Sew with Vision
"THE MORE YOU WANT THE MORE YOU GET"
21 Winston Dr, Herring Cove, NS B3V 1J2 Tel: (902) 479-2482
Newsletter 2009
SEW WITH VISION Authorized PFAFF Dealer
Sales - Service - Teaching
TOP DEALER AWARD 2007 & 2008 FOR ATLANTIC CANADA FOR EXCEPTIONAL PERFORMANCE IN SALES & MARKETING PFAFF
Let’s Sew With Vision
Greetings
Welcome to the first addition of Let’s Sew with Vision. Hopefully it won’t be the last edition.
My goal is to entertain and inform on topics related to sewing, embroidery, quilting and just about anything else that is somehow related to those subjects. In each addition there will be tips, tricks, congrats, pictures, nostalgia, funnies and whatever I find that seems to fit.
So who am I that I should claim the ability to write sewing newsletter? For those who already know me you can skip this part.
Clara was a good teacher. She taught women to sew through the Distant Education Program and every September she started with a new group of young ladies who wanted to sew. She taught first during the day and then later at night, two days a week for more than 40 years. So it was a given that she was also going to teach me. When I finally started “Home Economics” in school, I was way ahead of my peers. My teacher had enough smarts to know that I didn’t need her help so she let me pick whatever I wanted to make as long as it had the basics that she was teaching the other students.
For the past seven years I have worked as a Sewing Specialist for PFAFF Canada. I travel across the Atlantic area teaching or doing presentations in sewing stores that sell PFAFF sewing machines. I have also travelled country wide representing PFAFF and Sulky products.
In all of this I have found that I really don’t do that much sewing of clothes anymore. There is so much available to purchase at reasonable prices that I only make clothing now if I want something special or different that I cannot buy. Something that is unique. Quilting is where I find my satisfaction these days. But my mother’s love of teaching sewing is in me too and I get a great deal of pleasure out of teaching and watching my students learn and expand their sewing skills.
So it is my hope that you will find this newsletter informative and enjoyable and that it will inspire you to continue to sew, embroider, quilt or perhaps return to the craft if you have drifted away.
Back Then
After my Mum died, I was responsible for sorting out her sewing world and distributing her things as she requested in her will. Amongst all the things, I found a box full of old McCall’s Needlecraft magazines and pattern books as well as an assortment of very old patterns. The magazines are dated back to 1950 and some of the patterns are much older but I haven’t been able to actually date them yet.
So what was happening in 1950? It seems that buttonholes were a problem for the sewer in those days too. There are a large number of ads for tools to make snaps and other closures. And zippers were only 10 cents apiece. And these magazines are huge in size, both dimensionally as well as number of pages. The Needlework edition has 101 pages of patterns without any advertising except at the beginning and end.
The 1950 pattern magazine has 80 pages as well as a price list for “Canadian” buyers. Looking at the pictures of the patterns, I must draw the conclusion that McCall’s artists had a very misshapen view of the female body. The waistlines are drawn in so small; it is a wonder that any of these “paper” models could breath! They all wear gloves and hats and only one pattern for long pants. BUT there were lots and lots of apron patterns! Has it taken 60 years for that fad to come back?
New Favourite Notions
I am constantly on the lookout for new notions that will make my sewing life easier. I like to make table cloths, runners and the like with linen and one of the hardest things to do is to press the ¼ inch measurement and then 1 or 2 inch measurement for the folded hems. It is nearly impossible to iron the fabric in a straight line, while keeping the measurement even all along the edge, especially when the length is 54 inches.
This “Fabric Folding Pen” from Clover has found itself in my Top Five favourite notions in 2009. Following the instructions, you mix the liquid with water in the pen provided. Then you draw your hem measurement with a rotary cutting ruler, using the pen, just like you were drawing with a felt tip marker.
The fabric now will fold exactly on the drawn line and lay flat as if you had pressed it with an iron. Perfectly straight.............Want to see how it works? Next time you are at Sew With Vision, ask Bonnie or Pat to show you. Or if you are taking one of my classes, ask me and I will show you.
I am a travelling sewing lady and I always have glass head pins with me. Why glass head? Because they can be ironed and the tops don’t melt and stick to the iron. This magnetic pin holder from Clover comes in a variety of colours but it also has a COVER so when I travel, I can stash it in my sewing kit without fear of losing the pins everywhere and stabbing myself when I reach into my sewing bag.
And there is a channel in the centre that allows you to reach for the pins and pull them from the magnet one at a time. (And no, the pins won’t fall into the channel because of the way the magnet is polarized)
These two make the Top Five as well. This Clover seam ripper is sharp and fine and let’s face it. We all do some un-sewing every now and then. And its partner is the Tailor’s Awl, which can be your third hand. This one has a fine long handle that is easy to hold and sure helps you get that small block in under the presser foot when you are piecing. It also helps you count layers of fabric. Just scrape up about ¼ inch in along the edge of the fabric and the layer will roll up exposing the fabric underneath. Much easier to count a pile of 2 ½ squares.
