Sewing Studio

Puyallup Sew Expo is Feb 28 to March 3, 2013

Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

Did you know the nation’s largest event for sewing enthusiasts takes place right here in the Pacific Northwest? The Sewing and Stitchery Expo is a non-profit educational event that features inspirational seminars daily, hands-on workshops, style shows and vendors from all over the country with booths that specialize in the latest in fabrics, tools, and supplies! This year Sew Expo will be taking place February 28 – March 3rd at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. In addition to all the daily happenings, special guests, such as, Nancy Zieman, Mary Mulari, and the “Hot Fusing Chicks” will be flying in to make special appearances . Nancy and Mary will be presenting their second “Kick it Up a Stitch” and if you joined them last year, you know how much fun time with them can be! in addition, television host Ellen March, will be conducting a live audition for her television show “Sew it All”!

Be sure to check out Sew Expo’s website for all the details you need to know about the show. You can download a registration brochure which features all the seminar and class descriptions. Additionally you can register for the daily seminars on the Expo website. You can purchase Sew Expo tickets at all Quality Sewing locations while supplies last. Pre-sale tickets are only $10.00, they will be $12.00 the day of. The Sew Expo website also features an updated blog and some fun links including:

Pillowcase Patrol As a part of the “Million Pillowcase Project”, the 2013 Sewing & Stitchery Expo will be a collection point for handmade pillowcases. Create cheerful pillowcases for the children who are undergoing treatment at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. Check out the Expo web site to download your free pillowcase pattern. Expo collected more than 5,000 pillowcases last year. How many more can we give this year?

Be Sure to Visit the Quality Sewing Booths – This year we will have an exciting notions and threads booth in the Pavilion. We have been shopping and negotiating with our various vendors for several months to bring you an amazing array of hot buys! We have combed our stores for close-outs and one-of-a-kind items that will all be priced to sell fast. We will also feature the new items that Nancy Zieman and Sue Hausmann will show in their seminars, all at special Expo prices.

We have many sewing experts on-hand this year and this will be a great opportunity to meet them. Across from the notions booth in the Pavilion, we have multi-needle embroidery expert George Moore and special guests long arm quilting expert Denise Applegate-Schober. Be sure to visit Simon Haskins, all the way here from Australia, over in the Showplex building. He will be showing his amazing techniques and designs along with his brand new designs that have just been released. In the Showplex, you will also find our main booth which will be filled with awesome special on machines and Floriani products. Across from our main booth, we will have special guest Ed Moore, the lead designer for Koala Cabinets. This event is not to be missed as it only happens once a year! View our 2013 Sew Expo Buyers Guide that showcases some of the fabulous deals to be had at this year’s event.


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Make it With Wool Contest

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

This October the Puyallup Quality Sewing store will host Washington’s Make It With Wool (MIWW) Contest  (formally held at Pacific Fabrics).

What is Make It With Wool?

MIWW is the longest, continuous promotional entity of the American lamb and wool industry. It began to help promote wool and generate new interest in sewing with wool among young sewers.  Sponsorship of the program has remained strong with support from the lamb and wool industry – producers, feeders and woolen mills – as well as the sewing and fashion industry – sewing machine, thread and fabric companies and fashion magazines – as well as individuals and organizations interested in agriculture and youth.

Currently the Contest offers divisions for entrants from pre-teen (under 12) through adult.  It is a very economical contest to enter, at only $10 for a National entrance fee.  There are several cash prizes given to the winners of the different categories with a top prize of $2000.

If you are interested in entering this contest, check out their MIWW website.  This is such a great opportunity get involved with a great program and to show your creativity. Who knows, you may win a prize!

Reva


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Take a Tour of the Koala Cabinet Factory in West Chicago, Illinois

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

This video tour of the Koala Cabinet Factory in West Chicago, Illinois is worth taking three minutes out of your day to watch! It is fascinating to view the entire process that goes into making each one of the Koala cabinets. Starting simply with raw material and ending with a finished product, there are numerous steps involved in creating each unit. Every piece that goes together to create a cabinet is cut to an exact specification, finished and assembled while being handled with care by numerous factory workers. The cabinets internal sewing machine lifts are individually tested to withstand up to 40 pounds. My favorite part of all is seeing that the Koala factory is in the United States and employs many hardworking Americans! Plus be inspired by the footage of numerous model sewing studios shown in different room configurations to suit any creative space. To see these cabinets in person, stop by your nearest Quality Sewing location for a complete demonstration.

Happy Watching,
Annalee


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Design the Sewing Room of Your Dreams with Nancy Zieman

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

Do you have your own sewing room? I wish I did! I sew in my dining room and living room, stashing my machine and supplies in the hall closet.  I have three small children so the majority of my sewing happens late into the evening hours. I shut down shop when I am not sewing and put away my machine and all my supplies when not working on a project for the safety of my kiddos and to protect my favorite fabrics.  Having an organized sewing and crafting room would be a dream for me! My current set-up takes so long to prepare to sew, I often don’t work on a project unless I have at least an hour or more to work on it. I know I would sew a lot more if I had a designated sewing space and a sewing cabinet.

