Author Archives: edges

Valentine’s Day Kraft-Tex Project

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I make ridiculous projects for my husband every Valentine’s Day. Some are useful, some are decorative, some silly and some just for fun. You can see some past projects:

My Practical Valentine, Buttoned Up Valentine, Valentine’s Day — Then and Now

This year, since I have Kraft-Tex in abundance, I made another small project for him combining machine embroidery and a really simple bag design. Seriously, it doesn’t get any simpler than this. Here’s a link to the video from Mr. Domestic.

A couple of things:

  1. I used a zipper foot when sewing in the zipper. I think this is just personal preference. I like to see where I’m headed and I thought it was just easier.
  2. Here’s a link to the Valentine’s Day machine embroidery design that I used.
  3. Two layers of cutaway, with the Stabilstick cutaway on top were almost enough. As you can see in the following picture, I still had a problem because the design had so many stitches it perforated the Kraft-Tex. It was no big deal because it was only in one area, and I stitched over it, and all was fine.
  4. The reason this occurred is because I did not have the Kraft-Tex fit the hoop so it was hanging over the side and pulling just enough to rip the fabric.

I cut out the design in a rounded square and stitched the whole thing down onto one side of the bag.

After that, I just followed the directions in the video. Other than the embroidery design, seriously, it took minutes.

In the video, Mr. Domestic uses pre-washed Kraft-Tex, and I used unwashed. I want to try using the pre-washed at some point.

I do want to point out that Kraft-Tex is biodegradable, but doesn’t fall apart in the wash. In the ground, it detriorates after two weeks. Compare that to 100% cotton fabric, which may take around 5 months, and synthetic textiles including polyester, spandex, nylon, and rayon may take between 20 to 200 years to fully biodegrade*. Kraft-Tex is OEKO-TEX certified, which is standard in the textile industry in that the end product is certified to be non-toxic. It also holds an FSC accreditation (Forest Stewardship Council) Essentially, this means that the product is regulated to be using forestry resources responsibly as defined by the highest industry standards.

So that explains one of the reasons I try to use Kraft-Tex when I can. I wish I could make clothes out of it, but that’s for the chemists and engineers to figure out how to make it just a bit softer.

* I got this info from a website called Edge Expo. It is targeted to sustainable fashion.

The Biggest Trend 2020 and Beyond

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If you know me, you know I love to follow the big trends. What’s happening in the world that can affect our daily lives and the sewing world? What’s changing? What’s new?

It’s always a good question to ask at the beginning of a year, but even a better one at the beginning of a decade.

I pay attention to the research all the time, but it’s grown louder and the number one trend of the future is simple:

Sustainability

This is a BIG category. And it can mean anything from recycling to eating less meat to driving a hybrid or an electric car to purchasing organic to turning down the heat in your home.

One of the trend-watching groups I monitor says that we have moved from eco-aware to eco-shaming. I thought this was significant. They did not break this down by age groups and I suspect that’s pretty important. I do not hear as many Boomers worked up about their SUV’s as I see young people who don’t really want to even learn to drive. The kids do, but only because it’s a necessity. And they almost certainly don’t want to have the burden of owning cars.

Like everything, that’s a generalization.

But, like it or not, it is reality. Humans need to be sustainable in everything. And we’re not. Not by a long shot.

If you understand anything about Climate Change, it’s this: Fossil fuels need to stay in the ground. You’ve seen the folks out there protesting – #KeepItInTheGround . That’s the biggest impact possible and the reason the Earth is warming. This is not my opinion. It’s backed up by research from every possible sector of science. Except, of course, the fossil fuel industry. (Even they are making changes. When Tom Skilling asked the CEO of Shell Oil “What is the future of Shell Oil?” he responded, “Not oil.” They are busy doing R and D on longer-lasting, more efficient batteries.) Just know that it took thousands of years for those fossil fuels to form in the Earth and burning so much of it in a matter of decades simply does not give the planet the chance to self-correct. And I assure you, the planet is self-correcting. But we’ve over-burdened it. And we have the technology to change, but not necessarily the political or financial will to fix things.

Tangential to that is the rest of the idea of sustainablity which might affect sewists in a more direct way. I wrote a blog about organic cotton right here.

Every aspect of our modern way of living is up for improvement.

What’s that ancient Chinese curse?

May you live in interesting times.

We certainly do. We can and must do better than we are doing now. I have made a pledge to myself to purchase only organic cotton in the future. But, you may argue, the cotton is only half the story. What about the processing? What about the dyes? To that I answer: GOTS certified organic cotton (Global Organic Textile Standard). They are doing the work of research for all of us.

We can no longer deny our place on the planet and our impact on it. Individual activity will almost certainly NOT solve the whole problem. We must work together within and across nations for the benefit of ourselves and others.

