BLOG CHALLENGE UPDATE: SEWING COSMETIC BAGS FOR CHARITY

OK….do you remember the Challenge I put out on this blog a few months back asking you to make cosmetic bags/purses that we can fill with toiletries to give to various charities this Christmas?

Please refer to blog posts on 18th Feb; 9th March; 27th March -all this year 2013. Scroll down  the archives on the right hand side of the home page on this blog to find these posts.

The idea is to also collect lots of those little shampoos, soaps, toothbrushes, toothpastes, etc that we get from hotels on our travels or from our dentist……or wherever.  Just unused, sealed goodies that will be very useful to folk who are needing a little bit of cheer & assistance in their lives – packed into cosmetic purses sewed by our loyal ELNA customers on their ELNA sewing machines.

Here is an update:

1. I am working on prizes for this Challenge: we talked about prizes for the person who makes the most number of little purses and another for the favourite bag decided by popular vote. I will be taking pics of the bags as they come in & will post these so you may vote for your favourite in due course.
2. PLEASE TRY TO GET ALL YOUR DONATIONS OF BAGS & TOILETRIES TO YOUR DEALER/ME BY SEPTEMBER 30TH LATEST.
3. If all goes according to plan, I will post the pics on this blog during October for you to vote for your favourite one.
4. Distribution of bags to various charities will be done in late November/Dec- in time for Christmas.
5. I am THRILLED  to tell you that the customers at LANGLEY VACUUM & SEWING  quite overwhelmed me when I visited the store to do an event recently! They presented me with lots of cosmetic bags SEWN ON THEIR JANOME MACHINES!!! + boxes & bags of toiletries to put into the cosmetic bags. One lady even stopped at a local hotel & asked if they would be prepared to donate some shampoos etc and so her 4 bags came already packed with goodies! Thank you, Mickey.  Here are some pic’s of what I brought back to the office & sorted. There were zipper bags; clicker bags; Some were embroidered, some were embellished with decorative stitches, some were lined with plastic. Langley Vacuum & Sewing ladies ….you did real good -THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

WONDERFUL! I hope this inspires those of you who would like to join in with this charity sewing project. Remember that you can drop any cosmetic purses and toiletries off at any of our ELNA CANADA  dealers. Please just be sure that you put your name & contact details in with your donation so that you can be eligible for our Challenge prizes.

Please also be sure that your dealer is aware of this project and knows they need to contact me (LIZ) at the Vancouver office to arrange to get the donations together for packing & distribution to applicable charities. For example, these Langley ladies would like their bags to go to Langley Women’s shelter(s)  so we are currently compiling a list & depending on how many we collect together, they may go to more than one place. Other stores may choose to have their bags delivered to a different charity in their area. But our aim is to have enough gathered together to make deliveries viable & worthwhile for each charity selected. SO….the more the merrier!!  The plan is to do this in time for Christmas 2013.

QUILT BC IN PENTICTON THIS WEEK…….SEE YOU THERE!!!!

YES, it is time for Quilt Canada’s QUILT BC show in Penticton this year. It opens THIS THURSDAY 16th May at the Penticton Trade & Convention Center and runs through to Saturday 18th May.  Check out the link to the website above – there is lots of information there about the show & Merchant Mall hours, address, classes etc.

PART OF ONE OF LIBBY LEHMAN’S PINATA QUILTS – DEC. STITCHING & APPLIQUE DONE WITH THE circular attachment.

This was photographed at one of Libby’s Pinata classes.

Below is my version of Libby’s Pinata quilt – I took her class about a year ago and finally got inspired to complete the UFO! The circles are applique & machine decorative stitching which has all been done using the EL760  & CIRCULAR ATTACHMENT.  I used the JANOME QUILT BINDER SET  to apply the black binding. Here it is:

Our sincere thoughts and prayersg go out to Libby Lehman for a full & speedy recovery. We will miss you at Quilt BC but look forward to seeing you at a future Quilt Canada event.

