Handmade Holiday: Gaggle of Bag Bags
2010 @ 7:35 am
This was my go-to gift for most people… a garbage bag dispenser and snowflake ornament. I’m a sucker for the utilitarian. I got this fabric at Ikea.
I also got to use my fancy grommet tool, yay! This thing has proved to be very handy indeed.
I used up a lot of fabric making these and it felt GOOD. Not to mention they are very quick. I could knock off four in an hour. Highly recommended!
The snowflakes are freestanding lace that I did on my embroidery machine. Very cool! I used Solvy heavyweight water soluble stabilizer, hooped tight and stitched with a size 11 needle. Each one took about a hour to stitch out–not the quickest when you are making groups, but not too bad in small batches.
in which I turn my sewing machine into a serger…
2009 @ 9:21 am
A month or two ago I went crazy and bought about five new feet for my sewing machine. A little gift for treating me so nice lately. Today I tried out the Singer Sidecutter–the sew and serge foot. WHOA. This thing is cool. I have a Singer machine, FYI.
I decided today was the day to figure out how to use it–and to blog about it since it’s fresh in my mind. But what really brought it on? The fact that I want to make myself a dress and I don’t want to have tickle-y raw seams. For some reason I find this completely acceptable to put on my children, but I would rather have a finished edge, without the fussiness of french seams. Plus it’s officially summer–the less pressing the better! It’s all cut and ready to go (hi Jess!)
I’m going to translate the bizarro instructions into plain English, okay? I didn’t find much useful info on this foot and they don’t get the best reviews. I think, however, this may be due to lack of practice with the foot. I found some important things out pretty quickly.
Okay, putting the thing on. You take out the shank screw and remove the regular foot. When you install the side cutter, be sure that the fork shaped thing hooks over the needle screw before setting the foot onto the shank. This is is what makes mechanism for the knife move. Now set your machine to zig zag with a pretty narrow stitch setting.
Next, make a 2cm cut into your fabric about 1 cm from the edge. Set the fabric into the cutter, laying both sides of the fabric OVER the plastic bar. The knife should fall between the two pieces of fabric.
The edge to trim should be on the right. Set the fabric to be sewn so that it is under the foot and rests just before the needle. That way, the needle will grab the fabric as soon as you start. Okay you are ready. HOLD ON TO YOUR THREAD ENDS. And away we go. Slowly, at first.
(view from back of machine).
Pretty neat, right? You can see that this was my first attempt and my stitch was a bit loose. This will be EXCELLENT for preparing hems and using the blind hem stitch (and foot!). I am tired of pressing and finishing seams.
The next thing I tried was “serging” two pieces together. This is where I think some of the negative reviews come from, but stick with me, there is a solution, provided you have some fancier stitches on your machine.
Here is the result of using the zig zag stitch to finish a seam:
Booooooo. The stitching shows right through to the front! It needs a stabilizing straight stitch. Luckily, my machine has something called the Turkish Stitch. It’s basically a zig zig that has a straight stitch along either side.
There are a couple of other overcast stitches to choose from on my machine, but this is the only one that didn’t cause the needle to hit the plate. Be sure to test out any stitches by holding onto your thread and turning the hand wheel toward you.
The result is a beautiful, finished seam!
I do plan to practice more with this foot before I dive in to sewing the dress. I also may mark my stitch lines with soluble pen to be sure I’m getting the correct seam allowance. There are marks on the foot, but the cut side of the fabric tends to shift. I think this will be difficult to use as a seam guide without practice.
I hope this makes things easier for someone, someday!
*Want to see more detail…all photos are available in a larger format on Flickr.
sew, mama, sewing machine month
2009 @ 8:08 am
Sew, Mama, Sew’s blog has a nice meme about sewing machine’s this month and I thought I’d participate since things are going so well with my Futie over her…
What brand and model do you have?
I own a Singer Quantum Futura CE200 (called a Futie on the yahoo message boards!). It’s a full range sewing machine with quilting stitches plus embroidery machine.
How long have you had it?
I got this as a 30th birthday present from my husband in 2006. Notably, the same year daughter number 1 was born.
How much does that machine cost (approximately)?
I think it cost $700 at the time. I seem to recall redeeming a bunch of Amazon points from our credit card. We use those rewards exclusively for diapers now, *sigh*.
What types of things do you sew (i.e. quilting, clothing, handbags, home dec projects, etc.)?
I sew mostly little girl clothes. It’s so hard for me NOT to sew for little girls! I have two cute and willing young ladies in front of my all day long. This year, nay, THIS SUMMER I am committed to making something for myself to wear! I said this last year too, but it didn’t work out due to birth of baby and subsequent extra squish.
How much do you sew? How much wear and tear does the machine get?