That is a challenge sewists can understand.

Machine Embroidery Buddies

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Tell me why you sew, and I’ll tell you who you are. Isn’t that the truth? These wonderful ladies, friends of mine, wanted to learn machine embroidery. We won’t talk about how long they have had their embroidery units neatly packed away in boxes with all the best intentions in the world.

We’ve been talking about getting together for years to learn the ins and outs, tips and tricks of the trade. Finally — we did it.

They came over to my house for a day and and I gave them the basic Embroidery 101 lessons. Someday, I will write it all down in lesson form for this blog. I know there are plenty of others out there who have an embroidery unit packed away somewhere, hoping that they will use it eventually. Or maybe you gave up on embroidery entirely.

I am here to re-inspire you. Machine embroidery is truly fun. And the more you know, the more you can experiment, and the more you are inspired to try new things. The hardest part? Getting started.

You can see from these pics that one of the biggest impetuses (is that a word?) for machine embroidery is, wait for it, grandchildren. And children as well . But I think the grandkids get the machine embroidery lovin’. Why? Because they are fun. The things we do for them is done with pure love with no expectations for anything in return.

That’s also why I teach. I want to share what I know, so that others can enjoy this craft. I also want us to use our hands, machines, brains and ideas to make things and to inspire each other, and maybe that will spread into the world and make a difference.

I don’t know if it will. All I know is that they will be coming back for another lesson next week. I hope it inspires you to dig in, as well.

The old saying goes “You can’t take it with you.”

No you can’t. But with any luck, we can quilt it, sew, it, embroider it and leave some of it behind and hope it does some good.

Couching Vs. Embroidery

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A friend had been struggling with adding the Wisconsin fight song to a quilt she did for her son. It was made of flannel and very cozy. It had a 2 inch inner border which really was ideal for the words of the fight song. She had already pieced it, and had it quilted professionally.

Over breakfast one day, several of us were talking about the best approach. My friend had purchased some minky-like yarn and was hoping to create the words by couching it. I suggested using the Bernina free-motion couching foot. It seemed like a good approach, but she was not sure she had the foot or knew how to use it. I thought I would test it out for her.

As you can see on my test-out, disaster ensued. The #43 couching foot let the yarn slide around too much to catch it, and basically the thread did not grab the yarn. So then I thought I would try the Bernina stitch regulator on zigzag using the free-motion foot. Slightly better results but still horrific. My experience with the couching foot has been to use very specific sizes and yarn has never worked well. I’ve had much better results with cording, which neither of us had.

I then suggested embroidery might be the best way to go.

After finding a font that was similar to what she wanted (cursive) I then created embroidery hoopings for all the words to go around the quilt. It had to be spaced decently so that it would be readable.

From the above pic, you can see that I positioned every phrase and laid it out on the quilt so that I would have a guide for spacing. The quilt was about a twin size. This took 17 hoopings, all done in the software from a TrueType font. I matched the bobbin thread to the back of the quilt, so, while you could see the embroidery on the back, it did not noticeably stand out. When finished, the embroidery words actually acted more like quilting.

We needed a satin stitch because a plain stitch of the words –or even a triple stitch–was just not visible.

In the end, I think the words ended up looking sharp, and added a lot of personalization and interest to the quilt.

Could we have managed the same result with couching? Maybe with cording, but almost certainly not with yarn.

I have seen that Bernina now offers couching inserts to attach to the #72 ruler work foot and I’m interested in seeing how easy that is to use. For our purposes, I think embroidery ended up being the best result.

What do you think?

It Was a Very Good Year

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I’ll end the decade and year the same way I end every year, with a gallery of projects, moments, photography and meaning.

We all only have one life to experience, one world to cherish. May the new year and new decade bring us closer to appreciating the fragility and beauty of both.

Happy, Peaceful, Worthwhile New Year, friends.

Kimberbell For the Finish

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Can you have too much Elvis in Graceland? Too many lights in Vegas? Too many labrador puppies?

I think not.

And you can’t have too much cute in Kimberbell. If you are going to do these designs, then you might as well go all the way. Get the dingle balls, the glitter paper, the froufrous and the doodads. Go all in.

I purchased the ornament designs recently to make for a group of quilty friends.

After one attempt, I realized that if I wanted them to be perfect, I needed to find not only the proper shade of gingerbread felt to highlight the features, I also needed the hoops, the accessories, glitter paper, a hot glue gun, and some patience.

Kimberbell is an exercise in excess and if you can’t do it at Christmas, you can’t do it at all. I am understanding the addictiveness of the Kimberbell phenomenon, but I don’t think it’s my permanent state. I love it at the moment and for special occasions. I’m not sure it’s my style forever and always.The same with Elvis and Vegas and labrador puppies.

