Sew Fun

Ask Sewfie... advice for the sewing obsessed, because you know you need help. E-mail "Ask Sewfie" today!

Dear Sewfie,

I’m trying to sell my house and my real estate agent says I have to put ALL of my sewing stuff away, completely out of sight. She says I have to bag up my entire studio, closet my stash and put away my sewing machine. She says all my desk tops need to be completely “free of clutter“. Frankly, I’m offended that she referred to my sewing equipment as “clutter”…. be that as it may, is this necessary? I sew every day and I earn an income from selling my crafts on line. Putting away all my stuff would not only render me bored witless but also without an income! Do you think this is really necessary?

- Stitch-less in Seattle

Dear Stitch-less,

Your zealous agent’s assertions are sad but true. Because of the dismal state of the real estate market, sellers are in a terrible pickle and buyers are totally taking advantage of the situation. Before they walk away with your house at a steal of a price, they expect to be paraded through it as if it were newly set for a photo shoot with Martha Stewart. They expect beautiful, expensive and immaculately pristine furniture arranged by a feng shui master and any hint of individual personality must be scrubbed from your home. Or better yet, stashed in off site storage.

Case in point, in a recent article at MainStreat.com, this photo of a little sewing machine in the corner was featured in a article called Ugliest Real Estate Photos. Apparently, the author felt home sewing was as ugly as dirty toilets and faux wood paneling.

Although Sewfie laments this sorry state of affairs, sometimes one must go along to get along, thus she advises the following 3-point plan for keeping your real estate agent happy:

• Box up the majority of your fabric stash into clear storage bins and keep it in the closet. The clear containers will help you find stuff more easily when you need it and after your stash “ages” in there for a while, you might find there is some of it you can live without. (Sewfie will write more on “thinning out your stash” at a later date.)
• Save out the tools (scissors, rotary cutters, tape measures, etc.) and notions you use everyday. Keep them in a small storage container, like a tackle box or similar container with a lid. This way, when a house showing comes up, you can toss that container into the closet without losing anything. Keep out the fabric for your current project only. When you are not actively working on that project, keep your UFO* in a tidy folded pile on your sewing desk.
• Cover up your sewing machine. There is a nice tutorial on Sew, Mama, Sew! for a reversible sewing machine cover.

Following this simple plan, you should be able to keep up your sewing work while maintaining the requisite tidy workspace. With any luck, you’ll soon be able to stitch up one of these** for your new place…

*UFO = Un-Finished Object
**Art Quilt Wall Hanging, “Home Sweet Home” by Moran Art and Quilts

Warm Stitches,

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Ask Sewfie... advice for the sewing obsessed, because you know you need help. E-mail "Ask Sewfie" today!

Dear Sewfie,

I bought the pattern for the Baby Puzzle Ball. I am wondering about putting a couple bells in there for noise?

Any suggestions about that?

Thank you

- Mary

Dear Mary,

I have tried adding bells and it works well. I use 1” jingle bells. I wrap them in a bit of stuffing or batting then I insert them into one of the wedges during Step 8, when you were already stuffing the wedges anyway. Then, sew the wedge shut as usual. It is important to sew the bell INSIDE the wedge so they don’t come out and pose a choking hazard.

The stuffing makes the bells a little quieter, so I usually sew 3 bells in – one inside each of 3 wedges. Three bells makes a really nice jingly sound when the ball is being played with!

Warm Stitches,

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1. How To Make Perfect Fabric Baby Blocks

Ask Sewfie... advice for the sewing obsessed, because you know you need help. E-mail "Ask Sewfie" today!

Dear Sewfie,

I have WAY too much fabric. It’s cluttering up my house and life. I can’t find fabric that I’ve previously purchased. I’ve even resorted to re-purchasing fabric I knew I had, just because I couldn’t find it! I want to go on a fabric diet. How can I shed those extra yards?

- Packing an extra 100 (yards)

Dear Packing,

Diets are really pretty simple: burn off more than you consume. Simply buy less and sew more. Let’s start off by focusing on the buy less part of that equation. Just like Coke and Wendy’s French fries, you can cut back on fabric too. Starting today, tell yourself you will not buy any NEW fabric if there is a perfectly suitable alternative already in the house. (For those of you who are Extreme Fabric Dieters, you can preclude yourself from acquiring any new fabric while there is any fabric at all available in your house… good luck with that.) And that means, no, you can’t go out to your Local Quilt Shop to get that one little fat quarter in the perfect shade of purple to finish a project … even though you already have 10 other purples in the house which you deem not quite the right match. You’ve already proven you can’t be trusted to go into that shop: you will buy the one fat quarter, and probably $40 worth of other fabric that, although beautiful, fills no immediate need in your sewing queue. And, no, seeing how pretty it looks on your shelf doesn’t count as filing a need.