I wouldn’t say this thing gets a lot of wear and tear. I am on a kick right now and since I’m still pretty new at sewing, I haven’t ventured too far from straight up cotton fabric. If I did more embroidery, I am sure there would be more wear and tear! I think this lady can handle it though.
Do you like/love/hate your machine? Are you ambivalent? Passionate? Does she have a name?
We are in like with each other. Straight up, 4th grade LIKE. The kind of feeling you have when you are not sure how you feel because you just don’t know enough. I like it, but I have not named it, although I guess I think she’s a “lady”. This is an improvement though since I think last year was full of love/hate moments! Now that I know the machine better, I think it was me the whole time. I even bought her some presents last week. A variety of new feet that I’ll blog about as I try them out.
What features does your machine have that work well for you?
This machine beeps at me for the slightest sewing infraction! Did I forget to put the presser foot down? BEEP BEEP BEEP. Thread broken? BEEP BEEP BEEP! I sort of like that it just shuts down before I can screw anything up. With regard to the sewing itself, I assumed that all Singer machines sounded like my mother’s, but this one doesn’t. You push the pedal, it goes. On my mom’s (and other models I’ve seen since), there is a lead in bzzzzzzz, before the thing takes off. As a new sewer, this would trip me up. Another thing I like about my machine? Its clear presser foot. Muy helpful.
Is there anything that drives you nuts about your machine?
Said beeping can also drive me a little nuts. Especially if I can’t figure out what’s wrong!
Do you have a great story to share about your machine (i.e., Found it under the Christmas tree? Dropped it on the kitchen floor? Sewed your fingernail to your zipper?, Got it from your Great Grandma?, etc.!)? We want to hear it
There are no great stories… maybe this is why I only “like”, instead of “love” my machine.
Would you recommend the machine to others? Why?
I would only recommend it if you think you’ll be into the embroidery thing. I totally was, but then I went Mac and my old laptop died. I am patiently waiting for my mom to give me her old one so I can get back into it!
What factors do you think are important to consider when looking for a new machine?
I would make sure it’s something you can grow into. And if you are sewing children’s clothes, those decorative stitches can come in very handy! I guess I wouldn’t go whole hog if you aren’t sure you will sew for life. I mean, you can knock Signer all you want, but it’s much less expensive to maintain than the imported brands. I have used their helpline too and it was awesome.
Do you have a dream machine?
I really don’t! I guess I dream of a serger, but really? I probably won’t ever go there. We are literally drowning in little girl clothes over here. I think I have a machine that is just right for me 
Maybe we will fall in love someday!
Fabric Backed, Embroidered Burp Cloth Tutorial
2007 @ 1:55 pm
So, I had two Olivia’s and a Jake to get birth gifts for. I decided that monogrammed burp cloths would be fun! And they were…
So, I didn’t get any of the pictures uploaded for my tutorial this morning 
But, the words are done if you want to take a look! Click here for Burp Cloth Tutorial. Soon it will be available in the top nav bar and via pdf.
And since I know you are all dying to see a close up of that pink fabric:
This is some yardage that my friend Joy brought for me from Hawaii!
machine needles demystified
2007 @ 6:14 am
As new-to-sewing I have found the numbering of needles confusing. Much a the way a newbie knitter figures out that the sticks are dually numbered (thank you American exceptionalism), I want to understand the two numbers on my machine needle packages. I suspect the same social theory is to blame for my confusion. There are plenty of sites out there that will tell you which needle is recommended for which fabric (. But what’s the rationale behind the numbers? I spent considerable time chasing 2 popular needle companies: Singer and Organ and then found this!
If you think I’m wasting my time here–check this out. The first three packages listed below tell us they are “yellow band” ballpoint, yet clearly only one is banded yellow. The other two are blue and purple respectively. All of the needles are style 2045, but I’ve only heard of style 20/20 when shopping in stores. I guess regular point needles have a blue background to its package and chromium needles have a yellow background, but no description on the package. Oh wait, some chromiums have a red background. Oops, and so do some ballpoints. I think the blue might represent “variety pack”?
My point is, if there is rhyme or reason to this, it’s not apparent. You must read your package very carefully and choose the needle that is right for your project. Ignore all the colors and flashing lights! Stich ‘Em Up has a good reference chart.
Although I did some research on this topic, our thanks must go to About.com. Thank you Debbie Colgrove for recognizing this gap in sewing knowledge available on the web! Her chart clarified my main confusion, but there are plenty of other numbers, colors and letters to add confusion when shopping for needles.
The Organ Co. goes a step further than Singer and on its User Support page explains the letters (OMG, letters?!) that are sometimes found with the numbers on their packages.