Maybe you can have enough.

But for now, I’m on cuteness overload.

Have yourself a Merry Little Holiday.

Used a glue gun in 2019. Check. On to 2020.

P.S. After all the elaborate accessorizing of Kimberbell, I went back to simplicity for my holiday wrapping. I’m a realist. This stuff needs to be reduced, reused and recycled. Simple brown paper with scraps of fabric. The fabric can be saved and made into a quilt at some point, and the paper can just be folded and reused or recycled. I think we, as sewists, can balance adorable with sustainable. At least I’m going to try.

This One’s for the Girls

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Get your mammograms.

That’s it. That’s the message. I know it’s no longer October and we’ve moved on from the specific Breast Cancer Awareness Month to the festive Hallmark Channel and holiday activities. But I want to emphasize the message again.

Get your mammograms, ladies.

My sister went in September. They found something and it’s been removed. Just not as easily as we had hoped. Things like this tend to get complicated.
But she is past the surgery and doing well. Of course, once she found out, I immediately made an appointment for mine. I got called back…something didn’t look right. After four agonizing days of wondering if I had the same problem, I was able to go back in and they took another picture and all was well. For now. They handed me a chocolate breast cancer ribbon and sent me on my way.

I know you’re all busy. We worry about our cholesterol, our weight, our eyes, our teeth, our hair, our families and their health, and we even worry about the planet.

But we all need to start to prioritize ourselves. It’s not our nature to do that. But I’m learning, especially as I get older, to make the time for myself. I can’t help my family or friends or anyone else if I’m not OK.

You,too. None of us is here forever. But let’s make an effort to be well while we’re here.

Ironing the Swiss Way

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I had the opportunity, recently, to spend a little time at Bernina’s Creative Center in Aurora IL. During that time, Phillip Ueltschi, who is the fifth generation of family ownership of Bernina, came in to demonstrate the new line of LauraStar irons and ironing systems.

I thought I would share this with you. I have not had any time to play with these irons although in hearing and reading about them, they sound intriguing. Apparently they use something referred to as “dry steam” which doesn’t leave your clothes or fabrics damp.

The steam also does not burn your fingers or hands. It’s really kind of impressive.

LauraStar is designed in Switzerland (same place that Bernina is headquartered.) They are environmentally conscious and the irons are built to be supported and serviced for a minimum of ten years. Their steam purifies the fibers by killing 99% of germs and bacteria or mold, dust, etc. that can show up in textiles. So while you iron, you are also freshening and purifying your fabric.

As I said, I have not had any time to review these myself, from the perspective of a sewist. A new dawn in pressing and ironing? I don’t know, but it seems to me that the technology for irons hasn’t advanced all that much in the last 25 years. Seems like they’d be able to take advantage of thoughtful engineering and technology, just like every other industry.

I’m including the two brief videos of Phillip demonstrating the system. He did give me permission to put this on the blog…why wouldn’t he?

Have a look. The LauraStar systems will be available at participating Bernina dealerships across the U.S. soon. What do you think?

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

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Yesterday, I went for my usual walk through the woods. I took the more scenic path this time, as it gets too buggy and overgrown during the summer for me to comfortably pass.

But this time of year, some of the weeds have died back, the crunch of leaves is underfoot, keeping some of the mud at bay, and the insects have thinned out.

So I took the road less traveled onto the ridge above the creek.

And that’s where I discovered the fallen sentinel.

This old oak had been standing at the top of the ridge, majestically leaning out over the cliff for as many years as I can remember hiking here. Its trunk is at least three feet in diameter.

The last time I passed through it was early spring, before the foliage filled out, while the creek gurgled its way around the bend. At the time, I could see the tree was getting too close to the edge. Or the edge was eroding too close to the tree. I gingerly stepped close and patted the bark of the tree. “My friend..this does not look great. But the cliff won’t erode that fast. I imagine it will be at least a few years.”

I went on my way.

The torrential rains of this past spring that prevented our farmers from getting their crops in the ground also took a toll on the ridge. As I wound my way through yesterday, I stopped in my tracks. The landmarks had changed, my bearings were rattled.

The earth had shifted.

And an old friend had tumbled.

I surveyed the area where the tree once stood. Everything had changed. Was it here? Was it slightly further back? I could no longer even recognize the place where it had once stood. It must have been months. It must have been the downpours. It must have been inevitable.

Still, I found myself sending a little blessing. And immediately wondering it the forest preserve would allow it to stay there, damming the creek.

I bowed my head and turned on the path to continue my journey. As I left I saw chipmunks scurrying and playing along the trunk and branches of the tree below.

Ever adjusting. Ever changing. Exploring a new landscape.