all clear to me now. Not that I use it, I just have an appreciation of its use as a sewing tool. Almost everything we construct when we sew uses a pattern at…
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Hand Sewing Needles
What is it? – No tools are more basic to sewing than needles are. They existed even before thread and fabric as our ancient ancestors used pointed objects to perforate hides so they could be laced together with leather cords. Centuries of technology later we have highly advanced, modern hand sewing needles that do basically the same thing. But they do it so much better now. Few tools are more useful. This primordial sewing tool has evolved into virtually every genre of sewing specialty including general sewing, appliqué, embroidery, ribbon…
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Thimbles
What is it? – Thimbles in one form or another have been around a long as needles have. Ancient sewing artifacts include “press stones”, the precursor to modern thimbles. Almost 2500 years ago residents of the Mediterranean area were using more familiar shaped bronze thimbles. Why? Well, whether you’re pushing a spike through animal hides or a hand sewing needle through a high thread count cotton fabric it still hurts your fingers. Over the years those crude press stones have evolved into the refined, task specific thimbles in use globally…
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Bias Tape
What is it? – Let’s face it, a lot of sewing is just basic construction. You start out with a set of tools, some fabric and an intended pattern. Then you add your own creative expression and that’s what makes it yours. One of the materials used by sewers in virtually every genre is bias binding tape. Bias binding tape is simply fabric cut on the bias, or cross grain, and folded to a specific lengthwise dimensional width. By cutting and folding the fabric on a 45 degree angle from…
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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…