Does this dilemma sound familiar? Having a designated sewing space makes sewing much more accessible. Plus it allows for more organization and saves you time and energy so you can just enjoy sewing! A sewing and craft room can take shape in many ways and can be set up in a corner, a closet, an attic or even an entire room.

Nancy Zieman has teamed up with Koala cabinets to create the sewing room of her dreams. Take a tour of Nancy’s dream sewing space and get inspiration to create a sewing space or room in your home. Also view  the Customers Style Gallery where owners of Koala cabinets have shared their own sewing studios. Its great to see a wide variety of different spaces that are utilized for sewing and crafting!  Plus you can enter to win a Koala Studio from Koala Cabinets, click here to read more details and enter the contest which ends 12/31/10.

My Mother's sewing room with the Koala Treasure Chest Plus IV and Koala Storage Center Plus IV in Birdseye Maple.

Not all of us can have the luxury of such a large space like Nancy for a sewing room. Here is an image of my Mother’s sewing room. She has taken a standard bedroom sized room and created a sewing and crafting room.

What is your sewing room like? We would love to see what your sewing room looks like, send us an image to share with all of our customers for inspiration and motivation to re-vamp our creative spaces!

Happy dreaming . . .

Annalee



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10 Sewing Tips & Tricks from Baby Lock

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Check out these fun tips that I just came across:

Sewing Tips & Tricks - Get organized, get thrifty and get inspired today with these sewing tips for 2010 from Baby Lock:

  1. When sewing a garment that require buttons, take one of the extra buttons and sew it to the inside of the garment. If one of the buttons comes off that garment, you won’t waste time looking for a replacement button.
  2. Organize your stash by color – whether it’s thread, fabric, trim or buttons – to save time looking for these items later.
  3. Stop looking for extra sewing projects to make – check out the Free projects on the Baby Lock and Designer’s Gallery sites.
  4. When cutting your fabric, use washers, canned goods or fabric weights instead of pinning your fabric – this really saves a lot of time!
  5. Prevent wear and tear on your machine (and your arms!) by taking a smaller travel size machine to sewing classes. The Sofia is a lightweight options for a sewing and embroidery travel buddy.
  6. Sometimes it’s more fun to skip the shopping and cutting and jump straight to the creating. Eliminate the time used to select and cut fabric by purchasing pre-cut fabric kits.
  7. When embroidering, use a smaller embroidery hoop for your designs. This helps prevent using / wasting more stabilizer than needed.
  8. Black out curtains: Instead of using curtain liners, use black out curtains as part of your home décor. These curtains not only prevent the sun from fading your furniture, fabrics or threads, they also help cool down your room by blocking out the sun.
  9. Regardless of how much we paid for our sewing machines, they are a very important piece of machinery to us. So why not protect them? Plug your sewing machines in a surge protector to prevent a power surge.
  10. Before starting a new sewing project, make sure you purchase all the supplies first. It can be very frustrating trying to start a project only to realize that you don’t have everything you need. Do you really want to make another trip back to the store?

- Carmen


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10 Must-Have Sewing Tools

Friday, September 11th, 2009

My head is buzzing with plans for my Fall wardrobe from InStyle magazine (my fashion favorite) – a good fashion magazine or two is where I always start. Once I’ve identified and torn out the styles I love, I head for the pattern catalogs or my own plentiful stash to see what I can match up. My goal is to turn “high style” into “my style” and have the pleasure of creating my own unique wardrobe while playing with the gorgeous designer fabrics (straight from the Fasion District in L.A.) I’ve brought home from our stores. Once the plans are made, it’s time to gather up my BFFs – the tools I can’t sew without! So, (or is that sew?), here’s my Top Ten – in no particular order. They’re all my “must haves”!

45mm Olfa Deluxe Ergonomic Rotary Cutter. I do virtually all my cutting with a rotary cutter and usually have a couple around. One with a regular blade and one with a pinking blade. I love using the pinking edge for quick seam finishes and like having two cutters so I don’t have to keep swapping out the blades. My sewing time is too valuable to spend on blade swapping, so $21.99 each is well worth it to me. This Olfa Deluxe makes it easy to follow the golden rule of rotary cutters with the little red lock. Lock the blade every time you set it down! And the handle really is comfy enough for lots of cutting.

collings styling design ruler 2. Collins Styling Design Ruler. I discovered this ruler ever so many years ago and it has been the source of many hours of designing and pattern re-vamping pleasure. There are markings for armhole and hip curves that have been invaluable and I find it actually inspires me to think “outside of the pattern” in so many other ways, too. I can’t stand just following a pattern and must make it my own somehow. That’s the creative part! So, I find that the curves, angles and straight edges of this little dandy are just what I need. Best $16.49 I ever invested!

3. Clear Elastic. I keep 1/4″ and 1/2″ around at all times and love the versatility of this ready to wear style elastic. It comes in 4 – 5 yard packs for about $1.99, so you can’t beat the price. What do I do with it? It’s a great elastic to use on a sleeve cap or neckline that needs stabilizing (apply it with a slightly less than 1:1 ratio). It’s my favorite for gathering evenly (cut the elastic to the finished length and stretch while you sew), too. And if you make lingerie or swimwear, it finishes your leg, neck and armholes without the “bump” you get from regular nylon or cotton elastic.