Do visit the ELNA booth in the Merchant Mall – Findlays Superstore from Vernon, BC will be happy to assist you with any of your Elna queries. They will have ELNA sewing machines available on the booth for you to see and purchase.

PRODUCT REVIEW : SEWING MACHINE NEEDLES

Yes, I know it says JANOME but these same needles are also for our ELNA SEWING MACHINES so the same information is applicable:  

I recently did a blog post about our new PURPLE tip needles.  (on 10th April – scroll to last month in the Archives on right hand side of this blog home page). Since then, further information about our Janome needles has come to light so I decided that a PRODUCT REVIEW of our needles would be a good thing so that we understand when to use what needle.

1. BLUE TIP NEEDLES – these needles are VERY popular. They were manufactured specifically for general sewing on most fabrics as well as for machine embroidery. The BLUE TIP NEEDLE  is a size 11 needle and has a slight ball point tip which is very good for sewing knits and synthetic fabrics like many of the polyester fashion fabrics as it avoids “flagging”. Flagging occurs when the needle does not pierce the fabric adequately and then drags the fabric downwards towards the bobbin area. All sorts of hassles can result such as puckered, damaged  fabric and thread snags & breaks. When using some knit fabrics and especially synthetics, a slight ball point tip goes between  the fibres of the fabric and thus flagging is avoided.  The SPECIAL  FEATURE of the BLUE TIP NEEDLE  is the oversize eye which accommodates embroidery thread well by reducing tension and stress on the top thread (ever had breaking/shredding embroidery thread?)  It also makes threading the eye of the needle easier.   IF you have certain conditions where you are finding it difficult to sew well with a blue tip needle: skipped stitches perhaps? Then we would highly recommend that you try our new PURPLE TIP NEEDLES.
2. JANOME PURPLE TIP NEEDLES  - these are relatively new needles in the JANOME range of needles. These are ball point  needles so are especially good for sewing knits & synthetic fabrics . Like the blue tip needle, they prevent flagging due to the special design. However, the needle is a larger needle than the blue tip needle – the purple tip is a size 14. Not only does it have a ball point, but it also has a cobra head. All this talk of cobra’s is making me look under my bed!! I thought I had left those days behind……I have literally killed a number of snakes….yes, ME myself & I!! Seriously one of them was a cobra, but that is another story of when I lived in Africa where snakes in & around your home can be very common.  Back to cobra head: think of what a cobra’s head looks like when it has risen up (nasty, scary image I know) but can you picture those spines or protrusions either side? Well our cobra head needle is just like that – sort of like tiny wing needle spines or protrusions just above the eye on either side of the needle.  What this does is force the fibers of the fabric apart  and allows the stitch to form properly & more easily – voila! less or no skipped stitches.  This purple tip needle is also recommended for high density embroidery designs as it has less resistance to the fabric & thread build-up >>>> meaning you will get better quality embroidery and less thread breakage…..which is a good thing, right?   Think of thick, dense fabrics like denim and multiple layers of fabric like quilts – purple tips work well for these conditions too.  SO, if you are ever having hassles with skipped stitches on knits or other applications, are trying to embroider something very dense, or are sewing a thick, dense fabric : why not give our  PURPLE TIP NEEDLE  a whirl? We are confident you will see much improved results.  Order from your local ELNA dealer today!   See my case in point below.
3. JANOME RED TIP NEEDLES - our RED TIP NEEDLE  is NOT a ball point needle. It has a sharp point, is larger with a size 14 and is an excellent choice for textiles such as cotton, hemp and most normal fabrics. I tend to use red tip needles for most of my sewing and it is a strong, durable needle and works for most applications where a universal needle is indicated.  It is NOT a universal needle though as it does have the oversized eye (like the blue tip needle) which prevents thread breakage and is great when working with tricky threads like metallic & monofilament/invisible threads.  So, it has advantages over the universal needle which is why I tend to sew with the red tip needle a LOT.

