Rebecca's Corner

Tips and tricks for your sewing, serging, and embroidery enjoyment.

Hints will be added periodically.

Click on Rebecca's picture to go to her website. She is just getting it up and running so check back often.

May 1, 2010

When you're sewing - using your machine to construct a garment or project - remember to wind a bobbin with the same thread you're using in the needle. Not only is the matching color more attractive in the finished project, but machine embroidery bobbin thread (whether prewound or off the spool) is not strong enough for construction seams. Choose a quality polyester sewing thread for construction. The newest polyester threads are great for piecing patchwork quilt tops, too.

Do you have lots of letters and fonts that you love? Why not use a bunch of them to create a sampler project?

One option, especially good for displaying all 26 letters from a single font, is to create an old-fashioned alphabet sampler. Linen blanks such as hemstitched placemats and table runners are great for samplers. You may even be able to find blanks that are divided into sections, one for each letter. If the blank has more than 26 sections, fill in the extras with punctuation, numbers, or simple swirly designs that look like typesetters' ornaments.

Another possibility is to randomly arrange letters from different fonts, in different styles and sizes, to fill a picture frame or other simple shape. This is a good opportunity to use software like BES Embroidery Lettering Software to stretch or compress letter forms, making them fit into the finished project like tiles in a mosaic.

Many machines come with a blind stitch foot (Brother "R" foot). As the name implies, it's made to facilitate blind stitch hemming. But it also works beautifully for guiding the fabric when you're edgestitching. Just rest the fabric edge along the foot's guide, and adjust the needle position to locate the stitching at your preferred distance from the edge.

Caution: Before sewing, guide the needle through a full rotation with the hand wheel to ensure the needle position won't strike the foot.

Last time I mentioned some ideas for backing up embroidery design files. Another option to consider is an online backup service such as Carbonite (www.carbonite.com). These services work quietly and consistently in the background whenever your computer is connected to the Internet, storing your files in a remote location that remains untouched even if your computer is completely destroyed. Changes to files are backed up automatically and quickly, so the most recent version of any design or document is available for restoration after a computer crash or accidental deletion.
Backup services are fee-based, usually charging a monthly or yearly subscription fee. Reputable backup services are highly aware of security concerns, and you can be confident that your files are not accessible to anyone else.

Check your stored embroidery design files from time to time, and create a backup copy of your electronic media, including embroidery design files. Be aware of trends in storage, as today's high tech can become tomorrow's antique. Remember 5" disks?
Floppy disks, in particular, are an unreliable medium for long-term storage, and newer computers don't come equipped with floppy drives. Tiny USB drives (also called thumb drives and jump drives) are commonly used to move designs between computers and embroidery machines, but they are unreliable for long-term storage, both because designs can easily be deleted from USB drives and because they can and do fail.
Now some evidence indicates that even CD-ROM storage may eventually fail or become obsolete, so a double backup system using two different storage media is probably the best idea to guard against both media failure and obsolescence.
Go through your embroidery design files and copy them onto CDs, DVDs, or an external hard drive that connects to a USB port on your computer. External hard drives are the size of a small book, and each has enough capacity to store many CDs' worth of designs. Use the process as an opportunity to organize design files by category, making them easier to find and use. When purchasing new designs, make an immediate backup copy on a second drive or on disks stored in a separate location. To save space, backup the compressed (.zip) versions of downloaded files while keeping the unzipped version ready to go on your computer's hard drive. Or, if the purchase includes multiple formats of each design, store only the file type used by your machine, deleting the other formats.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not share or distribute backup copies to others. Such distribution is an illegal infringement of copyright.

Embellishing and renovating ready-made garments is hot fashion news. Use your sewing and or embroidery machine to spice up older wardrobe pieces; it's quick and economical. Choose matching threads for tone on tone motifs that leave options for mix-and-match outfits open, or stitch with colors found in a printed, plaid, or striped garment to make a matching ensemble. If the garment has a stain or tear, camouflage it with embroidery or applique.

Some blanks come with adhesive tags attached. The longer the tag is in contact with the fabric, the harder it is to remove cleanly, making this a particular problem with flea market and thrift store finds.
Always remove stickers as soon as possible. If they contain important information, adhere the tag to an index card and store it with the blank.
If the adhesive is particularly stubborn or leaves a gummy residue, dab nail polish remover on the blank and rub. The adhesive will release from the fabric and ball up.
Note: on colored fabrics, always test the nail polish remover on an inconspicuous area first to be sure it won't remove or alter the fabric color.

Adhesive stabilizers may have a limited shelf life. You may not know ahead of time, but if you suddenly begin experiencing gummy needles and shredding thread with a stabilizer that's always worked well before, it may mean the adhesive has aged and become more tacky. Stabilizer is particularly vulnerable once the backing paper has been removed, exposing the adhesive.
I was finishing an embroidery I began a couple of weeks earlier; I'd left the stabilizer and project in the hoop so I could pick up where I left off. Using the same fabric, thread, needle, stabilizer, and even the same design I'd stitched before, the thread was breaking every few stitches. I changed to a titanium needle, slowed the machine, reduced the tension, but nothing helped. So, I tore away as much stabilizer as I could under the area to be stitched, replacing it with a non-adhesive tear-away floated under the hoop, and everything worked just fine. No thread breaks at all...until the design danced back into a stabilized area, and the thread broke again.
Because this particular stabilizer had never gummed the needle before, I think it must have grown more tacky during the days it sat exposed in my studio.

