Tips

# 1 - Have you ever had trouble hemming jeans?

Trying to get over that big bulky seam and stalling or worse breaking needles?

A great product that is very inexpensive is called the "jean a ma jig". It is a plastic rectangle that has a slot in it to fit around your sewing foot. It keeps your foot from tipping up or down. Your sewing machine doesn`t think it`s falling off a cliff and keeps the correct tension setting - no more broken needles or skipped stitches.

# 2 - Have you been serging up a lot of flannelette?

It may be time to take your needle plate off and clean underneath — lint builds up very quickly and will throw off tensions as your plate actually raises up. Lint will also dry out your machine so oil more frequently and look at the top of your needle bar to see if you have a small felt ring around the needles.

# 3 - Is your pile of polar fleece getting bigger?

They make great Swiffer replacement pads -sew a few pieces to make a thick base and sew a few narrower strips down the center to keep the dust bunnies in their place. A few short pieces of Velcro sewn on top will keep it in place on your mop. Make dust mitts too — makes short work of cleaning so you can get back to sewing.

# 4 - If threading your sewing machine is getting harder and harder . . . .

Use your tweezers that come with your serger and a white piece of paper-the tweezers have a narrow point to guide the thread and when you place the paper behind your needle you have greater visibility to see the eye.

# 5 - The most important buttonhole and button position is the one on the bust point line

Mark the buttonhole and button position when the garment is close to being finished, right before sewing the buttonholes. To decide exactly where your bust point is, drop a measuring tape from where the shoulder seamline and neck edge meet, letting it fall over your bust. The point where the tape falls away from the body is your bust point.

A buttonhole should be placed perpendicular to this point at the center front.

# 6 - Have you ever wondered how to hem something straight and finish off the seam without sewing

We have fusible(iron on) tape- you fold it around the fabric to prevent fraying and iron it on all at the same time. Ask us to show you how it works!

# 7 - the art of wrapping with fabric

need to wrap a present in a hurry- try FUROSHIKI -start with a square and a couple of knots in the corners will give you a hobo style bag-we have a quick demo to make you an expert in a flash

# 8 - Scissors

Did you know that thread is a terrible culprit of putting knicks in your scissors -use a small pair of scissors for cutting threads as it is in our nature to always hold the scissors and snip in the same way so an actual notch is worn into your "good" scissors the same as if you had cut wire!!!

# 9 - baby quilt

one of the photos is a baby quilt with circles-to get great appliques -use interfacing or lightweight cotton on back of circles-sew 2 pieces together -cut small slit in backing ,turn right side out and iron ,now you have perfect circles to applique on quilt!!

# 10 - magic needles

with knits so prevalent now -sewing them can be difficult unless you use a stretch needle(NOT BALL POINT)it is like magic,they turn a skipped stitch into regular sewing -no adjusting tensions just change the needle!

# 11 - foldover elastic

this elastic is great for making no bulk at the waist skirts,slips,leggings-etc -no need for a casing just attach to the waist just like bias

# 12 - Cutting fun fur

The best way to cut fun fur is to cut from th ewrong side and just NIP the backing and not cut through the fur ,when pulled apart the long fur covers the cut edge and looks more realistic

# 13 - sewing vinyl

Most machines will sew vinyl with the correct vinyl/leather needle and there will be less stick if you have a teflon foot or try a piece of magic matte finish scotch tape to the underside of your reg. presser foot

# 14 - extra long sleeping bag zippers

But only if you want black!!!

# 15 - quick drapes

We have metal clips that are like clothespins with rings -attach to a straight piece of fabric (hemmed)and add the rings every 6 inches or so and slide onto a rod they come in 1" to 2" rings so fit easily onto most rods

# 16 - bringing your sewing machine or serger in for service

ALways bring your foot control ,bobbin,and bobbin case-the serviceman cannot properly test sew if he has to use the shop bobbin case and it is even a good idea to leave threaded as sometimes it is the thread that causes trouble too.

with sergers bring foot control and leave threaded manuals are not needed for any machine

# 17 - 54" wide licensed fabrics

we carry some great Disney prints that you can make into an easy high quality twin duvet cover with just a few straight seams -put some plain on the back -add a zipper or buttons -DONE

# 18 - hold your yarn!!

the binding clips for quilts make a wonderful way to hold your leftover balls of yarn from getting tangled -try it!