Here is a case in point - just happened to me TODAY. Follow my thought process: I digitized   a design using JANOME DIGITIZER MBX’s  Photoclick tool. I was trying to stitch out a jpeg image of my grandchild for an upcoming class on PHOTO CLICK.  I hooped up tearaway stabilizer & 1 layer of 100% cotton. I threaded up with a good strong polyester embroidery thread in the needle and Janome bobbin thread.  OK- so what needle would you think would be the best to use? You guessed right: a JANOME RED TIP NEEDLE.  Well both you & I will have to just think again!! I was literally tearing my hair out as the thread just kept shredding and getting all caught up with the bobbin thread. Mess after mess.

• I tried using the spool stand thinking making the thread delivery was not good.
• I tried changing to a top stitch needle – no change.
• I tried adjusting tension, embroidery presser foot height; speed of the machine, you name it. I was almost out of options and getting a fat headache too!
• Finally (stupid it took me so long to think of this seeing as I had just been writing this blog post?!)  I decided, what the heck…..let’s try a PURPLE TIP NEEDLE.  Same design, same thread, same fabric, same everything just a different needle.  Now understand where I am coming from. I am not embroidering on a thick fabric like a denim, just regular cotton. I am not getting skipped stitches – rather breaks, shredding & jam ups. But the digitizing IS pretty dense in that there are over 62,500 stitches and most are pretty tiny & tightly packed together – This was the way it digitized the pic automatically in Photoclick. SO, guess what???? The rest of the design is PERFECT: NO tension issues, no more thread breaks….nothing but great quality embroidery. Obviously the density of the digitizing NEEDED that purple tip needle with its fancy cobra head to squeeze between the other stitches to form the stitches properly so that the shredding and bunch-ups stopped IMMEDIATELY!   OK, so I am now definitely sold on the purple tip needle!!!!!

Do hope you find this information useful? Send us questions if you need to clarify or know more.

FOCUS ON OUR FEET: THE RIBBON/SEQUIN FOOT

RIBBON SEQUIN FOOT

Have you forgotten that you have this tool in your foot box?? Perhaps? perhaps not?

The RIBBON/SEQUIN FOOT  is available for 7mm (Part# 200332000) and 9mm machines – ie THE EL730 & EL760 (Part # 202090009). This foot is VERY handy when you wish to sew down ribbon or strings of sequins.   With Grad coming up real soon, I thought it might be a great idea to remind folk out there who might be sewing up a storm that it is SO easy to add impact & bling with sequins to that special grad dress………or evening wear…..or bridesmaids dress……or Halloween costume………..or whatever you can dream up!

These tips come courtesy of the LOVE SEWING NEWSLETTER published by Denise Wild who is one of our Janome dealers in Toronto, Canada.

1. Be sure that your sequins are all facing one direction and that your presser foot will travel in that same direction over the strand. Think of your sequins as shiny dominoes that have all fallen over in one direction.
2. Do NOT use a ball point needle as this will not pierce the sequins cleanly. Use a sharp, new needle such as a Universal needle or Janome red tip needle.  Needles will dull quickly when working with/sewing through sequins so do be sure to change your needle more often than you usually do - you do change needles regularly, right??!
3. Use an invisible or monofilament thread in the needle as it is the sparkly sequins which you want to be the focus – not your stitching.
4. If you think you might wobble a bit as you sew and leave a wiggly line of sequins (which may not be pretty), think ahead and mark your fabric first and sew along this marked line; OR attach the sequins with basting or pins. My preferred method would be to use  Wonder Tape which is a great  fusible tape that you just stick down, peel off the paper & then stick the string of sequins down on top of the sticky part of the tape. There are SO many uses for Wonder tape. The wonder tape washes away later so will not stay permanently. It is not like other fusibles which have to be ironed to activate the glue. You would not want to iron sequins(!) hence me suggesting this would be a good use for wonder tape.
5. To attach the sequin trim, use a long zig-zag stitch to SLOWLY sew down the center of your trim. If the trim is over 1/2 inch wide, secure it with a line of stitching on each edge of the trim.
6. Ribbons & braids may be applied to projects in exactly the same way as the sequin trim in the pics below.

sequin trim sewed down onto white fabric

Sequin trim is feeding through the guide & goes under the foot to be sewed down with invisible thread and a zig-zag stitch.

