Tell Me Why You Love YOUR Sewing Machine
I want to hear from you. Tell me why you love your sewing machine from Heirloom Creations!
Is it because you just love to sew and you needed a machine that can keep up with your everyday sewing marathons? What makes your new machine so much better than your last sewing machine? Did taking the “Sewing Mastery†classes from Sara help you fall in love with your machine more than you ever dreamed of?
Include your first name, city and state, brand and model of sewing machine and a short (or long) description of some things you LOVE about your machine from Heirloom Creations.
To post your “Sewing Machine Love Storyâ€, click and Register on the left side of this website. Check back to read what others wrote about their favorite machines!
© 2007 SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
Summertime Sewing with Kids
Since it is now cool to sew, we are seeing youngsters of all ages wanting to express their creativity with fabric. Whether it is something new and funky to wear, a quilt or a gift, everyone needs to have a mentor to teach them the basics.
Once again, Heirloom Creations will be offering our popular “Kid’s Sewing Camp†that consists of 5 days, Monday through Friday, and 2 ½ hours each day. In our sewing camp we let each student select their own fabric for their very own full size quilt. During the five days, they learn sewing machine etiquette, practice accurate sewing, and pressing and how to complete their quilt with machine quilting and binding. It is awesome to see that almost everyone FINISHES their quilt during the week and they have something very special to show for their summer vacation.
The little ones love to sit on our laps and watch the fabric slide through the sewing machine or even help step on the foot control. The elementary age sewers want to do it all by themselves even though they might not have a clue about sewing, the tweenagers usually don’t want their moms teaching them and the teenagers tend to want to figure things out on their own. No matter the age group you might be working with, there are some basics to review to help make their sewing episodes successful.
First, I always cringe when mom is looking to upgrade her 30 year old sewing machine that gives her fits and tells me she is planning on giving it to her son or daughter to learn to sew with. Our current group of young sewers don’t want an old mechanical machine to sew on, they want something computerized! They instinctively know that “buttons†and “read-out screens†means push a button and get the stitch. We see it all the time when bored children are dragged into the store. If allowed to wander around, we will often find them sitting in front of a machine, using the touch screen on the fanciest machine and then sewing out a decorative stitch. One day we found a sewn out message by a young boy who had figured out how to program in and sew his name! The moral of this story is to teach children how to sew on the BEST sewing machine you own! (And donate that old 30 year old machine to Good Will or a local church).
One thing I remember about learning how to sew at a young age was that I wanted to SEW – not press or pin. I wanted to feel the power of speed with the foot control! Mom was kind enough to team-sew with me and was the designated pinner and presser. But, I did learn to pin and press properly by watching her do it for me.
Teaching someone to sew is one thing, teaching someone to properly use a sewing machine is something totally different. Let the child learn how to completely thread the machine and wind the bobbin. Yes, you could probably do it faster, but how will they ever learn? Show them how to do it correctly, watch them practice and before you know it, they will not need to wait for you when they run out of bobbin thread or if the needle becomes unthreaded. If you own an embroidery machine and they know how to thread the machine, you can have them change the thread for you!
Making their sewing chair and machine height comfortable for their size will keep them from burning out so fast. Even adults will quit sewing when their bodies start to get tense from incorrect ergonomics. If needed, prop up the foot control on a sturdy platform that will raise it to the child’s foot yet will not slip away during sewing.
If they are old enough to do their own pinning and pressing, take special note that pins are extra sharp so they don’t have to push them with force through the fabric. If they will be pressing, lower the ironing board down to their level.
Scissors should also be extra sharp, again so they don’t struggle with cutting. Just like a dull knife can be more dangerous than a sharp knife, make sure scissors are smooth and easy to use. Gingher makes a wonderful feather weight pair of scissors that are perfect for younger sewers yet still have the quality edges of their full size scissors. If your favorite sewer is left handed, buy them true left handed scissors.
Let them play! If they want to just goof off and sew on scraps of fabric, let them. Any time sewing is a good time! Letting them select their own fabric for a project will always help them want to finish the project. Even if you think it is too bright or too wild, it is what caught their eye, not yours.
If they are just starting out, encourage them to make something for themselves as opposed to making something for someone else. There is something special about a first quilt or first tote-bag. They will be proud to have made it themselves and they will want to show it off. What better way to grow self-esteem!
As sad as it might be, sometimes the right person to teach your young child to sew is not you. If you find them getting frustrated by your teachings or when they are told that they have to rip out a seam, it is best to look to another relative or friend who they can take direction from without resentment. Or send them to summer sewing camp with ME! I promise to excite them about sewing, teach them the proper way to use their sewing machine and have fun! One week sessions are available in June and July each year.
See you at Sewing Camp!
