-
Pressing Station
Pressing Station with instructor Steve Butler Class 125 What is it? We’ve all seen it. Two friends make the same sewn project using the same pattern and similar fabrics and threads. Both friends are accomplished sewists so we’re kind of expecting the finished projects to look the same or, at least, similar. And yet somehow, they’re not. One is a little more rumpled and uneven. The intersecting seams don’t lie flat and the stitch-work stands out so far as to be obvious when it shouldn’t be. And there’s something about the darts that just isn’t right. But…
-
Shears & Cutters
What is it? Everything we do in sewing starts with cutting larger pieces of fabric into smaller pieces of fabric, before we can reassemble them again into larger pieces of fabric fitting our creative design. Fashion, quilting, heirloom, home décor and crafts, it all starts with the cut. And the more precise the cut, the more precise our finished project will be and by extension, the happier we are with what we’ve accomplished. So what do we use to make these all important cuts? Scissors and rotary cutters of course. Two entirely…
-
Extra Credit: Shibaguyz Sewing Must Haves
The Shibaguyz Sewing Must Haves Please join us to view the Shibaguyz sewing must haves straight from their sewing studio. Clover tools transcend the common requirements of all sewing techniques, and having them available is essential to any great creative endeavor. We hope Clover notions empower any and all who love to sew! Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby are the dynamic DIY duo known as the Shibaguyz, and the creative geniuses behind Shibaguyz Designz Studio.Their award winning crochet & knit designs have been featured in and on the covers of both…
-
Sewing Studio Essentials
What is it? – Chances are if you’re into sewing, you’ve narrowed your focus and you’re into primarily one specific genre of sewing. Maybe couture fashion and accessories or perhaps heirloom sewing. Could be you love quilting or maybe home décor is your thing. Regardless, the sewing studio associated with each will be found to be replete with all of those sewing notions that answer to specific needs of that genre. Almost. While some sewing tools will be found to be unique to your specialty, some tools will be found to be generic to all…
-
Seams Right
What is it? – Let’s just take a minute and think about the actual process of your last sewing project. You’ve measured, marked and cut your most treasured fabric into the required component pieces. With great care you’ve pinned those fabric sections together just like you wanted. All is well. Now you’re ready to put it all together. You sit down at your sewing station, switch on your amazing sewing machine and start to put stitches to fabric. This is the scary part though because it’s now becoming more or less permanent. Adjustments are…
-
Extra Credit: Soothing Eye Pillows
We try to take a little time for self-care each day. Try… Whether it be exercise, yoga, reading a book, listening to music, or just taking a moment to close our eyes, we all need a little pampering every now and again. Even if it’s just a small thing, a few moments of self-care go a long way to making sure we don’t end up under the dining room table with a box of cheese crackers, a bottle of wine, and a gallon of ice cream. When you need just a…
-
Wonder Pins
What is it? – Basting just may be one of the least enjoyable elements of the sewing process. So why do we do it? Well, we have to. Basting ensures greater stitching accuracy. It makes the difference between something we’re proud to show and something we quietly and secretly put in a bottom drawer somewhere and forget. Basting with either stitches or pins is like a practice stitch or a trial run before we permanently sew our final seam. Turns out it’s just the best way to temporarily join layers of fabric together while we adjust…
-
6-in-1 Stick ‘n Stitch Guide
What is it? – Did you ever wonder why we have all of these sewing notions? All of these tools that we use almost every time we sew? Quilting, fashion, heirloom, home décor or crafts, it doesn’t really matter. There are tools that apply to all of them while some notions are very specific to just one in particular. But why do we need them? When we start any project, we envision exactly what we want the finished article to look like, whether we’re replicating a sample or have something more original in mind. We…
-
Extra Credit: Sashiko Book Cover
We love books; cookbooks, novels, photo albums, and journals. Visitors to our home on more than one occasion have marveled and asked, “have your read all of these?” Yes, we have. Many times over… Because of that, we occasionally have to cover a favorite book with a homemade cover to keep it safe, just like we did with our science books in grade school. Often a simple cover will do but, for our favorite books and journals we give them a special cover. For this project, we are using one of our…
-
Tailoring Tools
What is it? – Open any catalog of sewing notions and you’ll immediately be overwhelmed. There are so many specialty tools with each designed to assist us in our various sewing tasks. But as the “specialty” moniker suggests, they often apply only to a specific niche (or even micro-niche) of a particular sewing operation. But what about the other sewing tools, the ones we use all of the time? What about those sewing notions that have expansive applications to a wide spectrum of sewing requirements? Take tailoring or dressmaking for example. What are the operations common to most…