Many of our household-use sewing machine needles bear the designation “HA.” The “H” stands for “Household-use” and the “A” the order in which our household-use sewing machine needles have been developed. The designation “x1″ identifies the sewing machine needle as the first generation of the “HA” family. The designation “HAx1″ therefore means that this needle embodies the earliest developments of household-use sewing machine needles that have to date been put to practical use.
I ask you–who but Organ really cares about the generational of the needle? Visit them for more details, but letters also denote recommended fabric type (knit, organza, leather) at the Organ Co. The site provides a handy chart for which needle, thread and fabric work best in concert (see User Support page). Organ also appears to make a needle that is even finer than an 8/60. Only birds can hear it sew 
I hope this helps someone–it certainly helped me!
Confounded machines.
2007 @ 3:38 pm
Confounded machines. I always fall back to the sticks. I’ll spend an entire day (usually around all the fabric at Brooklyn Gen) desperate to sew, come home and settle in only to look at the machine, which is set up all the time, mind you, and decide I’m too tired. At, like, 8:30. Ah, I’ve been disappointed in myself many a night when I kick back with the sticks rather than setting out to sew. Silly, I know. I finally managed to sit down at the machine two nights ago only to be locked in a three day obsessive merry-go-round with my bobbin hold, case and actual bobbin. And maybe the needle, I don’t know that much about the thing. After losing six hours of precious time (I could have been re-reading HP6) Ahm takin’ her in. I can straight stitch, but nothing else.
Zig Zag only works on one side (red thread):
I blame a renegade pin.
Other notable incidents in the last 72 hrs:
Broken Needle:
Oiling.
Even Father-in-Law reinforcements. He used to own a factory full of sewing machines.
On to more helpful information–less bitching, more fixing!
just a little snag
2007 @ 8:00 pm
I think my bobbin thread broke???
The Sassy Sister noticed that the tension in this test design had changed half way through. She definitely knows her way around a machine! Way before the thread hit the fan, trouble was brewing. Ugh. I think I’ll stick to outlines for now! Fill just eats up thread. Literally! Sassy Sister has been knitting away lately–and some tiny stuff on size 1 needles at that.
more embroidery…
2007 @ 12:21 pm
I’ve been busy learning more about the embroidery machine. You may have seen that I did a little birdie up for Baby Gleek! It’s a supercute bluebird that I found at Oregon Patchworks. It’s a freebie, but i may have to buy the set! I must thank the members of the Yahoo! Futura listserve for pointing me in the direction of designs that did not include horses, flags, cows, disney-like characters, etc. My “style” is not readily available it seems. That just means I’ll have to learn to create my own designs faster!
Next up, a bit of Redwork. Here is a very good description of exactly what that is, but for the time being, i’m just considering it anything i do in red. By virtue of machine stitching, it is not traditional Redwork.
I found the design at the same site and LOVE it. I’m planning to do more of these mandela type designs. I definitely prefer to use cotton thread, as opposed to the polyester, high sheen thread used in more machine embroidery. Cotton fills better and seems to have more depth. Of course, it’s more expensive and it’s just a preference. I am sure there will be time when combining them will provide a nice effect.
Believe it or not, I’ve come so far as to digitize (convert to embroidery usable image) a drawing that a friend did. The kinks need to be worked out, but I am not that far from creating my own designs! A couple of Adobe Illustrator tutorials should take care of that. I’ve got lots of ideas and am looking forward to trying them out.
In the meantime, I still need practice so think of me when you need a no-time-to-knit-it baby gift!
evening burp cloth. not exactly black tie.
2007 @ 10:51 am
(I apologize for the less than stellar pics)
Life’s been pretty hectic these days. I’ve picked up some odd job work (ever sent 700 faxes in a day?), had a friend visit (never. drinking. again. ever.) and have been teaching
beginning knitting over at Brooklyn General. As you can imagine, it’s pretty tough to work in there and not constantly be thinking about projects. Constantly. My co-worker (and mommy to MJ’s best baby bud) and I have a new mantra, “I could make that… but I won’t”. And not for lack of wanting to–only for lack of time!
One such project was a burp cloth–conceived the moment I saw the fabric, an Alexander Henry print.
Finding the baby was secondary and as it happens, one popped into our lives on Valentines Day. Wee Rory Mac. I learned A LOT about my Singer (Futura CE-200 for those interested) during this project. The best thing though? It only took me two hours from start to finish–including a browse through possible animal motifs to include. That’s a significant improvement over the monogrammed Christmas stockings. I can feel the learning curve flattening–what a relief! I’m going to give an overview of how I did the burp cloth, including some embroidery hooping detail. These are written from a beginner’s perspective so excuse the obvious notes.
Step 1: Wash cotton and the burp cloth so shrinkage will be less of an issue for the recipient. Press both pieces.
