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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…
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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…
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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…
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Marking Tools
What is it? – Let’s think about it. What do we do when we sew? What comes after the creative vision is set and after finding the perfect fabric and the perfect accessorizing thread? We cut that beautiful fabric into smaller pieces and then, well, and then we sew it all back together again into a larger piece of fabric. But it’s the shape of those pieces and the way they are assembled that brings a smile to our faces. So how do we do that? Measure, mark and cut. The more precise each function is accomplished, the more…
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Mesh Transfer Canvas
What is it? – Fashion, fashion accessories, heirloom sewing, quilting or home decor. At one time or another all of these project genres present us with a blank canvas to which we can apply our own creative brilliance. Or maybe we can just plagiarize someone else’s brilliance just a little. In any case, we’ve found a really cool design that would be perfect on our project. Take it to the next level. Unfortunately that design is often in a magazine, part of an individual picture, on another sewn project, in an old coloring book…
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Straight Pins
What are they? – The devil is in the details. Isn’t that what they say? How can that possibly apply to us? Just think about what we do when we sew. We spend hours selecting a delicious design or the perfect pattern. The same amount of time is spent finding the most fabulous fabric (and no, it’s not in your stash) and some awesome thread. And then after all of that it’s the details of measuring, marking and cutting our fabric to create those fabulous fashion, elegant heirloom, quintessential quilt or curiously clever craft projects. And we go…
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Bias Makers
What is it? – It’s common knowledge that woven fabric is made on a loom with warp (vertical threads) and weft (horizontal threads). In either direction there is pretty much no stretch at all. That’s a good thing but it also makes it pretty hard to form binding fabric around corners or adapt it to curved shapes found routinely on everything from fashion to quilting to home décor to craft projects. So what to do? How can we use fabric with little or no stretch to finish the curved raw edges found around quilts, placemats, arm…
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Wonder Fuse
What is it? – Appliqué . As a noun it’s an amazing and beautiful fiber art form. As a verb, appliqué refers to the addition of subordinate decorative fabric motifs to a larger, supporting piece of fabric. It has applications to quilting, fashion, home décor and crafts. Appliqué can be elegant or simple and it can create real world, geometric or abstract schemes. By designed intention it can relate a story or simply project a meaningful image. It’s all up to you. And when you consider your creative medium is a seemingly unending array of available and ever evolving…
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Hairpin Lace Tool
What is it? – Scarves, shawls and wraps. Sometimes it seems as if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. But every now and then you see one that is somehow different. Really different. Seems to be made of endless flowing lace. It’s incredibly beautiful with a lacey, open design. And then we ask ourselves, is it knitting or crochet? Well, the easy answer is no and yes, respectively. But it’s only a “sort of” on the yes. It’s actually an old crochet technique that has been made modern with evolving creative application. Hairpin lace, that’s what it’s called. Since a crochet…
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Amour Crochet Hooks
What is it? – Crochet has been around for a long time. Just ask your friends at Wikipedia. Having said that, crochet is still very relevant, even considered cool and growing in popularity as evidenced by trending pieces all the way from grandmother to Dolce & Gabbana. Fashion and fashion accessories, home décor and amazing independent pieces abound. Patterns and ideas can be found in our favorite yarn haunts or online. In this era of expanding creative endeavor, modern textile processes and world-wide search access and sourcing presents us with an ever-expanding variety of…