sewing – Page 7

August 28, 2020

Choosing a Fusible

When fusible products first arrived into the home sewing marketplace, they were stiff and frequently made the fabric bubble or wrinkle due to adhesion issues. Today, these new and improved heat-activated adhesive products are a boon to our sewing tasks. Let’s take a look at some of what you’ll find to expedite your sewing adventures.

Fuze News

Woven, non-woven and knit interfacings in myriad weights and colors eliminate tedious basting of sew-in varieties. They add stability to collars and cuffs, buttonholes and placket openings, as well as to entire garment sections. Fusible interfacing can also be pre-cut into strips with built-in fold lines, like for a waistband or placket application.

Appliqué

For appliquérs, check out the variety of fusible webs. Note that some are very open mesh for a lighter fuse, while others are an extruded film for a more secure hold. Look for them with or without any paper backing—on one or two sides. Fusible webs are available by the yard, in pre-cut sheets or in narrow tape sizes for hemming, applying trim, etc. Some webs are repositionable, adding permanency only when they are heat activated; other web products can be inkjet printed with pattern shapes.

Machine Embroidery

For machine embroiderers, there are numerous types of fusible stabilizers—some permanent, some temporary.

Quilting

For quilters, there’s fusible fleece, a needle-punched product, and several types of fusible battings, both single and double-sided, depending on their use. Narrow fusible web tape is ideal for adhering binding to the quilt—just position it along each edge, peel the protective paper and fuse in place for a secure hold while stitching.

Piecing

For piecing batting, look for fusible tapes designed to span the joining seamlessly.

Purses & Totes

For purse and tote aficionados, look for fusible heavy craft interfacings and fusible foams (single- or double-sided). They hold tight to keep bags in good shape.

Tailoring

If you’re a tailoring guru, there’s fusible stay tapes designed to keep shoulders and roll lines sturdy. They’re available in straight and bias grains, depending on the use. These tapes are also great for maintaining shoulder shaping in knit T-shirts, and keeping ripple-less hem shaping. For shaping jacket and coat sections, look for fusible hair canvas.

Other Fusibles and Uses

Need to add a little protection to your project? Look for clear fusible vinyl in either matte or shiny finishes.
Have trouble making even piping? Look no further than Wrap ‘n Fuse Piping. Its core is surrounded by fusible web, so all you have to do is add fabric—no stitching required.
There are a host of fusible ribbons and trims, as well as fusible thread. The latter is used when just a hint of fusible is needed, like for a hem edge or holding a pants crease in place.
For a secure closure, you can use fusible hook-and-loop tape—no sewing required.
If you need to convert a non-fusible product into a fusible, look for spray fusibles—heat-activate after spraying for a permanent adhesive. Or check out powdered fusibles—just sprinkle over the surface, then heat to fuse.

Save your pattern!
If you have a pattern that you love and make repeatedly, fuse lightweight interfacing to the tissue pieces to keep them from tearing during repeated use.

Rules of the Game

Always read the instructions for your fusible product, as temperatures vary for adhesion. Some products require the use of moisture for secure fusing, while others demand dry heat. Some also require a press cloth.
It’s a good idea to pre-wash your project fabric, as finishes can sometimes play havoc with fusible adhesives.
Always test-fuse to your project fabric before committing to a product’s use. Let the swatch cool and see how you like the feel of the combined layers—is it too stiff, or too soft; does it drape like you want?
Keep iron cleaner nearby and cover your ironing surface, as it never fails that there’s some errant fusible adhesive finding its way off the intended course.
When fusing, apply firm pressure and lift the iron to the next location, slightly overlapping the first position—don’t slide it, as you can create wrinkles. Allow the fused piece to cool before moving it.

~Linda Griepentrog
Linda is the owner of G Wiz Creative Services and she does writing, editing and designing for companies in the sewing, crafting and quilting industries. In addition, she escorts fabric shopping tours to Hong Kong. She lives at the Oregon Coast with her husband Keith, and two dogs, Yohnuh and Abby. Contact her at .

August 21, 2020

Sewing Basics: Hand Sewing Needles

Hand Sewing: Needle Knowledge

Although some sewists will do just about anything to avoid sewing something by hand, most will inevitably face times when hand sewing will be necessary to complete a project. Knowing which needle to choose for the project makes the task of hand sewing much easier. In this article, we look at the basics of hand sewing needles.

