Helpful Hint #12 What to do About all those Bobbins

I was tidying my Sewing Room the other day and fighting with all those half filled boobins that get tangled together. Suddenly,Eureka! It hit me like lightning out of the blue. I don't know why I've never thought of this before! Have a look!



In case it's not clear,the solution is to stick long pins in the bulletin board and to hang the bobbins on the pins. I grouped the colours together where I had more than one bobbin with a particular colour. I also hung extra empty bobbins for easy access when needed.

Isn't that a great and hopefully helpfulhint?

#11.Fusible Stay Tape

If you're like me, you don't always have access to all the latest sewing gadgets or notions.

I've often heard Sandra Betzina talk about using fusible stay tape but have never been able to find it in fabric stores. Well,let me tell you ,if you use fusible interfacing,you can make your own.Just cut strips (I cut mine about 1/4" or 3/8") along the grain or along the most stable direction of your interfacing.



I do this most often from scraps,but I've also done larger quantities from bigger pieces too.

I've used these strips at waistlines, roll lines of jackets,necklines,shoulder seams,and I'm sure you can think of other places to use them as well.



Just a note here. When you are using these strips along a curved seam,you may have to clip the strip a little to make it conform to the curve.




So there.I hope this hint is a useful one and that you'll try it.

#3. Twin Needles

I thought I would talk about using a twin needle. I sometimes talk to customers at Fabricville, where I work part time,who don't know that you don't need a special attachment to use this very useful notion. All you need is a zigzag foot, the extra spool pin that usually comes with a sewing machine ,an extra spool of the same colour thread you are using and a little info.Here is what I do:

(a).Instead of a second spool of thread ,I usually fill an extra bobbin.

(b).I use Wooly nylon, which I wind by hand, in the bobbin because it has a little stretch and it helps to avoid the ridge that forms between the two rows of stitches.

(c). I loosen the top tension. This also helps to create a nice flat double seam.

(d). I use a bias strip of fusible interfacing along and a little over the hem allowance.
      (Edited Oct, 2014) or I use Steam a Seam to fuse the hem and this acts as a stabilizer for the twin needle stitching.

(e).I  baste the hem by hand first with a different color thread. This serves as a guide for the double hem.

(f) I set my stitch length to about 3.5 or so as I would when top-stitching and my speed to quite slow.
To see photos of this procedure click here.


So that's it. Now why don't you give a double needle a try? You'll love the results!