NSC LIVE! February 2020

Hey, everyone, and welcome to our February live event for National Sewing Circle. We have Ellen March as our special guest tonight, so thanks for being here, Ellen. Thanks for having me. Of course. So, to start off, because February, well, it's Valentine's Day month, but it's also National Embroidery Month.

So I feel like this is a good month if you've ever thought about maybe trying out embroidery and just have shied away from it. What would be a good place to start? It's a big wide world of embroidery, but how do you kind of narrow it down into, okay, here's a good place to start; this would be a good project for me? Well, first of all, obviously you need to have a sewing machine that has an embroidery module. So I will assume if you are to that point that you've already chosen a machine that works for you.

So we'll just kinda start there. Okay. As far as first projects, I definitely recommend doing a bunch of test stitching using different fabric, stabilizer, thread, and kinda creating a stitch reference guide for yourself. And something that's really cool that Sulky has, actually, is a stabilizer assortment pack, and it's every single stabilizer in the Sulky line in an 8-1/2 by 11 sheet. So that's really great to grab to do sort of a binder with stitch samplers in it that you can refer to for other projects.

So if you want to add embroidery to quilts, and that's the reason that you're adding embroidery to your technique repertoire, if you will, then choose quilting cottons and try them out with some different stabilizers, and you can mark right on your fabric the needle that you used, the thread that you used, the stabilizer that you used on that little sample once you sort of perfect it. And that way, when you go to do the exact same thing later on, you can consult your little binder first and set yourself up for success. So there's a lot less guesswork moving forward. So I would really just start out with a ton of practice, and that way you're gonna get the feel for how to set up your machine, and how to thread all of the different thread colors, and switching out your bobbins, and all that. But as far as starter projects I would just go with the whole reason that you wanted to do embroidery in the first place.

So if that was because you're expecting a baby and you want to have a personalized onesie, why not start there? There's a ton of education out there that can help you get started and help you with your stabilizer choice, and design choice, and all that good stuff, so definitely utilize your trusty internet to sort of springboard you with those projects . Yes, absolutely, and I love those little stitch sample or stabilizer sample, all that sort of sample library. We do that with any kind of sewing, any kind of quilting, even a library of some of the decorative stitches on your machine, so it's always good to have that kind of all in one place. So, and I know this is another thing that I know you're even just recently accessing on your computer, but Sulky has resources to help you know.

So say you get this sample pack of all these stabilizers, an idea of how to know which one to use with what, right? Yeah, we have a really cool tool on the website at Sulky.com that is a stabilizer selector tool. So you can go in and say, "I'm using cotton fabric, "and I'm doing cut work," and it will sort of spit out some recommendations for you and some other stuff to read to make sure that that combination's gonna work for your project. Now, it's not foolproof, and there are always exceptions to the rule, but it gives you a really great starting point, and 9 times out of 10, it's gonna be the right choice. So definitely utilize that, 'cause it's a really great just automatic tool that's at your disposal.

Perfect. Now, I don't know if you're gonna have an exact answer for this, but this is just something that I just thought up, but how do I know if, so, say I do a little stitch sample, and something just doesn't look right, how do I know if it's, okay, it's the wrong stabilizer versus this was just my first attempt at embroidery, and I might need more practice? Well, I mean, machine embroidery is so automatic, and when you have a problem stitch-out it could be due to any number of factors. I always start by looking at my needle and making sure I've chosen the right needle for what I'm doing. And I think the reason I look there first and foremost is because that's at least 60% of the problem that I encounter with other people who have issues.

It was the needle. It's also the easiest thing to change. So let's start with the easiest thing and move to more difficult things. If you're finding a lot of puckering, but the stitches are being formed properly, your needle and thread are fine, and it's usually either the way that it's hooped or the stabilizer choice. So you generally need more stabilizer.

It could be a different stabilizer, but a lot of the times you might just need an extra layer. And puckering is something I hear a lot about, and usually it's because the person has hooped the fabric too tightly in the hoop. And so when you do that it actually separates the fabric fibers along the hoop edge, and then when you go to release it, those fibers want to go back, and that's what creates your puckering. So you could have this beautiful-looking embroidery in the hoop, and then all of the sudden, oh my gosh, what has happened? People want to blame the thread.