Hand sewing needles come in various sizes, lengths, shapes, points with each element focused on giving the best results with various types of projects. In all varieties, the size relates to the shaft of the needle.

The larger the number, the shorter and finer the shaft of the needle and the smaller the eye.
As a rule of thumb, the finer the fabric you are working with, the finer the needle (larger size number) you will want to use. Here are a few needle types you may want to keep in your stash.

Sharps

If you only have one type of needle in your stash, choose a Sharp. These are a good general-purpose needle with a nice sharp point, a round eye, and medium length. They come with either a single eye or double eye for those times when you might want to use two strands of thread. A double-eyed needle comes in a variety of sizes and allows you to carry two strands of thread without stressing the fabric with undue friction. These will be useful for several types of sewing including dressmaking, appliqué, hand piecing, and patchwork. Choose sizes 2-4 for medium to heavy weight fabrics; sizes 5-10 for medium to light weight fabrics; and sizes 11-12 for fine fabrics and for creating small, delicate stitches.

Quilting (a.k.a Betweens)

Betweens work very well for their intended purpose, which is to assist quilters in making quick, even stitches through several layers of fabric. They are easy to control and result in very small holes in the fabric. Sizes typically range from 5 to 12, but beginners may do best with a size 7 or 8. The traditional style of quilting between needles is short and has a small, rounded eye. However, if the smaller eye is a problem, you can also find them with a large eye for easier threading, generally available in size 10.

Ball Point

Ball points are designed specifically for sewing knits. They have a slightly rounded tip that glides between the yarns of knit fabric, thus making small holes and protecting against breaking the knit fibers. As opposed to a sharp point that may pierce the fabric, the rounded ends of these ball point needles push the knit loops apart, making it easy for you to sew. Ballpoint needles are generally a poor choice for woven fabrics since the rounded tip will not cleanly pierce through the weave.

Darners

Darner needles are large, not as sharp, have a long, large eye to accommodate larger threads like yarn and embroidery floss, and come in fewer sizes than other needles. Darner styles include short cotton darners, yarn darners, and long darning needles. They are primarily used, as the name implies, for mending and darning, but they can also be used for making long, quick basting stitches.

Embroidery

Embroidery needles are basically a Sharps needle with a longer eye. They are designed for things like smocking, heirloom sewing and embroidery, but can also be used in every day sewing. Their longer eye can accommodate different types of thread and make threading the needle much easier. The most popular sizes for these needles are sizes 7 and 9.

Keeping Things Organized

With all the various types of needles, it can be easy to lose track of what type you have in your stash unless you have a system for keeping them organized. Here are some ideas for how to keep your needles organized:

Put them back into the packaging they came in.
Make a “needle book” from squares of labeled felt
Convert a multi-day pill container to a needle organizer by placing a label over the day of the week to identify the type and size of needle.
Purchase a needle storage pack, like the Hand Needle Pack from Colonial Needle to sort and store hand needles. The Hand Needle Pack is pre-printed with types and sizes to store up to 12 types of needles. (Tip: ASG Members can access a discount for Colonial Needle in the Special Offers section of ASG.org)
Purchase a tomato-shaped needle cushion like the Clover Sort & Store. Or, create one yourself by using your own tomato-style pin cushion and a sharpie to label sections for each type of needle (an ASG member idea!).

Regardless of the method you choose, now that you understand that each needle has its own purpose, you can see the importance of keeping them separate and organized.

We hope this article has helped you learn a few new things that are helpful to your hand sewing as well!

~Sheryl Belson, ASG Member

August 7, 2020

Buttons: Attachment Antics

Button, Button

Whether you use them functionally to close a garment, tote or other project, or you line them up as a border or trim or even string them together for a bracelet, buttons are definitely a fun sewing notion.

You can find buttons made from plastic, metal, bone, rhinestones, wood and a host of novelty materials. They can be machine made and mass produced in a variety of shapes and sizes, or carefully handmade one at a time. And you can even make your own buttons.

Sew-through or Shank?

When you first look at the button rack in your sewing store, you will notice two types of buttons—those with visible holes and those without. The holed buttons may sport two, three, four or more holes, offering a wide range of options for attachment.

buttons with shanks — Buttons with shanks

Shank buttons don’t have a visible means of attachment on the button surface, and thus offer the opportunity for a more ornate design. The attachment loop is on the underside, either molded into the button backing, or as an attached plastic or wire loop.