If you’ve rinsed and soaked your freestanding lace embroidery and it’s still stiff, your washing machine may be the answer.

Place the lace pieces in a mesh laundry bag (the kind used for washing lingerie and delicate items) and run it through a wash cycle with clothes that have similar care requirements. Dry the lace pieces flat on a towel or drying screen, then steam press to finish.

It's okay to use detergent because most of the stabilizer is already gone. The trip through the wash cycle just removes the last bits of stiffness or stickiness.

Be sure to choose water temperature and iron settings appropriate for the lace's fiber content. When pressing the lace pieces, lay them face down on a thick towel or very padded surface. The right side of the lace will sink into the towel's pile and not be crushed, so the finished lace will have a wonderful dimensional surface.

September 15, 2009

Maybe you're working with fabrics from your stash. Or you're having so much fun you added a few extra blocks. Or, like me, you're making it up as you go along.

Whatever the reason, you don't have quite enough fabric for quilt borders. What's more, you bought the fabric a while ago, from a clearance table, out of town…you know you won't find more.

Piecing the borders may be an option, but what if the seam is as visible as neon in the dark? And if you're only a few inches short, the seam will be so close to the corner it can't look good.

Remember that creativity is the - ahem - cornerstone of our craft, and add cornerstones to make the borders fit while adding an extra touch of style to the quilt.

1. Select a solid or nearly solid fabric that blends with the background of the border fabric.

2. Choose an embroidery motif that echoes the fabric design, or something in a similar style. It doesn't need to match. I found my motif built into my Quattro.

3. Pick threads that match the border's colors, or hues from the quilt top. I added a touch of Floriani metallic thread to echo the metallic accents on my border fabric.

4. Resize the motif, if necessary, so it fills the cornerstone well. Experiment with turning the motif at an angle, even stitching it from corner to corner. You can add a square frame shape (the single running stitch pattern) at the machine, sizing it to match the cornerstone's finished dimensions, and use that as a guide to sizing and placing the embroidery.

5. Stitch the design four times, one for each corner of the quilt border. Remember to leave enough space between motifs for trimming the cornerstones to size. If you added a frame earlier, it can also serve as a guide for trimming the blocks; just remember to add seam allowances. Remove the frame stitches when the embroidery is complete.

You can use the same idea in garment construction. Embroider a coordinating color of fabric and use it for facings, collars, yokes, or cuffs to make up the difference when you're a little short on fashion fabric. Or what about embroidered sleeves to accent a plain blouse body?

PS: You can add embroidered bits and pieces even when you're not short on fabric. We'll never tell!

If your embroider design has patterned fill stitches, rotating the design with the machine's controls may distort the fill. Instead, hoop the fabric at an angle and don't rotate the motif.

Even if you're not a quilter - What?!? You're not?!? That's so sad! The fabric room at Midsouth is a sure place to catch Quilt Pox. It is a contagious condition, but lots of fun, especially when you're in an entire group of "sufferers."

Okay, starting over…

Even if you're not a quilter, a rotary cutter, mat and rulers are great notions for your sewing and embroidery studio. Use the gridded rulers to mark placements and draw parallel lines. My favorite size is 8½" x 12"; it makes squaring off samples and cutting hoop-size stabilizer pieces quick and simple. It's also perfect for cutting letter-sized pieces of freezer paper or stabilizer to run through an inkjet printer for special techniques such as paper piecing.

A gridded rotary mat left out on your work surface can even be used for quick measurement estimates, although I don't recommend it for precise measurements because the surface can become distorted over time. For the most precise measurements, use the same brand of rotary rulers consistently, or better yet, use the same ruler for all measurements in a project.

Match your embroidery design to the fabric weight. Designs with dense fill stitches are too heavy for fine fabrics, drapeable projects, and tightly woven materials. On the other hand, dense motifs that stitch out stiffly can be used to advantage in projects such as luggage tags, fabric bowls, or tissue box covers that call for added interfacing or stiffeners. You may find no additional stiffening is needed!

Some stabilizers, particularly adhesive types, have a limited shelf life. It's not something you're likely to know ahead of time, but if you suddenly begin experiencing gummy needles and shredding thread with a stabilizer that's always worked well before, it may mean the adhesive has aged and become more tacky. Stabilizer seems particularly vulnerable once the backing paper has been removed, exposing the adhesive.
This may just be conjecture on my part, but I was finishing an embroidery I began a couple of weeks ago; I'd left the stabilizer and project in the hoop so I could pick up where I left off. Using the same fabric, thread, needle, stabilizer, and even the same design I'd stitched before, the thread was breaking every few stitches. I changed to a titanium needle, slowed the machine, reduced the tension, but nothing helped. So, I tore away as much stabilizer as I could under the area to be stitched, and everything worked just fine. No thread breaks at all...until the design danced back into a stabilized area, and the thread broke again.
Because this particular stabilizer had never gummed the needle before, I think it must have grown more tacky during the days it sat in my studio. So, treat yourself to fresh stabilizer regularly.

Do you pass by those inviting spools of variegated thread because you're not sure where to use them? Use multicolored or variegated threads to sew simple satin stitches for serendipitously wonderful results. As the thread makes the satin stitches, it forms regular blocks of color that can look like colorful ribbon or beads. It works with satin outlines of embroidery motifs, too, and letters are especially fun to outline with variegated satin stitches.

If the stitch width varies, the color changes will, too. Experiment with the diamonds and ovals in the satin stitch menu on your machine. Stitch a sample on scrap fabric first to choose the best stitch pattern and width for your variegated thread.