They want to blame the digitizer. They want to blame the stabilizer. A lot of the times it's hooping it way too tight trying to get it tight, tight, tight as a drum, and you really just don't need it to be that tight, quite honestly. Perfect. That makes sense, and I feel like that's something that, I did some hand embroidery way back in the day before I ever did any kind of machine embroidery.

And I feel like I was always constantly, you just kind of get in the habit of pulling your fabric super tight and constantly, always re-pulling it. So I could definitely see how that could be a common mistake. Speaking of hand embroidery, 'cause you mentioned this too, and I think it's something that's super fun and exciting, what do you guys have going on with hand embroidery? Yeah, so love hand embroidery. And we happen to have 12-weight cotton thread, and that is what we are recommending for hand embroidery.

And a lot of people think that that's crazy. They're like, "That is thread that comes on a spool. "Why should I use that for handwork?" Well, one strand of that thread equals two strands of traditional embroidery floss, but it comes on a spool, right? So you can also use it in your machine if you have a big enough needle. And it has a snap spool on it, just like all the Sulky spools, so you can wind your thread into the snap spool, and you don't have the problem with floss where the minute you try to separate strands you've got a giant mess on your hands and tangles and knots that you have to cut out, and then you're wasting a bunch of thread, or floss, rather.

So it's great for just organization, really, but it also creates beautiful stitches. So we created a brand new YouTube video series. It's called "Hand Embroidery for Kids," and it's actually for kids or the young at heart, let's say, or, really, people of any age who want to learn hand embroidery. We're starting out really, really simple, gathering a few supplies that you'll need. Hand embroidery is like the gateway drug, I like to say, for sewing and crafting because it's really easy to start.

You don't need a huge investment dollar-wise, and you can really just start stitching without even a pattern. So this series is kinda geared toward the person who wants to teach their younger kids how to embroider, but also for anybody who really wants to start sewing or start creating or start learning that craft. That's perfect. So, 'cause you said you can really just start stitching without needing a pattern or anything, so in my head I'm thinking of two different types of embroidery, one where I'm doing French knots, and I'm making the thread make whatever it is I want to make, and there's where you draw on your fabric a pattern or iron-on transfer a pattern. So is it both of those?

Is it just standard stitching, or are you going to show, and maybe eventually, I know you guys just started this, but the more intricate embroidery stitches? We're actually doing a combo of both. So in the first episode, which you can watch now, we're talking about gathering supplies, and why you need what, and what's gonna help you have the best experience, because anytime you start something new you have got to start off having a good experience, or you're never gonna want to try it again, right? So it's important to sort of arm yourself with the right tools. Then we're gonna go into basic stitching.

And that's really just learning about three basic stitches that you could use to create almost any pattern. You don't need to learn 40 different hand embroidery stitches in order to complete a pattern. You can really do anything with a backstitch or a running stitch. So when we're teaching the stitches it's just gonna be fabric and a hoop and the needle and thread going through the fabric, no pattern at all. You can draw straight lines if you want to kind of get the feel for how far apart to space the stitches, things like that, but that's really just free-form.

Then we're gonna go into transferring a pattern and showing different ways for doing that. And at Sulky, we like to use Stick 'n Stitch stabilizer. It's a sticky-back stabilizer that you can actually run through your printer, so you can choose any design you find out there, clip art, if you buy an embroidery design, you can print it onto the Stick 'n Stitch and then slap that on the fabric right side and sew directly through it. And it washes away completely when your embroidery is done. So it's great for beginners.

It's also great for cheater free-motion embroidery. If you want to do free motion, but you're like, "I don't have the design in my head," draw some free-motion swirls, squiggles, leaves, what have you, onto the Stick 'n Stitch. Place that on your fabric and follow it for your free motion. I call it cheater free motion, but we should take all the help we can get. I was gonna say I don't feel like it's a cheater when you have to transfer a design.

I mean, you do that for any kind of free-motion quilting anyway, if you've never done the design before, or you're using a ruler. Some people use rulers or templates to do quilting, so I don't necessarily think it's cheating. It's helping or utilizing your resources. Sure. Yeah, sure.

