October 21st, 2010
My threads are located on a rack on a wall just inside the ‘sewing pantry’ of the studio.
Across the top there is a collection of top-stitching thicker threads. The machine embroidery threads are located in the middle and at the bottom are the regular sewing threads.
The wooden frame was homemade especially to fit the area. When making it we thought the the little wooden upright spikes you can see in the picture below would be necessary but because the shelves are wide enough to accommodate the spools, we found that they are not really crucial for the embroidery threads.
However, spikes are definitely needed for the threads across the top that are on a slant.The adhesive labels that are visible on the shelves provide the name and number for the Robison-Anton Super Strength Rayon Embroidery Thread Range – Mini King Spools.
I designed and manufactured these labels to help myself and others organise their threads. They are available on my website on the merchandise page: http://www.paperworkgenie.com.au/machine_embroidery_designs.html
The labels can be affixed directly to the area where each thread resides because the label width equals the width of the spools. The thread labels have been printed in the same order as the colour/tone chart in the Paperwork Genie Thread Finder booklet – black, grey, white, bone, brown, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and red. This book is also available at the link above on my website.
I have a second storage rack (also affixed to the wall) for the overlocker thread cones. The front and side views are pictured above. The two towers are not homemade. They are really CD/DVD media shelves with adjustable shelf heights. As you can see the cones fit in beautifully.
Happy Sewing from the Genie
Tags: Machine Embroidery Threads, Sewing Threads, storage
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August 20th, 2010
How to tell if a fabric is 100% natural fibre!
All you need to do is a burn test!
Firstly cut a small sample of the fabric. Hold the fabric sample with a pair of tongs over the kitchen sink or bowl of water and light the fabric with lighter or match. All fabrics burn but some more vigorously than others so take care: some fabrics melt and drip and will really burn you, if they come in contact with your skin.
The general rule I follow is:
Firstly, if the sample burns rapidly, gives off a deep black smoke and is hard to blow out, there is a good possibility that there is some synthetic fibre in the fabric.
Secondly, the resulting ash should be able to crumble to nothing between your fingers if it is a natural fibre. However if the resulting ash is a hard ball of tar it is a man-made petroleum product like polyester, etc.
Some extra guidelines are:
Cotton and linen are made from a plants and smell like burning leaves and the ash crumbles easily.
Silk is a protein produced by silk worms and smells like burning hair and the ash crumbles easily.
Wool is also a protein fibre and is a little harder to ignite but it also smells like burning hair and the ash crumbles easily.
Tags: fabric, material, Sewing
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August 20th, 2010
Another storage solution for your sewing by the Paperwork Genie!
Trolley housed under the cutting table for easy access within reach of cutting mat.
Panel of Embroidered Pockets hung on the end of storage trolley located under the fabric cutting table in the sewing studio.
Tags: craft, Sewing, storage
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August 2nd, 2010
- Office equipment can be repurposed to suit your sewing needs: Once a suspension file trolley – now storage for sewing machine embroidery hoops.
The embroidery hoop storage trolley pictured here was “invented” by using an office suspension file trolley. The top of the trolley where hanging files usually sit is manufactured to be adjustable so as to accommodate different file widths. To make the hoop holder I adjusted the width outward to the maximum and then cut wooden dowel rods to fit inside the width. I then cut out a groove (about the width of 2 coins held together) on the end of each rod so that the wooden rods could be pushed back and forth along the metal lip intended for the suspension files. This is very successful as the bags cannot fall sideways however if you make the groove too skinny they will not slide well.
Next I sorted my sewing machine hoops and made a list of all the sizes and printed labels onto canvas photo paper in my inkjet printer. These labels were sewn onto the dowel rod pocket tops during the construction of the hoop-holding bags while the fabric was still flat. The white canvas labels are easily seen on the top of the thick brown nylon fabric. As each fabric bag was finished the dowel rod was inserted into the rod pocket at the top of the bag and the hoop and its templates were placed into the bag.
My majestic hoop (360 x 360) was too large to go inside the sliding area of the trolley, so a large embroidered bag was designed and made to fit the outside front end of the trolley. This bag doubled as an attractive display, as the trolley is rolled under the sewing table and this end shows out from for all to see. In my 4D Embroidery Software I created a majestic hoop design by combining several circus embroidery designs and adding some text. This large bag is held in place by some Velcro coming out from the top (at the back) of the bag going over the metal bar and then attaching to the back of the bag: Very secure and tidy. This storage trolley works well and I am very proud of the outcome!
Side View of hoop storage trolley
Tags: craft, embroidery, Sewing, storage
Posted in Machine Embroidery | 3 Comments »
August 2nd, 2010
The cost of creating this picnic rug and carry sling were kept to a minimun by using fabric from outdated shop sample-books!
- Outdated fabric samples were used to create this colourful rug with carry sling! The handles for the sling were made by quilting secondhand men’s silk neckties.
When you love to sew, you love fabric and love finding new sources of fabric to build your stash. You do not need to purchase all your fabric ‘new” off the bolt. Here are a few suggestions:
Factories: If you have any local sewing factories or upholstery shops, stop by or give them a call. Many will be more than happy to unload their scrapes and save themselves a few dollars on land fill costs.