The newest in my Top Five favourites is this magical little invention. Very simple. It is an Eraser Pen and it erases marks from wet style water soluble markers. It works just like a felt tip pen and you simple draw over the “blue” marker line. It is gone, just like that. No squirt bottle, water drops or q-tips needed. And it gets out the little tiny marks left after you do machine stitching or embroidery.
Tip To keep water soluble markers from drying out after you open the package, place it in a zip lock bag and then stand it in an old cup or mug with the tip pointing down. These pens start to dry out as soon as they are opened and this will ensure it lasts until you actually use all the solution. And you get what you pay for with these markers. Clover and Collins notions water soluble markers last longer and the marks come out as they are supposed to do.
Christmas Presents Did you get a new sewing machine or serger for Christmas? Not sure how to use all those great new features. Scared to try the Serger because you might mess up the threading? Now is the time to make an appointment with your machine dealer and get those all important user lessons. I encounter many sewers in my travels who are simply amazed that their sewing machine can do that.
You owe it to yourself to learn how to use your machine. Not only do you feel much more satisfaction when you can complete your projects and enjoy them but why spend money on the machine if you are not going to learn how to use it. And when you complete the owners’ classes why not pick a few classes offered at your favourite sewing store. Even if you are not going to use the items made in class, they could make good birthday gifts or thank-yous for family members etc.
At Sew With Vision, Bonnie has assembled some very good teachers and there are numerous classes that cover nearly every type of sewing. Her teachers are very experienced in the topics they teach and you will enjoy the friendship of other like minded students. I count amongst my friends many who I met taking a class or who came to my classes as a student.
The Computer Age It is rare today to find someone who does not own at least one computer. In my home there are three. My laptop has become an intrinsic part of my sewing studio. Because I do a great deal of machine embroidery and long arm machine quilting, learning the sewing software programs that come with my machines has been a necessity. And along with learning these programs, my knowledge of computers has increased exponentially. I do not claim to be an expert but I do say that taking the time to learn my way around a computer key board has saved my sanity many times. Including learning how to put pictures in this program so I can make a presentable newsletter.
Are you concerned that you are not ‘Smart enough” to learn how to use a computer........Nuts to that I say. Laptops are inexpensive and remember those sewing friends I mentioned about. They can help you select the right one to go with your new sewing machine and become good friends when you take software classes together.
If you are a quilter, consider EQ6. What an amazing program. And they have an awesome web page. There are lessons and tutorials, mystery blocks, fabric downloads and on and on. Check it out at www.electricquilt.com
Not a difficult program to learn and again, Sew With Vision, has a great software teacher (Moira Conway) who can help you get through the various levels of this cool quilting software. (She has been known to also rescue students from their grandkids who occasionally set up Nannies computer to enhance her enjoyment ...............NOT)
Another great web page to check out: www.dimacquilt.com Meet Diane Shink, formally from River John, now residing in Montreal. She is a certified quilt appraiser. Got a family heirloom you would like have appraised. Diane returns to Nova Scotia in the summer and her schedule of events is posted on this web page.
New Year’s Resolutions from the Apple Blanche Sewing Studio to help deal with those pesky UFOs.
1. Be honest with yourself concerning what you can and want to actually finish in the arena of UFOs. If you have truly lost interest in the project perhaps one of your sewing buddies would enjoy finishing it. OR maybe you can buckle down and get it done to donate to a local charity. If it is just going to be a bad waste of time, close your eyes and through it out.
2. Make the decision that you will finish one old project each month before you start a new project. Better yet, don’t start any new ones for the month of January. Instead get two or three old ones finished first and when you meet at the next guild meeting or sewing seminar you will have something to show off at Show and Tell.
3. Get together with sewing friends for an actual sewing day once a month. Make an agreement with them that you will all work only on UFOs in the morning and not on any new projects until after lunch.
4. When you begin your sewing session, devote the first 15 to 30 minutes to working on a single UFO. Then move to the new project. This is one of my favourites because it allows me to do 5 to 10 blocks of an ongoing quilt that requires 96 blocks and I know that I cannot hope to get all 96 done in one shot. But I now have 43 finished.
That’s it for this round. Don’t want to keep you reading and too long away from your sewing machine.
Thank-you for reading the first edition of Let’s Sew with Vision. I welcome your comments, suggestions for topics, questions of a sewing related nature and info on your favourite sewing notions.
Email: appleb@eastlink.ca or leave a note when you next visit Sew with Vision.
Cheers Rhoda
My name is Rhoda Moore and my professional sewing career began in 1997. That was the year I began to work in a local sewing store as sales staff and teacher. But I really started sewing when my mother, Clara, decided I was tall enough to sit properly in her sewing chair and that my legs were long enough to reach the floor peddle of her Singer sewing machine. I was 11 years old.
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