Yeah, and you can also cut strips of this, of the Stick 'n Stitch and do straight-line quilting and mark out where that goes and stitch on either side of it. So it has a number of great uses, but it's really, really great for transferring any kind of design. That's perfect, that's awesome. I do want to point out too that we also have a class on National Sewing Circle that a friend of both of ours actually, Jessie Giardino, did, and that is "Embroidery 101." So she has a whole class, about an hour-and-a-half-long class on anything and everything embroidery, regular stitches, fancy stitches. So if you watch the first episode of their YouTube and want a little bit more before their next episode comes out, we, of course, have you covered until then.

So check that out. So we are gonna stray a little bit here from embroidery, but still keep your embroidery questions coming if you have them. But a question just about sewing in general, what is the best way to cut fabric properly? And I'm gonna see how you interpret this, and then I'm gonna follow up with how I interpret this question . That is a loaded question as always, Ashley.

I know . Cutting fabric properly. I'm assuming that means in a straight line, as straight as you can. If it is like a quilting cotton, you want to find the straight of grain and cut along that. I like a rotary cutter for accuracy myself.

I use a rotary cutter, even when cutting out garment patterns with or without a ruler, 'cause I live dangerously. Either that or I've just had a lot of practice. But don't get me wrong. I still use scissors, lots of scissors for different things, but I guess that's my interpretation of it. What about you ?

Yeah, I was kind of thinking in terms of laying out pattern pieces and knowing straight of grain, or does it go on the bias, or how to cut when you've laid out your pattern pieces, and if you have to use any different techniques for, like you mentioned, say, cutting out quilting cotton versus I'm cutting out a really, really stretchy knit fabric or a really slinky something that's hard to work with, how you would handle different fabrics. Yeah, I would say pattern weights all the time if I'm working with pattern pieces, especially a slinky or knit, for sure. But yeah, I'm team rotary cutter all the way. I do like rotary cutter too. I don't know if you can see.

Oh, I'll lift it up a little bit. I have a mat here in front of me. This is my rotary mat that's always on my table, and it works most of the time I'm gonna say for any pattern piece. But okay, say you're cutting out a maxi skirt pattern that you cannot fit the entire pattern piece on your 24- or 36-inch rotary mat. How do you cut halfway and move it without the pattern piece shifting or anything like that?

What are your tips for things that are too big for your mat? I put it on the floor, and I use really big shears. That's what I do. Okay, well, fine. So you just omit the rotary cutter.

All right . I guess in that regard I'm glad to have great fabric scissors . Perfect, perfect. Well, since you did mention pattern weights, I do want to talk about pattern weights 'cause we have several videos on National Sewing Circle for pattern weights: one that I did where you can make your own pattern weights making little yo-yos and using really big washers, and one that you did for us a few years ago I feel like, Ellen. Do you remember what you talked about in that video?

A century ago. I do, and I still have them. I have a set of flexible pattern weights that are so awesome, and people still, they watch that video, and they still are like, "Where do we get those?" And I'm still looking to get more of them because I love them so much. They're basically, you could probably make them yourself, actually, but they're basically like tubes full of sand or whatever they put in them to weigh them down. But they're long and short tubes.

So you can put them around curves, and they don't go anywhere. And on either end they have a little piece of plastic or something that makes them not move around while you're cutting, and yeah, they're the bomb. I love them. I feel like if somebody is watching and wants a little side project, somebody needs to start just a pattern weight company, because you have your flexible pattern weights that you love and can't find anymore. And Nicki, who we usually have on here too, has her pattern weights that have the little pins on them, so they actually pin into the fabric, and she can't find those anymore either.

So it's like all of the really good types of pattern weights have disappeared. So we need somebody bring all those back. I know. If you flip the camera to you, I'll get up and find mine. Okay.

And then I can show everyone. Okay, we will. While she disappears to find her pattern weights, I'm gonna bring in the next question, which I guess could come in handy with pattern weights because you're gonna be cutting out, potentially, a fabric that's a little bit stretchy, because our next question is about making a cami-like tank top and the best way to make one of those with a built-in bra. So can you talk a little bit about how you would make a cami tank top and if you have ever done anything with sewing in a built-in bra? Oh, wow.