While a sew-through button is flatter against the fabric surface, a shank allows the button to sit above the surface of the fabric and is ideal for thicker fabrics like coating and suiting.

Size Wise

Buttons can range from 1/8” to around 2 ½” diameter. Your project pattern should tell you what size is recommended and you can look for that measurement on the button card.

It’s a good idea not to vary the button size too much from the pattern’s suggestion, as the closure needs to fit within the allotted space on the garment. If you choose a different size, it may be necessary to re-space and/or resize buttonholes.

Attachment Antics

While you may have years of experience sewing on buttons, there are some tricks to make the process easier.

If you have a sew-though button and you’re putting it on a garment sewn from a thick fabric, consider making a thread shank to avoid having the button make an indentation in the overlapping layer. The easiest way to do this is to put a toothpick between the button holes while sewing it on. Then, pull out the toothpick when the attachment is done, leaving you extra thread length to accommodate the fabric thickness.

A second way to make room for thick fabric involves leaving extra space below the button for a thread extension, then wrapping that extension to neaten the multiple thread strands of the shank. The length of the shank should accommodate the fabric thickness.

For a quick and easy button attachment for sew-through versions, use your sewing machine to secure the threads. Consult your owner’s manual for exact settings, but use an open-toe foot (some machines have special button sewing feet). Some button feet offer a metal projection to allow for making a thread shank on the button. If you need to secure the button before sewing, tape it in place, stitch through it, then peel off after sewing. Set the stitch length to zero and the adjust the stitch width to span the button holes. Then stitch back and forth between the holes about five times, and if it’s a four-hole button, move onto the next hole set and repeat. At the end of the process, lock or tie the threads on the underside.

Got a novelty thread or ribbon you want to showcase, or a thin leather strip? Tie the sew-through button on. Put the strand through a large needle eye and stitch down through the hole from the right side, leaving an end long enough to tie. Bring the strand back up through the other hole(s) and tie off securely in a square knot. A bit of seam sealant can be used to secure the knot. Clip the strand ends shorter.

Fun or Funk

If you have an especially large or odd shaped button that you dearly love, but it would need a giant buttonhole to actually function, be clever and just sew it to the overlap side, either with or without an uncut buttonhole stitched under it. To make the functional closure, use snaps for an open-and-shut case without undo stress.

July 31, 2020

Working with Snaps

Snap to it! Snaps, the handy two-part fasteners that we often don’t think much about, offer a multitude of options for garment closures.

Look for them in metal finishes (silver, gold, black or some colors) and in a multitude of plastic hues. There are also clear snaps available for greater invisibility and they’re ideal for prints, where choosing the right color can be tricky. When choosing metal snaps, be sure they are rustproof for durability.

Whether you use them for their intended purely functional purpose of holding two fabric layers together without visibility, or you use them artfully for a collage of added texture or a blatant “accessory”, the humble snap deserves attention.

Sew-on snaps come with two parts—a ball or knob portion, and a socket portion that accommodates the depth of the ball section when the pieces are pushed together. These are sometimes referred to as the ball and socket, or the male and female portion of snaps.

Size Wise

Snaps come in a variety of sizes from 1/8” diameter up to about 1 1/4” diameter. Most snaps are round with multiple holes around the perimeter, but some snaps are square, hexagonal or novelty shape, like flowers, hearts, etc.

Looking to purchase snaps? Shop Ghees or the Sewing Place and don’t forget to check the Special Offers page for ASG member discounts.

Smaller snaps are thinner than their larger counterparts, and thus have less holding power, so match the snap size to the weight of the fabric and the durability needed for the closure.

Snaps utilize three different sizing systems, depending on the brand. Some are categorized by their fractional or metric size (i.e. 1/4” or 30mm), others utilize a ligne system where 40 lignes=1”, and still others are listed by a letter sizing system. It’s easiest to just look at the snap and decide its practicality for the intended use.

Attachment Options

Snaps go between two layers of a project opening and are normally concealed, though fashion trends vary and often snaps become a decorative feature. It’s a good idea to have interfacing in the area where the snap sections be applied for durability.

Mark the location of one half of the snap, noting that the ball portion usually is applied to the underlayer and the socket portion to the overlap, but some sewers prefer the opposite. For easier marking, attach the ball portion first, then chalk the extension and press in place over the underlayer to transfer the marking.