4. Pattern Paper. I can’t just stick to the pattern – right?  So, pattern paper is essential! Plus, there are SO many great books out there that come with patterns for you to trace and use. The books are such a good value when you look at the price of individual patterns. I love the rolls of Bosal pattern paper we carry at Pacific Fabrics and the Palmer/Pletsch Perfect Pattern Paper is really cool, too. Find your favorite!

5. Wrist Pincushion. Lots of styles out there! I’ve used a wrist pincushion forever and my children say they remember me with one on at all times while they were growing up. I think they’re exagerating, but I do remember going up to the mailbox with my tape measure (another essential) around my neck and my pincushion on my wrist numerous times. You don’t want to stop sewing to plow through all the stuff around your machine and find the pincushion. Problem solved – easily!

dritz extra fine white glass pins6. Dritz Extra Fine White Glass Head Pins. Pins that stay in the fabric!!! Pins that I can see on the floor before I step on them in my bare feet! Lots of them! There are other colors, but somehow the white looks professional to me and I love that feel in my sewing studio. A bargain at $7.49 for 250!

7. Sharp Seam Ripper. As ye sew, so shall ye rip. ‘Nough said!

8. Thread Snips. Right by the machine or around your neck on a ribbon at ALL times! I love the ones made by Gingher, but there are lots of brands to choose from. Just make sure you have some. Scissors don’t count!

9. 8″ Shears. Not for thread snipping (see above), but this is what I use for trimming seam allowances, cutting off excess length and re-shaping as I go. The rotary cutter is great for the initial cutting, but I couldn’t live without my shears. Gingher in my case, again, but I know lots of Mundial and Fiskar fans, too. There’s a shear match made in heaven waiting for you, I’m sure.

clover marking set 10. Clover Chacopel Fine Marking Pencil Set. Oh, how I love these! You get four colors on three pencils and one end to brush away the marks, plus a pencil sharpener for just $6.99. Great colors for any fabric and the sharpener means you can work with a nice fine point for accuracy. I really love these because my hand is very comfortable with holding a pencil shaped tool rahter than some of the other oddly shaped marking tools I’ve tried. Again – it’s all about efficiency for me!

Okay, fashion sewists – ready, set, stitch! Get your “must” haves together and sew, Sew, SEW!!! Oh! And if you have a favorite on your Top Ten that isn’t on mine, leave a comment. I’m always looking for more BFFs for my studio!

~ Annette


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Project Preparation Tips for Streamlining Your Sewing

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Photo: The back pieces of a vest lining pinned together for quicker assembly.

I do not sew quickly. Sometimes it’s one of my greatest frustrations. Part of the problem is my penchant for experimentation and challenging projects. I just can’t resist trying out new tools and techniques – after all,that is how we learn. While it definitely broadens my sewing horizons, it also leads to a lot of ‘backwards sewing’!

The other factor is a lack of organization. I am easily distracted, and when I have several deadlines (and their related projects) stacked up at once, it’s difficult to avoid total chaos.

That’s when I turn to the experts. I am very grateful to Pati Palmer, Marta Alto, Nancy Zieman, Sandra Betzina, Claire Schaeffer and the rest of my reference book and dvd collection authors for their invaluable advice and suggestions.

So, as I scramble to churn out my projects, I thought I’d share some tips for getting the most out of your sewing time.

Step 1:
Do one task at a time for multiple projects. For example, rather than cutting out one project at a time, cut out several. Or fit several patterns. It’s easier to stay focused if you are doing the same task. Plus, if your studio/work area tends to become an unnatural disaster when you work (guilty!) you will be more likely to use your space more efficiently. Cutting out or altering patterns takes dedicated table space – quite a bit of it. So while you have it cleared off for one project, you might as well keep going.

Step 2:
After you cut your garment pieces, pin them together. This helps prevent the dreaded ‘two left sleeves’ scenario. When possible, pin them in their construction order, as in the photo above. This vest back is ready to be taken to the sewing machine and sewn, without having to get up or down to pick up pieces or guess “now is this for the left or right back?” I don’t normally use pins when sewing, but you get the idea!

Step 3:
Consolidate your sewing and pressing. Sew as many seams as you can, then go and press them all rather than sewing and pressing each individually. Again, projects may vary but often this is possible. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to do that with my vest project shown above.

Step 4:
You don’t always have to use different colored thread for every project. Seriously. If you are sewing for a competition, that may be a different story. But otherwise, no one should ever see your basic construction threads unless your seams are too loose or are straining. If you’re sewing a lined, interfaced bag or garment, as long as the thread color doesn’t show through to the front, you’re fine. Similarly, when serging, only the needle thread is likely to show, if at all. The looper colors aren’t as crucial.

There are many other ways to help speed up and streamline your sewing. I hope you will share some of your best tips with the rest of us! Keep sewing!

–Katrina


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