Actually, I never have. I have never made a corset. I have never put a bra in something. I did attempt making my own bra, but that's a totally different story. So I guess I am not the greatest person to answer that question.

Okay, so I just- Just making a cami-like tank top, so I'm thinking would you use your pattern weights for cutting out the knit fabric you're probably gonna be using for your tank top? Oh. That was your, here, show your pattern weights, cue. Yeah, here it is. See it?

They're my favorite. And everyone's gonna be like, "Where do we get those?" I'm so sorry. You'll have to make it. But yeah, it is just like a tube. You can put whatever you want to weight it, and then- Yeah, and then they just have little caps on either end.

It has to be super simple, and it's made out of knit fabric, so it's not too crazy. As far as the straps though, on a tank top, strappy tank top, I would see what kind of specialty feet your machine has, because if it has a piping foot or something like that, oh, and I'm trying to think of the right attachment, but you can actually make really, really small tubes, and so easy with some of these feet attachments. So I did just want to mention that as far as the tank top goes, because sometimes strap is the hardest part to get perfect when it goes super small. Yeah, another thing is I actually just did, it's been a couple months ago now, but if you look back through videos on the National Sewing Circle Facebook page, I did one on tools, and I showed how to use one of those tube turners that looks like a super long latch hook. And you actually put it into the skinny tube, latch it, and pull it out, and it's wire thin.

So having something like that really helps you turn it right-side out as well. Follow-up real quick on the built-in bra one just because, again, we thought two opposite things, 'cause I wasn't thinking a bra that you would make to wear. I was thinking just one where it's like an extra layer of fabric and then just has a piece of elastic, almost like a sports bra kind of type. Would you have tips on how to put just an elastic onto the lower end of something and then another piece over the top to make the actual tank top? Yeah, I would treat it like a lining piece, but just cut it off at the bottom where you want it to hit your body, and that's gonna vary based on people's cup size, bust size, all that stuff.

And then sew it into the side seams, and your elastic can either have a little casing, or you can really just sew the lower edge to the elastic, depending on the fit you're going for or the comfort level, I guess. And again, that's another thing that's cool. If you're sewing this on a serger, which I highly recommend for everything knit, there are serger feet attachments that will actually help you gather things to elastic if you want it to be a little bit fuller underneath the outer tank-top shell. So I would play around with that also. Gotcha, I like it.

Of course, if you've never used a serger before, National Sewing Circle has tons of videos and classes on sergers, but if you're somebody who's watching who says, "I don't have a serger. "I already invested in a sewing machine, "so I don't for this one project want to go buy a serger," what is the difference or, I guess, pros and cons of picking a serger over picking an overlock stitch on your standard sewing machine? Well. What's the difference? What a great question that is, Ashley.

I don't know that there really is that much of a difference. It's just one is obviously on a different machine. Right, and one can do four or seven or eight or more threads all at once. So you'll get much more coverage in and around your seam allowance with a serger, but you can certainly get by with just an overlock stitch. It all depends on, again, what sewing are you doing most often?

If you're gonna make a tank top here or there, or you're gonna make a T-shirt every so often, you can definitely get by using your standard sewing machine and buying some things like a twin needle for your hems, experimenting with overlock, or even some machines have coverstitch options, I think, too. So yeah, there are a lot of different ways you can sort of adapt what you already have. Right, absolutely. I just was curious 'cause I have a serger. That is, I've had it for years.

It is still packed away in the styrofoam in the box in the closet on the top shelf. That's how often I want to access the serger because it's just- Oh, Ashley. I'm so used to, I know, I'm so used to my sewing machine that the serger is, gosh, I don't know, I could probably do it with my machine. So if there's a way to do it on my machine, I'm probably gonna try that first, but why shouldn't I be afraid of my serger? Well, because sergers are the best.

I am a person who likes to sew pedal to the metal, my foot to the floor. I'm a very fast sewer. Now, sometimes that's not super great for accuracy, but when you're using a serger, and like, I like to make pajama pants for my kids for Christmas, right? So when I'm doing like assembly-line style with pajama pants, and I'm doing inseams, outer seams, long seams that need to stretch, I can serge all those seams in no time. If I have to sew them on the sewing machine with a stretch stitch and then finish each seam allowance with an overlock stitch, I mean, I'm never gonna get the Christmas presents done.