OH by the way: do not get confused like I did by not reading the instructions that are INSIDE THE BLISTER PACK  which opens like a book: I thought maybe my fingers were just not strong enough to turn the screw on the foot. It was stuck tight……..OOPS! It is NOT supposed to be turned – says so on the blister pack instructions which I would have known if I had bothered to read them! I have scanned that (below) so you can see there are actually 4 different ways to guide ribbons, braids & trims through this foot.

LIZ’S EASTER “SEWFEST” PART 2: GARMENT SEWING

Ok, so once I had finished the essential baby sewing (see PART 1 of this post published on 22nd April), I got down to sewing up some of the garments for myself that I had already cut out on the floor while watching TV (well actually listening to TV). Remember I said in a previous post that it is as good as a yoga workout? Really, the muscles in my legs & lower back sure get a workout. It is, of course, much easier on the body to lay out your fabric & pattern pieces on a high cutting table. However, if you are trying to do double or triple  duty like me, you may end up doing yoga at the same time as TV AND cutting out your garments. Whoever said women are the queens of multi-tasking was dead bang on the money!!

The Sewing Workshop Collection Pattern: Stella & Luna is a relatively new pattern.

I acquired this pattern recently at the Victoria Sewing Show (Thank you, Marilyn & Barb) & here is my first attempt with this pattern: the Stella top. I am not totally sold on whether I like the fabric or not. It seems a bit “busy” to me for this particular style.  I think if I had made the cowl part a different fabric (plain black or brown maybe), it might have looked better? However, it was a good trial run and I will definitely be making this top again in a different knit fabric.

Stella top – see also the recent blog post with the title  PRODUCT REVIEW: GARMENT SEWING PATTERNS TO INSPIRE YOU TO SEW

I also made 3 pairs of pants: a dark purple, a black & a brown pair. I used the same Kwik sew yoga pant pattern for 2 of them & then decided to use a different pattern for the brown pants.  Please be aware that some of the patterns I refer to may not be current patterns. I have acquired patterns over many years of sewing garments and sometimes I pick up “new” patterns at thrift stores. Not every pattern I use is brand new and currently available.  You can always substitute a similar pattern. The ones I use are just a starting point to hopefully inspire you.

KWIK SEW #3115: note that I have written a note to myself on the pattern cover: “See notes”. I usually write a few notes once I complete making a garment. I write down the size I made & any alternations I made. I also like to write down if I think I would do things a little differently a second time around: like cut a smaller size or reduce the length or whatever.  I find this helps me a lot as I doubt I would remember all this information: I do way too much sewing and have too many patterns to keep that all in my head!

I first made this yoga pant pattern in a thickish piece of purple knit fabric. Wish I could remember what it was called but I can’t. I LOVE the feel of the fabric : very smooth with wonderful firm stretch and the pants are super comfy. However, I think I prefer a slimmer, less flared leg so on the next pair (same fabric but black instead of dark purple), I slashed the front & back leg pattern pieces along the straight grain line from the hem right up almost to the top of the pattern. Drastic, yes, but it worked beautifully. I overlapped the pieces & taped them flat to reduce the width or flare of the leg.  Do NOT cut off the side & inner leg seams as this will alter the integrity of the pattern design and more than likely result in uncomfortable, badly fitting pants.

