Friday 24th January, 2025
... SUMMER FUN TIMES ...
The beach always delivers! I had a great little getaway down the Gold Coast last week, spending time with family, at the beach, around the pool and generally out in the fresh air enjoying just being together! Thanks Gemma, Jack and Bobby! Highlight just before I headed home was sitting on a lovely grassy slope looking out to sea, whilst we shared our Acai bowls with Bobby!
Some weeks up here in The Studio, I dig out habby items and tools, some used regularly and others that have not been used for quite a while – and when you have a lot of those things (yes, really need to cull a bit!) the fun truly is almost never ending! Here’s three ‘treasures’ I put to work this week … one’s never stored away though!
I was finishing off the By Annie Backseat Babysitter 2 for Bobby (will post photos next week after it’s been gifted) and needed to make tubes for straps, that had webbing inside for strength. Out came my set of Fasturn Tubes, which I must have bought in the 90’s I think. I have had them before I moved to Brisbane for the first time! They are well used, however still packed up securely in their original packaging. Every time I use these, I quietly thank whoever developed such a great tool! There are 6 different sizes in the set – and I’ve used ALL of them at one time or another.
Now the second one, does not get stored away – it sits in one of my stands next to my magical B990. It’s the Clover Grip ‘n Glide, and I used it to pull the webbing into the tube I had made with the Fasturn tool. I use it most often for inserting elastics into casings.
Then as I wanted to cut out some leather shapes, I found my little Accuquilt Go! Baby Cutter (I have a larger one as well but this size was all I needed this time), took out the Hexagon Die (#55422) and off I went! I have a fabulous stash of leftover pieces of beautiful leather gifted to me by my dear friend Deb, who does the most amazing upholstery work – which I have spoken about before. This ‘tool’ saved me soooo much time, and all the pieces were accurate without needing to get any scissors out. Here it is set up on one of the cutting tables, surrounding by the most wonderful, ‘buttery’ leather! You will see what I did with those shapes a little further on … and I have more cut out for some other projects.
Do you have any favourite tools that only get taken out occasionally – and are truly worth their weight in gold?
... ‘Gathering’ at the Studio ...
Ambah and Zoe joined me again up in The Studio on Monday and they both completed a simple little folded coaster, and their pillowcases. Later on I made one for Leo as well, as I‘d cut out Ambah’s with the wrong fabric combination to start with. Leo chose the colours for the RicRac, all washed, pressed and ready to put on their pillows this weekend.
I’m sure the time spent working through a simple project, will give Ambah some confidence going into a new class this year. She was quite the whizz at changing thread colours, and using the needle threader on the B435 as well, by the time it was finished. Zoe worked on my B590, easily navigating all the setting changes and threading needed as well, and the hours went by really fast!
School holidays from now on, might even include some more Sewing Gypsy classes up here for them all.
... Rollers not Toes ...
Roller Foot #51
This foot was designed for use on fabrics/textiles that would otherwise not feed through underneath easily, like highly textured fabrics, leather and vinyl. The sole does not sit flat on the feed dogs, instead there are three rollers (two at the back and one at the front) allowing the fabric to slide along the bottom of the foot. These rollers are smooth, and there is an etched marking on the solid front and top of the foot indicating the centre of the needle opening.
Options available for the foot – It’s available in a regular version suitable for all models, and the maximum stitch width possible is 5.5mm
Foot #51 had 2 different techniques to stitch out, one on leather/vinyl and the other on textured/uneven surface fabric.
... This Week’s Foot Highlights or Challenges ...
‘Sewing Leather and Vinyl’ – I did a few rows of decorative stitching with this foot on a piece of vinyl. Stitches used from left to right #405 (SW 5.5), #424 (SW 5.5 and I noticed when I was finished the row, that it looked nothing like the picture on the screen!), #643 (SW 5.5) #424 again (however I changed the Needle Position to 0 – looks correct now) and #405 (SW 5.5 no stabiliser underneath this row). It really does make sense to trial stitches on a sample first. White fabric sample shows major changes to stitch when different needle positions are selected.
‘Sewing Uneven Fabrics’ – I did not have any really uneven type of fabrics at hand, so stitched some leather hexagons onto a piece of heavy felt, and did a second sample with 2 layers of leather hexagons. The first sample I stitched, single hexagons in a grid, the foot dragged on the beginning of the shape, and puckered slightly, until the back rollers were on the leather…
I changed the presser foot pressure to 30 (down from 50) for the last few rows of stitching, and those rows and the next sample had no puckering at all.
... A Little Something Extra ...
Another eBook for your Collection
This week, I’m sharing a link to ‘Just SEW it Quick Gifts’ which has a some fun projects to sew, and one in particular that uses Foot #51.
Another eBook that mentions Foot #51 is Solving Sewing Challenges, which I added in my post for Foot #38.
... A Little Reminder ...
Bernina’s Accessory of the Month January 2025 *
is Foot #29C for easy free-motion quilting, outline and stipple quilting and for the whole month of January is 20% off – contact your preferred Bernina Dealer for this fabulous offer.
*Australia and New Zealand Promotion Only – ends 1st February 2025 …
Chat again next Friday,
