Posts Tagged‘Tutorial’

If you have pattern you really like and will be using a lot, backing it with fusible interfacing is a good way to preserve the tissue paper. Interfacing isn’t cheap though so I only do this for patterns I know I will be using a lot.

(And if you own cats, this is also a good way to rescue pattern pieces they’ve turned into cat toys…)

So here is Yoyo demonstrating his amazing pattern destruction abilities…  Thanks Yoyo!

Rescue your pattern piece from your fuzzy monster and lay it out as flat as you can on your ironing board.

After assessing the damage, this pattern doesn’t look too bad actually. If the pattern just has some crumpling and tearing, we can save it. If it’s been completely destroyed (like your cat used it for a chew toy as well as a scratching toy), it’s probably time to start stalking Joanns for the next 99 cent pattern sale, and just replace the pattern.

Set your iron to the lowest setting and start ironing your pattern. You want to go gently and lift up your iron in places where there are tears so you don’t tear the pattern farther. If the iron isn’t hot enough to press your pattern flat, turn it up a little. You don’t want to get too hot though as that will cause the tissue paper to warp.

Now get a piece of interfacing big enough to fit your pattern piece.

I like to wait for interfacing to go on sale at Joanns for 50% and then buy an entire bolt of the lightweight fusible interfacing. Always having interfacing around is pretty handy.

Lay your interfacing on the ironing board so the fusible side is facing up. Lay your pattern piece on top.

Now grab a scrap piece of fabric to use as a press cloth. I used a scrap piece of muslin. Lay the press cloth on top of the pattern and fusible interfacing, making sure you cover the areas where the fusible surface is exposed. The press cloth is to protect your iron from getting fusible gunk on it as you iron. You’ll probably want to throw it out after you’re done as it will have sticky residue on it.

Start ironing your pattern. You might need to turn the iron a bit hotter to make sure the fusible melts and attaches to the pattern.

Iron down your entire pattern and when you’re done, trim around the pattern piece.

And now you have a sturdy interface-backed pattern piece that will last a very long time!

So I am sporting a new war wound from the sewing trenches: I put a gash in my arm with my seam ripper. I have a bad habit of storing my seam rippers pointy side up in a basket, and this isn’t the first time that I’ve stabbed myself while reaching for something. I’ve decided it’s the last time though!

It’s bad enough that I keep cutting myself on the seam rippers, but my cats like to wander across my sewing table too and I’m worried that one of these days, they’ll poke out an eyeball or something. My cats are pretty clumsy for cats…

I know seam rippers come with a cover when you buy them, but I can never seem to hold on to mine. They always end up falling off and getting lost or misplaced.

I decided I could make a more secure solution using clear rubber tubing, so I headed off to Home Depot to check out the plumbing aisle. Yes, I actually took my seam ripper with me and tried shoving it into all the different size tubes to see what would work best. The Home Depot guys didn’t even blink an eye at me. =D

I decided on the 5/8″ wide tubing. Unfortunately Home Depot doesn’t sell tubing by the foot so I had to buy a coil of 10 ft. The total came out to a little over $5, which isn’t too bad.

When I got home, I put the seam ripper into the tubing again and marked the tube where I wanted to cut it.

I tried a couple different cutting techniques including using an x-acto knife and a regular pair of scissors. I got the best result using my rotary cutter. Use an old blade as cutting rubber obviously dulls the blade quickly.

And now my seam ripper has a cover!

If you have more than one seam ripper, check the measurement for each one individually. It turns out one of mine had a thinner handle and I had to cut a longer tube for it.

And then the seam rippers went into my basket, and now I won’t stab myself anymore!

I no longer have room for a  thread rack on the wall so when I sew, the spools sit on my sewing table, getting lost in the piles of fabric or waiting for some bored cat to come along and knock them off. I decided I needed to make a small thread rack that could be put away when not being used, so I made a magnetic thread rack.

Materials:

• magnetic tray like a toaster oven pan or small baking pan. (I found mine at a dollar store.)
• magnets
• long screws with flat screw head
• super glue
• fabric to cover the tray

I used really small earth magnets because that’s what I had on hand. If I had to do it over, I’d use bigger earth magnets because these magnets aren’t strong enough to support really large spools of thread.

Create your thread rack pegs by super glue-ing the magnets to screw heads.

Cover the tray with fabric. I used hotglue to glue the fabric on.

Now you just put the screws with magnets on the tray so they can be used for thread spools.

I wanted to have the thread rack propped up, or hanging on the wall, so I swung by the framing section of JoAnn Fabrics and picked up a plate holder rack and a plate hanger.

A plate holder rack is like a small easel and is perfect for when I want the thread rack on the table within reach.

The plate hanger attaches to the back of the tray and is good for when I want the thread rack hanging on the wall.

Or in my case, when I want to hang the rack on the mirror behind my sewing table. I used a suction cup hook to hang up my magnetic tray.

One of my recent projects was making a bunch of sewing organizers that I assembly line produced, and I had to constantly swap threads spools and bobbins on 2 different sewing machines. The magnetic thread rack was super useful in helping me keep track of all my thread.

As an added bonus, it kept Bobo from chasing my thread spools right off the table which is one of his favorite activities.