You know you have so much fabric, that you could meet all of your sewing needs for months (or years) without the need to buy more. You already know this to be true, so just try it. Being forced to use what you already have in your stash is actually an exercise in being creative. Instead of just buying pre-matched color ways from some collection, you will give yourself the opportunity to pick from different designers, different lines and even mix and match between modern and vintage. The results will be truly unique. And just like those pesky Pilates, all that stretching may hurt a little at first, but after a while, you will start to enjoy it and soon you will be appreciating the results.

Sewfie always practices what she preaches. On that note, here is an example: a lovely baby quilt she is working on – entirely from her stash.

The two plaids and the animal print are from a Daisy Kingdom collection (from 1994!), originally designated to be a toddler dress. The intended recipient is now 14, so that ship has pretty much sailed.
The calicos are leftovers from a holiday Dress-A-Doll charity sewing project for the Salvation Army. Sewfie made Colonial styled doll outfits, way back 8 or 9 years ago when she was mad for sewing for 18”dolls. And the brown fabric is leftover from the cover model of the Sew Fun Baby Sand Castle Quilt. This fabric was called Pumpkin & Spice, but it looked just like sand to Sewfie.

:: What can you sew from your stash? ::

Warm Stitches,

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Ask Sewfie... advice for the sewing obsessed, because you know you need help. E-mail "Ask Sewfie" today!

Dear Sewfie,

I just found out from my mom that my sister is expecting her first baby. I’m so excited I could just squeak. Mom wasn’t supposed to tell anyone but obviously she is really bad at keeping secrets. My sister doesn’t want to announce her pregnancy until her first trimester is over but I can’t wait until then! I’m itching to get started sewing for my little niece or nephew. Would it be bad luck to start a quilt for the baby before any formal announcements are made?

- Eager Auntie-to-Be

Dear Auntie,

Sewing a quilt for someone is an act of love: you think of them as you chose the fabrics, arrange the blocks and stitch all the pieces together. Emitting such positive energy into your sister’s world could never be bad luck! However, for the sake of covering for Grandma Leaky-Bucket, you should probably avoid asking your sister if she prefers pink or blue!

Warm Stitches,

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1. How To Make Perfect Fabric Baby Blocks
2. Scared to Sew? Tips on Reducing Sewing Anxiety

Ask Sewfie... advice for the sewing obsessed, because you know you need help. E-mail "Ask Sewfie" today!

Hi,

I have been away from sewing for awhile. All of my thread has been hanging on my walls on the thread holders.
Does thread get old? It has been there for several years…Will it harm my machine? Also what is the best thread to use for sewing baby knit’s? I am a new grandma to twin boy’s, sewing lots of outfits for them.

Thanks much,
Jill

Dear Jill,

I’m delighted to hear you will be dusting off those spools and returning to sewing!

Old thread will not harm your machine, but age may make it too brittle to be useful for your sewing projects. To test if the thread is still viable, unroll about 12” from the spool, grasp the ends firmly and give it a quick tug. If it breaks easily, it’s too old. If you are not sure “how easy is easily”, then compare to some recently bought thread. In general, thread does last a long time – as in years. If it’s more than a decade old, it’s probably getting too old. But if it’s just 5 years or so, I’m sure it’s still good. It also depend on the type of thread. Cotton will deteriorate faster than polyester. I’m pretty sure I still have polyester thread in my sewing basket from high school, oh magenta…. how I loved thee.

As for the best thread to use for sewing baby knits, you’ll most certainly want to use polyester or nylon threads and avoid cottons. Cotton doesn’t have the stretchiness that the synthetic fibers have. Additionally, if you are sewing on a conventional machine – as opposed to an overlock or serger which is specially designed for sewing knits – you can increase the stretchiness of your seams by dialing up a slight zig-zag stitch. This will give the seam a bit more stretch for those wiggly, growing little boys.

For best results in sewing knits on a conventional machine, be sure not to stretch the fabric while sewing, or else you end up with a scalloped looking seam. You can also lighten up on the pressure foot tension to get less stretching and puckering of the seams. Finally, I have found a walking foot (often used in quilting), to be helpful when sewing knits, especially in sewing across the grain. The “hopping” motion of the foot helps to eliminate stretching.

Enjoy sewing for those little ones and be sure to get started right away… they grow so fast!

Friends, do you have any other suggestions for sewing with knits? Please leave a comment below!

Warm Stitches,

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