I just LOVE my black pants with the alterations I made. They are pretty much yoga pants  without the flared leg but not so tight that they could be called leggings. They look so smart tucked into a pair of boots but can also be worn with shoes or sandals. The waist band is a self “elastic” in that the band is cut quite a bit smaller than the top of the pants, so you stretch it as you sew it on.  I have lost a few lbs lately so I found the band was still too loose. Easy fix: I opened the seam on the waist band and inserted a piece of 1 inch wide elastic which pulled the waist band in a little bit more so I wasn’t bothered by pants that kept slipping down slightly. They now stay up which is a good thing, and waist band still lays flat & smooth so I am very happy with the result.

Purple pants pinned to my dress form

What I call my “shark bite” top. LOVE using my JANOME SERGER & COVERPRO to sew it as it is so quick and professionally finished.  Just check out the great new dressform Debbie brought in to the office.  Thanks, Debbie! This is just wonderful as it is pretty much impossible to photograph myself wearing a garment – My arms are not long enough!

I bought this pattern (animal print knit top above) a year or 2 back & I think I have made the sleeveless view on the left at least 6 times. It is wonderful as a top over pants or leggings with a long sleeved top underneath when it is cold; OR worn with capri’s as a loose summer top; OR make it up into a comfy nightgown. Note the “shark bite” hemline which has been so popular for quite some time. This is truly a one hour garment from cutting out to wearing – very easy to make – exactly as the pattern cover indicates.

Note how stay tape works to avoid puckering so that neck line & hems stay flat & professional looking: I used the JANOME CPX Coverhem serger for neck, armholes & hems. Side seams were sewn using the Stretch knit program on my serger: this program is a 4 thread seam with some adjustments to stitch length and differential feed. My serger does this automatically. I just have to select this program – it is all about EASE and convenience.

I have made view E (bottom left) and it was very nice. I wear that in the summer. But the swirl pattern knit top shown below is view C (the green long sleeved top on the pattern cover above). I really like the way the neck line drapes into that cowl front. I did narrow the sleeves. I don’t like wide sleeves like that. So, once again, I slashed it up the grain line & overlapped the 2 halves to make it much narrower from above the elbow to the wrist. I have short arms as well so I always have to shorten the length of sleeve patterns by quite  a few inches. (My legs could have been longer too but that is a different story! )  These alterations do not affect the sleeve seam nor where the sleeve is sewn into the armhole so it all fits together just fine.

Simplicity 3790 (above)

Teagarden T. I struggled a bit with this pattern. It is quite unusual as there is only 1 main pattern piece which includes the front, back & sleeve. Yes, but you cut 2 and then sew together center front & back.  Shoulder seam is a dart. It took me a little while to wrap my brain around this pattern. It also has gussets for under the arms & along part of sleeve & side seams but this just did not work for me. Maybe I was being stupid ? I finally got the gussets sewed in but it looked awful so I took them out and re-cut the shape of the sleeves & side seams from wrist all the way to hemline. I wasn’t sure it would work out OK but luckily it did. SO be aware that the blue, black & white print top (below) is not exactly as the pattern instructed me to do but at least I can wear it and I like it. It fits quite snugly and the neck line is very unusual so I may well end up making another one. I like to have a variety of different styles in my closet and this sure is different.

TEAGARDEN T by Sewing Workshop Collection made in a very soft knit print. It was essential to use stay tape to have nice, unpuckered seams & hems. I also used interfacing in the “collar” area to give a little bit of firmness to this.

CAN I TURN MY PHOTOGRAPHS INTO EMBROIDERIES??????

George Clooney “immortalized” in thread!

CAN I TURN MY PHOTOGRAPHS INTO EMBROIDERIES? I get asked this question quite frequently. There is a lot to be said for capturing memories and special people in mediums other than a jpeg photograph – which, of course, is lovely…..But those of us who have ELNA  embroidery machines also like to know if we can actually EMBROIDER our photo’s too. I am happy to tell you that YES, you can.