Sample-books: Outdated fabrics sample-books are no longer useful to a furniture store yet the samples are large enough for many projects or can be combined to make an item. I recently completed 2 picnic quilts from sample books and added some pockets from jeans to hold knives, forks, serviettes or whatever. Some of the pockets were appliquéd and others were embroidered with Kachina Dolls from the Hopi Indians: See Pictures
Charity Shops: Do not forget the charity stores and OP shops where you can get new fabric at bargain prices.
Internet Auction Sites: eBay and other auction sites can be a bargain basement! One of the best ways to get a bargain is to look for local pickup items to save having to pay postage. There is usually a way to sort the search results on an auction site. For instance, on eBay, after you have performed a search, at the top right of the page you will see a “Sort by” window with a drop down arrow. Choose “Distance: nearest first” and all the local items will be at the top of the list.
Searching the correct way can also bring rewards. Here is an eBay example – I entered “pick up Gold Coast” because I live on the Gold Coast and got 26 results. However when I clicked the [Advanced Search] button next to the Search button and ticked the box next to Title & description (meaning that now eBay would search all the titles and all the descriptions as well, to locate my items) I got over 16000 results. Of course I was not interested in all local pick up items, so I added to my search. I entered “pick up Gold Coast fabric” and the results number lowered to 967. There are lots of non-craft items like lounges and readymade clothes in the results but I made sure my results were sorted by distance/nearest first and anything over 10 kilometres did not get a look. So after looking a 2 -3 pages of results I was done. You can save a search in your My eBay and use it over and over. Just go to My eBay, in the Activity tab under Organise, click Saved Searches and then click the search that you wish to perform. Easy as…!
It really all depends on the type of things you like to create with your craft. If you like to make dolls, for instance, you might find some really great fabric at the Op-shop by purchasing a discarded bridesmaid dress or other evening gown. If you like to do patchwork you might find a factor that can provide 100% cotton offcuts.
When I am looking for a particular item I tell a lovely lady that works at a nearby charity shop and she helps me source my craft needs cheaply. I regularly take her samples of my homemade jams or produce from my garden to encourage the relationship. This win-win system works well for us both, as well as the shop!
Sourcing your craft needs in the ways mentioned above, means that many projects can be completed for little or no expense!
Tags: craft, EBay, fabric, material, Sewing
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August 2nd, 2010
Fabric Stash in my Studio
Pre-washing Fabric:
As a general rule, try to get into the habit of washing your fabrics before you put it into your stash. I am not suggesting that you put it into the washing machine and spin it: just hand wash lightly and hang out to drip dry. Fabric is stretched and pressed at the factory ready to be rolled and sold. If you choose not to wash your fabric and then wash the finished article, rarely will the seams and fabric shrink to the same degree, leaving a puckered mess when the fabric shrinks and the seams do not.
Where to store:
The space you have available is the main deciding factor for storage but you need to protect your fabric from moisture, dust, grease and smoke.
Personally I am anti-plastic in general (both tubs and bags). You are better served by keeping your stash in wooden drawers or on wooden shelves, lined with acid free paper or in fabric bins. If you are lucky enough to have a studio/sewing room, a walk in pantry style of cupboard is fantastic but a hanging cupboard is also great. However, bookcases with a “curtain front” showing off one of your masterpieces can be a good choice too. Fold the fabric to fit the storage space so that it will take up a minimal amount of space and be easy to see in the group. If you decide to use boxes be sure to use acid free products.
Once you have the tonal groups of each colour (as described in the previous post), butt them up together sideways if possible, not one on top of the other, so that you can take out and return the desired set of fabrics that you wish to audition for your project. In this way you will not have to lift the whole colour set, to get what you want.
Some speciality fabrics such as velvet, may become permanently crushed and unusable if it is folded so as a general rule, if the fabric was hanging at the store rather than rolled onto a bolt, hang it when you bring it home.
Sunlight: Don’t store fabric where sunlight can reach it as the sunlight may fade the exposed section, leaving you with two tone fabric.
Easy access = greater productivity!
Tags: craft, fabric, material, Sewing, storage
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May 30th, 2010
I think it is fitting that the very first post on my new blog should be about what gives me great pleasure – sewing crafts!
How to Sort Fabric
Your collection of fabric should be sorted into natural fibres and man-made ones. So firstly sort your fabric into fabric types – wool, 100% cotton, silk, synthetic fibres and upholstery fabrics. Most of my own fabric collection is 100% cotton used as a craft stash but I have a small amount of other natural fibre fabrics.
Take each fabric group (types named above) and sort the items in the group by colour using the rainbow as the base. For example gather all the reds and sort from palest to darkest. The table below shows the possibilities.
| |
Pale |
Light |
Light to medium |
Medium |
Medium to dark |
Dark |
Saturated colour |
| Red |
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| Orange |
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| Yellow |
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| Green |
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| Blue |
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| Indigo |
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| Violet |
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Part of my fabric collection showing fabric sorted by colour and tone.
Making 3 piles (Light, Medium, and Dark) of a fabric colour is easy but to get the more subtle changes of value, lay a sheet of red cellophane over your fabrics and the values or tonal quality of the fabric will be much easier to see. Using colour value try to make the 7 groups for each colour as shown above. Once sorted you will easily see where your stash is lacking.
Visit http://www.paperworkgenie.com.au/machine_embroidery_designs.html to see what sewing products the Genie has for sale.
Tags: fabric, material
Posted in Sewing | 3 Comments »
