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Tool School: Bias Tape Makers
By Steve Butler What is it? Bias binding tape has been called “the duct tape of sewing.” Why? Because, like the actual duct tape, it’s just so handy. We can use it to join raw edges of fabric in any fashion that suits our creative vision.
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Tool School: Straight Pins
By Steve Butler What is it? What do we think of when the topic of straight pins comes to the fore? Usually we think of those sharp little devils that find us when we’re not looking for them.
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Tool School Extra Credit: Rotary Cutters
By Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby Did you miss the rotary cutters Tool School? Or maybe you just want more! Click below to watch some additional tips with Clover’s Rotary Cutters by the Shibaguyz.
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Tool School: Loop Pressing Bars
By Steve Butler What is it? Quilting, fashion, home decor and all of the accessories relating to each – all of us do some of it and some of us do all of it. At the end of the day, though, we’re all doing the same thing. We’re creating. Our pallet is an inexhaustible array of designer fabrics and our canvas is an equally extensive selection of patterns. But how about the accents?
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Tool School: Rotary Cutters
By Steve Butler 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 into larger pieces of fabric fitting our creative design. Fashion, quilting, home decor and a whole host of accessories for all of them.
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Tool School: Hand Sewing Needles
By Steve Butler 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.
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Tool School Extra Credit: Scissors
By Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby Both of our mother’s and grandmother’s were sewers. It was never a question of “if” something was handmade, but “what” was being made today? Every afternoon would find Jason’s mom in her sewing room making clothes for the family or dolls and toys to sell. And often Shannon’s grandmother and great aunts worked on fine garments or quilts. Even as adults a favorite Christmas memory for both of us was getting to open a package containing new boxer shorts from Jason’s mom… really… those were some…
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Tool School: Scissors and Shears
By Steve Butler What is it? Question, what is the one thing that we all do when we sew (any genre), when we knit or crochet (any genre) or craft (any genre)? Answer, we cut or otherwise shape some type of material so we can apply it to other materials so we can form our intended design. In each of these art forms we are engaged in cutting some type of textile based material into some predetermined shape or size.
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Tool School: Curve Ruler
By Steve Butler What is it? All right, we’ve decided to do a little fashion sewing. Cool. We’ve visited our local shop and poured over the pattern catalogs or perhaps searched favorite sites on the internet. In either case we’ve found a pattern that’s just what we’re looking for. We’ve reviewed the instructions on the back of the pattern envelope and acquired all of the required notions as well as the correct yardage of that killer fabric that will really make our project pop.
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Tool School: Macramé Plant Hanger Gauge
By Steve Butler What is it? When I ask anyone about macramé, no one ever mentions that it dates from the 13th century when it was an emerging art form produced by combining cords and knots to form intricate designs.