To attach the snap sections, sew in and out of the same hole three to five times, being sure that the stitching doesn’t go through to the outside of the garment. After one hole is secure, carry the thread through the fabric layers to the next hole and repeat the process for each subsequent hole before knotting the thread and burying the tails.

For a more couture finish, attach the snap sections using a blanket stitch to secure the holes.

Snap portions can also be attached by machine, much as you would sew on a button. To hold the snap in place for sewing, tape it in place, sew through the tape, then peel off when stitching is complete. Use an open-toe foot, set the machine for zero stitch length and a stitch width to span the hole opening and the edge of the snap. Stitch in place three to five times to secure, then move to the next hole. Note that with this method, stitching will show on the reverse side of the garment opening.

Covering Up

If you don’t like the look of a large metal snap, especially on a tailored garment, think about covering the parts. You can also purchase snaps in various colors that are pre-covered.

To cover a snap, cut a circle of tightly woven lining two and a half times the diameter of the snap for each section. Hand-sew a line of running stitches around the perimeter leaving long thread tails. Place the snap half right side down onto the circle and pull the threads to gather the fabric tightly around the snap section. Pull tightly and stitch the circle edges together. The gathered fabric portion edges are hidden under the snap when it’s sewn in place. Repeat for the second snap half. To expose the ball portion, push the snap halves together and separate the fabric threads. If your covering fabric is prone to fraying, use a toothpick and add a very thin line of seam sealant around the base of the extension.

Sew on the snap sections as you would an uncovered variety.

July 10, 2020

Using Striped Fabric to Bind an Edge

It’s Stripe Hype!

Whether you’re binding a jacket front, collar or a quilt, using a striped fabric for the binding is a great way to accent the edge.

Stripes come in varying forms—from simple two-color versions to multi-color patterning, wide to narrow—but one thing’s for sure: they’re fun!

From the top: crosswise; lengthwise; bias

Stripes can be used three different ways for binding an edge: lengthwise, crosswise or on the bias. The choice depends on the desired finished look.

Using a stripe lengthwise on a binding showcases only about ¼” of the patterning, so for wide stripes, this use really isn’t a good option as you’ll likely see only one color. However, for tiny stripes, you can showcase three or four lines. Using a stripe lengthwise requires more yardage than cutting crosswise and/or more frequent seaming. You can use the entire fabric width and less yardage, but that strategy requires more seaming and matching end to end. The fun part—you can decide which stripes to showcase, but remember you’ll need to allow for seam allowances, so place the featured stripes accordingly.

Cutting binding crosswise is another option that showcases stripe repeats at right angles to the project edge. It allows for more visibility of stripe patterning and fewer seams are required with less yardage.

Many stripe aficionados prefer to cut striped binding on the bias (a true 45° angle) for some diagonal interest. The amount of yardage required depends on how frequently you want to piece the strips, matching the stripes. Cutting striped binding on the bias allows it go smoothly around curves, which is not the case with the horizontal or crosswise cutting, as those grains are suitable only for straight edges (like most quilts) rather than curves.

Piecing

In almost all instances, unless you have a short edge to cover, binding needs to be pieced to make enough length for the project. It can be pieced in two ways: with diagonal or horizontal seams.

Diagonal Seaming: While diagonal seaming makes for flatter binding because seam allowances are offset and not on top of themselves with multiple layers, it can be more difficult to align stripes with this bias seaming.

Crosswise Seaming: For crosswise stripe fabric strips, it’s easier to get a more invisible seam if you use horizontal piecing, sewing strips end to end. This technique also allows for a regular repeat of the stripe. To create a horizontal seam, place strips right sides together matching the same stripe on both layers. Stitch down the center of the stripe, trim the seam allowances to ¼” and press open. If you stitched accurately, the seam should be almost invisible and show a continuous stripe pattern along the binding.

Finishing

Once you’ve pressed your binding in half and sewn it the edge, first press it toward the edge you’re covering. Then fold it to the underside and hand-stitch the folded edge of the binding to the back side of the garment, quilt, etc.

For a quicker finish, fold the binding to the underside, pin or clip securely so that the underlayer is slightly wider than the top binding, and stitch in the ditch of the seamline where you initially attached the binding. Because the binding underside is slightly wider than the top, your stitching should easily catch the folded edge to secure it. Using transparent thread (either smoke or clear) works well for this, especially if your project is multi-color.

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