Sewing Tips

  • Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy to the Rescue: Fixing Damaged Clothing

    Eric Drexler, Sulky® National Educator, and Grandpa Extraordinaire came to the rescue for his granddaughter recently. He was kind enough to share his super fix with all of us: You know with four granddaughters there will be lots of damaged clothing. I was presented with this the other day. Where the two rows of lace had separated, I used a strip of Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy™ on the back of it to hold it together while I was sewing, because I didn’t want anything visible when I finished. It did a great job holding and all I had to do was put a little Sewer’s Aid on the needle and make sure…

  • Flat to Flair: 3D Machine Embroidered Peony – Free Webinar!

    Zandra Shaw of Embroider Shoppe is coming to us all the way from South Africa for this FREE one hour webcast. Zandra will show us how to easily make flawless peonies using an embroidery machine. Watch the 3D peony come to life as she gives you great tips for success and demonstrates how to shape it while assembling into a flower on a stem and brooch. “From Flat to Flair” 3D Machine Embroidered Peony Featuring Special Guest: Zandra Shaw of Embroider Shoppe LIVE Date: September 11, 2018 Time: 2:00 PM, EDT Duration: 1 Hour Cost: FREE! or Watch it On-Demand!   How to create this 3D flower quickly using your…

  • A Case for Polyester Thread – Top 7 Reasons to Use Polyester Thread

    Polyester – The word conjures up different images for different people. For some it’s the polyester leisure suits of the 70’s, and for others it’s fabrics in bright neon colors. When I googled the word polyester in Google Images, most of the images were of bright fabrics, threads, workout clothes, the occasional sweater, and strangely, this image: Come to find out – they are experimenting with using shrimp to dye polyester (The more you know!). At Sulky®, when we say polyester, we are talking about thread. We have several lines of thread that are polyester: Poly Deco™, PolyLite™, Sulky Invisible Thread, Sulky Bobbin Thread, Sulky Prewound Bobbin Thread and Glowy™!…

  • How to Achieve Perfect Design Placement

    Perfect Design Placement by Pamela Cox Although there are rulers, plastic templates, charts suggesting where a design should be stitched on any given item, and even fancy laser lights with the sole purpose of aiding in perfect embroidery design placement… you already have all the necessary tools to ensure proper design placement right at your fingertips! Follow these easy steps to take the imagined difficulty out of the process: Know the size of the intended design: Find this information on either the color chart, in an editing software program, or by checking on the embroidery machine’s screen (if your model offers this feature). Use a calculator if need be, to…

  • Why You Should Embellish Fabric First

      Do you ever wonder how a beautifully embroidered garment can be stitched so “perfectly”?  Designs are perfectly centered on panels!  Right and left sides are mirror images of each other! How is this possible? The trick is to embellish the fabric first! Let’s use a simple collar in understanding the steps: “Trace” the pattern piece, on grain, on a piece of fabric larger than the require finished cutting line.  My favorite method is tailor tacks through both layers of fabric at the same time.  That way I am sure to have both the right and left side of the required pattern. I baste along seam allowances for a visual…

  • Machine Appliqué Tips Part II

    This series is written by guest blogger, Pamela Cox. Pamela is an expert embroiderer, designer, digitizer and all around wonderful girl! We are so happy to have her contributing to the Sulky Blog! In my previous Sulky® Blog post, you discovered that machine-embroidered Appliqué Designs stitch up quickly and are fun to create, combining different textures and prints of fabrics. The only “rules” cited for this process was to follow the digitizer’s directions: Understand what each color stop represents Follow the digitizer’s stitching order Do not color-sort/combine threads colors However, sometimes being a bit naughty and “coloring outside of the lines” produces a new twist to a design. Appliqués use…

  • Machine Applique Tips

      This series is written by guest blogger, Pamela Cox. Pamela is an expert embroiderer, designer, digitizer and all around wonderful girl! We are so happy to have her contributing to the Sulky Blog! Machine Applique Tips Applique designs are one of the quickest, most fun methods of machine embroidery.  Quick, because fabric takes the place of fill stitches (check out the difference in thread count!). And fun because fabric color, print, and even texture combinations are endless! Owl with Heart: Sulky Embroidery Club #684 – American Sweetie Pie: Sulky Embroidery Club #762 (free download) – Heart and Megaphone: Original design Basic steps are involved with every applique. Although, the…

  • Free-Standing Lace vs. Lace Effect

    Free-Standing Lace vs. Lace Effect This series is written by guest blogger, Pamela Cox. Pamela is an expert embroiderer, designer, digitizer and all around wonderful girl! We are so happy to have her contributing to the Sulky Blog! We all know what lace is, but do we understand “lace” in terms of machine embroidery? Many design collections include the word lace in their title, and this is especially true for embroidery intended for Bridal or even Heirloom designs.  However, lace in a title can be describing a “lace effect”, which requires a fabric foundation, a strip of lace to be used as an accent or even an item made of…

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    How to Autograph Your Quilt

    By: Eric Drexler, Master of Free-Motion Did you know that today is National Handwriting Day?  I don’t know about y’all, but I am personally NOT a fan of my handwriting (yikes!).  But you know what, we should be proud of those messy, crooked letters! 🙂  On the blog today, we have Eric Drexler, Sulky Educator and Master of Free-Motion, talking about how he incorporates his own handwriting in his quilts! Here’s what he has to say… The first time I even thought about “signing” my quilt was at one of my first guild lectures.  When the ultra-fun trunk show of beautiful Sulky® quilts, and some of my own, was over,…

  • Free Webinar | 30-minute Infinity Scarf

    We are kicking off the new year with another FREE webinar: 30-minute Infinity Scarf – Made with Sulky Water-Soluble Stabilizer.  In just one hour, learn a fun, fast, and fabulous technique with “infinite” possibilities – that’s completely free!  Plus: You choose what live date works best for you – or watch it on demand! Date: Tuesday, January 16, 2018 Time: 2:00 PM EST Date: Wednesday, January 17, 2018 Time: 7:00 PM EST Featuring: Ellen Osten, Sulky Director of Education Patti Lee, Sulky VP of Consumer Relations   Do neither of those dates work for you?  No worries!  You can still sign up and watch at your own convenience – and…

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