You know what I mean? Don't be afraid of your serger. Oh my gosh, sergers are so awesome. And actually, you're always asking me what I'm working on right now, and I'm staring at the fabric that I have for this, but I am actually working on some serger curriculum for some exciting upcoming Sulky things, and I'm experimenting with all kinds of different thread weights in the loopers for decorative serger thread work, and it's so fun and addictive. So, sneak peek for you, but don't be afraid.

Okay, well, I feel like I can't try it out this month 'cause it's National Embroidery Month, and I'm gonna be doing too much embroidery. So maybe next month I'll find a reason to use it, but- April is National Serger Month, so you gotta have me back- Is it really? April, and we will discuss. Okay, I didn't know. So, do you know, is there a National Sewing Month?

I should know this, but- National Sewing Month- Is there one? Is, I want to say, September. Gotcha. And National Quilting Month is March. I know all the national months.

I'm all over it. I didn't know. I'm gonna have to start getting a different calendar with the right kind of holidays on it, apparently. Those are the ones I need to know. But speaking of quilting, we do have a quilting question that came in.

Eve says that she is a first-time quilt maker and wants to know what do you attach the quilt to, the quilt top? What to attach it to? Like the backing? The batting and backing, I'm assuming. Oh, okay, well, batting and backing, right?

So they do make yardage that is super wide for the backs of quilts. So you can get 110-wide fabric, depending on how wide your quilt is. So let us know how wide your quilt is, but I highly suggest going that route 'cause it's way better than piecing together fabric for your backing and trying to match a print if you want to do a print. But a lot of the times, especially in your local big box sort of fabric stores will only carry neutral solids in the super wide fabrics. So if you do want a print, you almost always have to piece it together.

And it really all depends on how much of a stickler you are. Do you want the fabric print to match at the seam and look totally seamless, or are you okay with it not matching up? And then you kind of decide do you want the seam to go down the center of your backing, or do you want two seams along the side? So you kind of have your choice of how to piece it together, just like the top, and as far as backing goes, I would go with the same quality and weight of fabric as you used on the front, except in certain circumstances when you want to be decorative or have a different look. Like if you're making a picnic blanket, and you want the backing to be a little heavier than the front because you're gonna be putting it on the grass or what have you, you could do a denim backing that's pieced, or you could do a laminated cotton for the backing so that it would have sort of waterproof properties.

So in those cases you can switch up the back, but something that you're gonna be using to sleep on or cuddle up with, I would go with the same sort of fabric quality and thread count as the top. And then batting is really your choice. Do you want low loft, high loft? Do you want to be able to quilt it a lot? So you need to ask yourself these questions, and that will determine what type of batting to choose for the project.

Yeah, absolutely. And a plug for another video 'cause I haven't said it enough, but we have a video on National Quilters Circle, our sister site, on choosing the right type of batting and just also a sort of a sample video on all the different types of batting out there, 'cause there is cotton, polyester, cotton-poly blends, bamboo, all kinds out there, but I never thought about the idea of making the picnic blanket and using that as the backing, so I think that's an awesome idea. I like it. That's kind of a sewing-quilting combo there, so it's perfect. Awesome, well, I want to thank you so much for being here to talk embroidery and quilting and sewing and all things sort of crafty with us tonight.

And one thing I do want to, I almost forgot to mention it and I don't want to, so I do want to talk about you might have seen a banner either above or below your video, depending on where you're watching, for our next National Sewing Circle trip. And so this is actually a trip to Ireland, and you get to see all of the amazing things in Ireland, Dublin, Galway, Killarney. And I actually got to go on this trip last year, and it's amazing, so you definitely don't want to miss out, so you can sign up for that. And that is through Craftours, which both Ellen and I have done trips to different locations with Craftours, and we both very much enjoyed our trips, correct? Oh, absolutely.

Love Craftours . Yes, absolutely. So be sure to sign up for that if you want to join Nicki in Ireland with National Sewing Circle, and then, of course, join us back here next month, and we'll talk more things of sewing and quilting.