Step 2: Embroider name on burp cloth (details below). Choose the nicest side, obviously.
Step 3: Cut fabric to equal dimension as burp cloth. I my case, 12×18. Pin with right sides facing, make sure that the pattern of the nap of the fabric is in the same direction as your lettering.
Step 4: Sew with a 5/8″ seam allowance. I suppose you could cut this closer to the edge, but I decided to play it real safe since my burp cloth was not exactly setting at right angles. I am famous for starting my seam right at the edge, forgetting completely about the seam allowance. Start your sewing 5/8″ into your piece! Leave a three inch space to pull the material right side out when you are done.
Step 5: Trim your corners and any other bulky edges. and flip right side out. Press like a mofo.
Step 6: You could be done here, but the piece will feel more like a pillow case than a single piece of material. I chose one of the myriad decorative stitches available on my machine to sew two columns up the length of my cloth, but a nice zig zag will do the trick! I sewed two inches in from the finished edge on either side. And don’t think for a minute I didn’t draw a line to follow with tailor’s chalk.
Step 6: Blind stitch the opening closed and press again, just to be sure
Okeedokee–if you’ve found this blog because you have an embroidery machine and are looking for guidance of any kind, this section is for you. First off, joining the FuturaEmbriodery Yahoo Group. It will save you tons of trouble and also answer the perennial question–how the FUCK do I hoop a onesie?
Embriodery details: To get the name on the cloth, I used a new-to-me hooping method, whereby you do not hoop at all. Sweet. I marked my center with a red tailor pencil and tried to get it as close as possible to the hoop marks. It’s a little off. Eventually I’ll take the time to learn one of the several centering techniques described on the listserve. For now, this is good enough! The letter is just what came with my Futura software. This may be why it only took me an hour to do the embroidery. I did nothing to tax the computer’s tiny brain.
Project Notes for those embarking on this project (or for myself in the future):
1. different burp cloth material. I chose to use the Gerber birdseye prefold diapers since they proved to be the best for Maia. They fold small and didn’t get bunchy once washed as the premium ones tend too. They are cheap though and it’s pretty obvious. Fine for everyday use, but not for something you want to be special! Plus, the embroidery would look nicer on a tighter weave.
2. Get a handle on starting and finishing machine’s decorative stitches. The endzones are hairy–literally.
3. possibly only back a panel of the burp cloth rather than the entire thing. A crisper edge would be nice. But, maybe it’s just me.
4. Find a matte cotton or wool blend machine embroidery thread. I just like this look better than the shiny polyester!
So it’s not exactly innovation, but it’s a nice little project! I’ll definitely be making more!
the futura is now…
2006 @ 6:21 pm
After at least 5 sessions of set up, I finally embroidered something on my Singer Futura CE-200 tonight! I guess I could have tried to do it all at once, but I think I did the right thing is stopping each time I hit a little snag and coming back the next day.
Let’s start at the beginning–acquiring a computer. A few months back I switched over to Mac. The Futura requires a Windows machine. So, I asked my sister if I could borrow back my old laptop. I got this baby in 1998–ah, Windows 98, what a revolution. I was a little worried about how the software would interact with the hardware. HARDY HAR HAR. The software appears as if it would do just fine in Window 3.1. After a first failed attempt to install, I got it working.
Many lessons have been learned. For those of you not interested in the gripping details of my first machine embroidering experience, feel free to browse the photos. They tell the more important parts of the story.
The software is set up to take you through a sample pattern. I hooped up my fabric of choice–a cheap cloth diaper. What backing to apply? God only knows. After watching the accompanying dvd and reading a bunch of stuff, I went with a tear away. Would it have made a difference? No clue. Only another trial will tell.
I threaded the machine, set the design and STALL. Took me about an hour to figure out that I had threaded the bobbin incorrectly. Okay, Go again. This time it worked! How cool is that???
For a minute anyway… then it all started falling apart.
It appeared that the thread was being eaten by the needle… but the bobbin thread was doing just what it was supposed to. Upon further inspection, the spool was not letting thread off. I think i put it on wrong. Hey, I am new here!
Despite my mixed results, I threaded for the next color… it went pretty well!
I was going for this:
and got this:
I am perfectly happy with this result for my first time out. This must be the “new me”. In addition to the obvious lack of pink in the petals, there are other issues. First, the design created holes in the fabric (shown below). But, this is an open weave fabric with possible the wrong kind of backing.
I absolutely could not have gotten through this without joining the usergroup for Singer Futura on Yahoo!. They are the greatest! There was a solution to every issue I came upon.
PS-Dear Singer Company, It is motherfucking impossible to read a 75 page manual in pdf format while attempting to use software and an embroidery machine for the first time simultaneously. Please just include it in the package with my major purchase.