© 2007 SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
What We Learned from Diane Gaudynski
This past week Heirloom Creations was graced by the presence of Diane Gaudynski, a master free motion machine quilter. Diane opened our eyes to new ways to approach free motion machine quilting without the stress! “Stress-free machine quilting” you ask? Boy, were we in for a life-changing event! Diane shared many of her secrets of how she achieves free flowing feathers, intricate detailing and creates original designs.
The first technique many of us had never tried was free motion quilting with silk thread and wool batting. YLI Silk #100 weight thread sinks into the fabric giving beautiful results with minimal work. A shorter stitch length is also key in forming detailed designs. Wool batting is Diane’s preference for most of her award winning quilts. Her main reason for selecting a wool bat is for how easily it compacts and glides through a home sewing machine. It is much lighter than traditional cotton batting and alleviates much of the work it takes to move the quilt freely through the machine.
Next we discovered that it is much easier to free motion quilt smaller scale patterns compared to large sweeping designs. Small designs are both easier to focus on and less demanding on a person’s hands and arms. Begin by basting a large quilt with regular or wash-away thread along major seam lines with either a walking foot or free motion foot. This allows a quilter to start free motion quilting at any point of the quilt, and eliminates the hassle of having to start in the middle of the quilt. Be at the top of your quilting game when quilting the most visible part of the quilt.
Our “Quilt Coach” stressed throughout both her lecture and workshops the importance of taking breaks, and not forcing our bodies to continue quilting when we start getting sloppy. You know what I am talking about, don’t you! (See Healthy Sewing Tips for May 2007). We are free motion quilting along, we have nice even stitches, we are following the pattern and then all of a sudden we start to wander a little to the right and then drift off the path to the left and we can’t stop!!! Our hands just keep going and going while our brain is saying stop! This is a huge pit fall for many of us. We don’t stop. We must keep quilting. We must finish. I’m on a deadline! Ack! This is when quilters get into the most trouble. But if you stop, regroup, walk around for a few minutes and then start again, the flow of the pattern will continue with the original smooth motion.
When experimenting with new quilting techniques it is best to quilt something you love to do good work. If you love the project you will quilt to the best of your ability. Many students were quilting on hand dyed fabrics, spectacular batiks and gorgeous silks. The results were magnificent!
Though many of us never considered ourselves artistic (including myself), we all discovered our inner-artist in the form of free motion quilting. Many of us experienced the “heavens opening and angels singing” at various times during the workshops as we each realized that we could do it! Feathers ”WOW”! Bouncing Bananas “WOW”! Clam Shells “WOW”! Spirals ”WOW”! Headbands ”WOW”! Celtic Bubbles ”WOW”!
These are just a few highlights of the “WOW moments” that thrilled me. Just like one of our “Healthy Sewing Habits of 2007″ says – Take a class or try a new technique every one to three months. Keep a record of what was learned.
If you are interested in any of Diane’s many wonderful techniques, check out her most recent book Quilt Savvy Gaudynski’s Machine Quilting Guidebook or visit her website to see her award winning quilts at www.dianegaudynski.net.
If you attended either the lecture or the workshops, please post your comments and experiences here!
From all of us at Heirloom Creations – THANK YOU DIANE!
© SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
Healthy Sewing Habits 2007
Each month for the 2007 year, our Sewtopia Club members are receiving a special Healthy Sewing Habit to remind them throughout the year of ways to enjoy sewing more. These special cards are given to club members in attendance. With my new SewSara.com website that Steve has designed for me, I am now able to do my own uploading and blogging as I feel the need. So the other day I started a new section to list each month’s new Healthy Sewing Habit.
It takes at least 21 days to form a habit. This means that you have to do something at least 21 times before it begins to become part of your everyday routine. If you have been trying to set aside time to sew everyday or at least a couple times a week, but you never seem to reach your sewing room, it is because it takes time for this to become a habit. Doing it for just a couple weeks is a good start, but may not be enough times for the habit to fully stick. Then we get frustrated and beat ourselves up about not having enough “me†time.
Our 2007 Healthy Sewing Habits are meant to remind us what should be important to us when we either sit down to sew or to help us make more time to sew. Take a minute to print off the January through April Healthy Sewing Habits and post them near your sewing machine or your computer. Just by reading the list daily will help the mind develop a plan to implement the new habit. Even if just ONE habit becomes part of your sewing life this year, you have accomplished a huge goal!
Click on the Healthy Sewing Habits link at the top on the left side of this page to read each month’s habit. Watch later this week for the Healthy Sewing Habit for May to be listed.
Do you have a healthy sewing habit you are trying to establish? You now can register and add your own comments to my website! I would love to hear what Healthy Sewing Habits you would like to achieve.
© 2007 SewSara, Sioux Falls, SD. All Rights Reserved.
Healthy Sewing Habit – May 2007
Take time to recharge your sewing batteries with 15 minutes of sun and fresh air.