Now in order to be able to embroider something, the embroidery stitches first have to be created – this process is called digitizing.  Our JANOME DIGITIZER MBX software gives you the ability to do this digitizing. It is our latest software version 4. This software package includes a tool called PHOTO CLICK  which is the tool we would recommend for turning your precious jpeg pics into embroideries. Some previous versions of JANOME DIGITIZER  also contain the PHOTO CLICK tool.  I know version 3 does. Maybe version 2 – not sure as I can’t remember back that far! If you have the little camera icon, you too can digitize your pics!

Another point: here in Canada we supply JANOME EMBROIDERY SOFTWARE to our Elna dealers & customers. It is the same software as both Janome & Elna use the jef format so it is quite interchangable.  If you have an older Elna embroidery machine that does not recognize jef format, you may need to first check with your local ELNA dealer if the format your machine requires is available on our JANOME DIGITIZING  software. Probably is but worth checking this detail.

Capture your home & street address in fabric & thread…………are you beginning to see the possibilities?

This post is not a lesson in how to use PHOTO CLICK. Lessons on how to use your ELNA/JANOME DIGITIZING SOFTWARE can be obtained from the following places:

• Your local ELNA  dealer who sold you the software package – they are your first go to place for help and software lessons.
• Trevor Conquergood of Saskatoon, SK has ongoing webinars and software workshops as well as DVD’s etc. Please consult his website : http://www.sunsetstitches.com/Home.html
• The Instruction Manual and/or DVD that came with your software is a great place to start. I know we don’t like reading manuals but seriously, they are there for a reason!

What I rather wanted to do here was show you that turning your pics into embroideries IS a do-able project. Please do not think that the embroidery will be an EXACT replica of Great Aunt Milly. If you try to digitize a jpeg photograph using regular digitizing tools,  it will not be very successful. This is because the Digitizing software tries to analyse each & every different pixel of colour in the jpeg and what results is this complex mish-mash of tiny embroidery sections that, quite frankly, look like a dog’s breakfast! HOWEVER, if you use the PHOTO CLICK  tool instead, it has the capability to analyse the jpeg photograph differently and render it into a close copy of the photo though NOT capturing every minute detail in the pic. Let’s look at some embroideries that were digitized using PHOTO CLICK.

This was an exercise in using the Photoclick tool for multiple COLOURS in the embroidery – can be done!

This is not a jpeg photograph – it is a digital artwork file….a drawing of a zebra. This is to show you can use this same PHOTOCLICK tool to digitize other pics – they do not have to be photographs.

Here is one version of that zebra PHOTO CLICKED using a 70 degree angle for the grain and a 30 degree angle for the stitches. This can be altered easily for different effects.

This is my precious little grand-daughter. I am going to use Photo Click to digitize her and then stitch “her” out in a soft brown thread to make it look a bit like a sepia photograph.

My little one immortalized in thread ….note that there are irregularities which was caused by thread shredding & breaking issues. Once I changed to a PURPLE TIP needle, the issues stopped – see bottom right corner where the embroidery is much improved.  SEE the blog post coming on 10th May all about our NEEDLES

Now for the our other little one soon to be a year old:

I found that photographs that have lighter backgrounds and not too much fussy detail work better. I also played with the settings in Photo Click to alter the results.

JUST ARRIVED …….OPEN TOE ACUFEED FLEX FOOT FOR EL760 & EL730 = 9mm machines

YES, YES, YES …….I KNOW you have been waiting.  Well wait no more – these feet have arrived !! Now don’t go giving your dealer a hard time….they have literally just arrived in our warehouse and so your dealer still has to get them shipped to their store. However, you are welcome to call your dealer to place an order so long.

OPEN TOE ACUFEED FLEX FOOT FOR 9mm machines (that is for EL760 & EL730)  Part # is 202 149004  This is the open toe for clipping onto the dual feed Acufeed flex foot.

 

Open toe Acufeed Flex foot in action