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DIY Wreaths to Decorate with after the Holidays
DIY Wreath Challenge with Sulky Pack up those Christmas trees and put up a cheery DIY winter wreath to fill the holiday-season void! As the holiday decor is put away, the house tends to feel a bit empty. We want to inspire you with some great winter decor that works in place of all those Santas, snowmen and red and green you might have had up for the past month (or more). So we created a Sulky DIY Wreath Challenge and asked some of our favorite designers to create different wreaths to show us how they decorate after the holidays. A set of simple guidelines guided the challenge. DIY Wreath…
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Let’s Get Organized! Quick Tips to Organize Your Sewing Space
Quick Tips to Organize your Sewing Space After the whirlwind of the holidays, my sewing studio looks like a tornado went through it. Every year at this time, I spend a couple of days organizing and reevaluating my projects, my stash, and my systems. Although I do tend to give away some fabric, re-prioritize some projects, and change a few things – there are some basics that just really work so they stay. Here is my list of tried and true tips to keep your sewing space organized: Fabric Folding – I fold my fabric in a very specific way. Here is the full tutorial with all the explanation. Trust…
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Kid Sewing Projects for Winter Break
Kid Sewing Projects for Winter Break It’s the dark side of Christmas that most people don’t talk about too often. You will occasionally hear a reference in a Christmas song (“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, every where you go….and moms and dads can’t wait for school to start again…”). For the next two weeks, our kids will be home with no homework and no after school activities to keep them company. I know, they just got a bunch of new stuff to play with from Santa, but if your kids are like mine, they will, inevitably get bored. Have no fear! Here are some great kid sewing…
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Machine Embroidery on Sequin Fabric + Skirt Tutorial
Machine Embroidery on Sequin Fabric + A Super Easy Sequin Skirt Tutorial Sequin fabric is all the rage! It’s seen on everything from jackets to dresses to shoes. There’s no better fabric for a New Year’s Eve bash, and we’ve accepted the challenge to combine sequin fabric with machine embroidery for a party-worthy look for any occasion. This amazing rose-gold sequin fabric will transform into a skirt with machine embroidery for the New Year’s Ever party I am attending this year. Machine Embroidery on Sequin Fabric After checking out Embroidery Online, I decided I also wanted to add this machine embroidery element to the sequin fabric skirt. Doing machine embroidery…
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Machine Embroidered Cork Key Fobs
Machine Embroidered Cork Key Fobs By Pamela Cox Making these machine embroidered cork key fobs were quite easy (and fun!). Cork Fabric is one of my top favorite materials to stitch on! It cuts easily and the edges do not fray. It also easily feeds through a sewing machine, allowing a true seam to be stitched, and it even accepts machine embroidery! Specific information about working with Cork Fabric can be found in Sulky’s Materials Blog Archives. Key Fob Instructions The basic concept is to embellish a strip of cork fabric, back it with another strip, trim, and add hardware! Yes, it really is that easy! It takes more time…
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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…
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10 Reasons You Didn’t Finish Making That Gift (And quick alternatives you can do in minutes)
I never learn. Every year, I over-commit myself to a number of gifts that I can actually make and give people for Christmas. And every December 26th I resolve to start earlier so I can actually get them all finished. One year, I failed so miserably at finishing gifts, I literally just gave my family the fabric with ‘IOU’ notes attached. My family members were not thrilled. I didn’t get the normal warm and fuzzy feeling that I cherish from giving people I love handmade items. No, instead, I felt horrible. Not a great way to start Christmas morning! In order to help you avoid that feeling, here is a…
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In-the-Hoop Christmas Stocking Tutorial
In-the-Hoop Christmas Stocking by Pamela Cox Stitch this Christmas Stocking to use as decoration, a gift, or to fill with goodies! It is made in two “in-hoop” sections: the embroidered stocking, and the lining, with finishing touches stitched on a sewing machine. Don’t be afraid of the high stitch count for the patterned stocking front. The rows are decorative patterns, so the stitches are all small. It stitches up quicker than you might imagine. Supplies: 1/4 yard wool felt 1/4 yard lining fabric 5-1/2” decorative cording Topstitch Needles: 100/16 – use with wool felt 80/12 – use with lining Sulky® Stabilizers: Sticky +™ Soft ’n Sheer™ Thread: Sulky 40 wt.…
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A Perfect Little Dress – Tips for Making a Dress for 18″ Dolls
My friend Erin Hentzel just came out with the most adorable book, “Doll Dress Boutique.” It is full of over 40 projects, including a dress for 18″ dolls. If you have a young girl in your life, she most likely has a doll this size. These dresses make great gifts, but they are also great projects to use to teach the younger generation how to sew! Because of my love for all things 70’s fashion, and because I had a small piece of this awesome 70’s-style fabric, I decided to do a take on this dress from the book. The directions in the book are great, and easy to…
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Why Blendables are the Bomb for Quilting
“You will love the intriguing results you get with Sulky 30 Wt. Cotton Blendables Thread.” I remember being in a quilting class when I heard this statement. Honestly, my interest was peaked because of the word ‘intriguing’. I would never have described my quilting that way, but gosh, I sure wanted my quilting to be intriguing! So, I got some Sulky 30 Wt. Cotton Blendables Thread and tried them out. Before I tell you my thoughts on them, let me tell you a bit about the thread itself. Blendables are different from other variegated threads for several reasons: They are a masterful blend of different colors within the same range of tone and intensity…
