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The Stabilizer Basics – Water Solubles and Heat-Away
The Stabilizer Basics Water Solubles and Heat-Away In today’s Stabilizer Basics I am going to chat with you about Water Soluble (Solvy’s) and Heat- Away™ stabilizers. These are both temporary stabilizers that started out with a couple simple applications, but, because you guys are so creative, you have discovered a million really cool uses for these amazing stabilizers! Water Soluble Stabilizers Water Soluble Stabilizers are just that, they dissolve in water. The number 1 use for the lightest weight Solvy is as a topper on napped fabrics, like towels, to keep the loops or pile from poking through the stitching; to prevent stitches from getting lost in the fabric; and/or…
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The Stabilizer Series – More Questions Answered
I mentioned that you guys sent in a ton of great questions, right? Well here is the second installment of the Q and A. I have learned so much from finding the answers to these questions! I have also learned that there is not one right way. The things that I suggest in these answers may not be your go-to way to solve an embroidery problem. If you would do it differently, please let us know by putting it in the comments below. The best way to learn is when we all share what works for us. I used a sticky stabilizer once and it was too hard to get off.…
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The Stabilizer Series – Your Questions Answered
I am so excited about the response we have gotten to this series! I was going to wait and do Q and A at the end of it, but we have had so many questions already, I thought I would do a couple posts in the middle of this series with answers to your specific questions. (If you want to catch up, you can read the first post here and the second post in the series here) So here are your questions and answers: Tell me what stabilizers to use for Terry Bath Towels, please. This is a huge challenge to me! Most often for bath towels, I use 1…
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Free Martin Luther King Jr. Embroidery Design
Martin Luther King Jr. Embroidery Design To honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we have this free downloadable embroidery design with one of his many amazing quotes. I hope this blesses you as it has me. Growing up in the Atlanta area meant that I had the privilege of learning about the great work that Martin Luther King, Jr., did for civil rights first hand. I remember my amazing mama taking me to the Magnolia Room and explaining to me that Dr. King had been arrested in this very restaurant just because of the color of his skin. I have had the honor to go to Ebenezer Baptist Church and explore the…
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The Stabilizer Basics – Cut Away and Tear Away Stabilizers
Note: This is the second in a series about stabilizers. You can read the first installment here. When I started doing research for this series, the more I uncovered, and the more I realized there was to learn! One of my first questions was “How many stabilizers are there?!?!” It can feel like there are 4 million different kinds and they all seemed to have a very specific use. There are basically four different types of stabilizer: Cut-Away, Tear-Away, Wash-Away and Heat-Away. All of our stabilizers are color-coded, too. In this post, I will give you the basics and primary (most common) uses for Cut-Away (purple packaging) and Tear-Away (green packaging) stabilizers.…
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The Stabilizer Basics – Series
I have a confession to make. Although I have been sewing since I was a child, I am very very new to machine embroidery. The truth is, when I started this job with Sulky the most complex thing I could do on an embroidery machine is use the alphabet that is built in the machine in order to put a name or letter onto a towel. Don’t get me wrong, I owned all the right stuff. I had all the stabilizers, I had books, I even had friends who knew what they were doing and they were willing to answer any question that I had. The problem is, I had no idea…
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Sulky Favorite Things of 2014
Sulky Favorite Things We all have our Sulky favorite things. In 2014, our National Educators listed their Sulky favorite things that they made in 2014. Here are the very cool, very diverse results! Every year since National Educators, Suzy Seed, Nancy Sapin and Lee Fletcher started working Houston Quilt Festival together, they have done round-robin challenge vests. It was Suzy’s idea that Nancy and Lee needed to expand their embellishment skills fast and what better way than with a challenge! It has worked wonders and it is interesting to see the progression from the first year to now. This year they incorporated a lot of techniques from the new “Embellish…
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The Color of the Year 2015 Project Inspiration: Marsala
Since the year 2000, the experts at Pantone have been choosing a color of the year every year. Last year was Radiant Orchid (Sulky Color: #1032, Medium Purple). This year Pantone has picked Marsala and I for one, could not be more thrilled with this choice for color of the year 2015! I love this rich earthy color. I love the warm tone and sense of home it invokes in me. In Sulky threads, it matches several of our colors. For Rayon, it is color #1237 Deep Mauve, in Sulky Cotton Thread it is #1190 Medium Burgundy, in Sulky Metallic Thread it is color #7010 Dark Copper but in Sulky…
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My Favorite Sites For Hand Embroidery Patterns & A Giveaway!
Hand Embroidery is one of my favorite things to do. I love the act of stitching, especially with Sulky Cotton Petites™ & Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy™ (You can read why I love these products for hand embroidery here), but I also love that there are so many new designs these days. No longer is hand embroidery just red work, traditional or heirloom. No matter what your personal style, you can find hand embroidery patterns just for you. There are tons of great sites with fantastic patterns, but here are a few of my favorites. HINT: I am doing a giveaway at the end of this blog (Like the monster at the end…
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Free-Motion Quilting With Sulky Metallic Threads – Practice Makes Perfect
The question I get asked the very most is how I am able to sew and quilt, especially free-motion, with Sulky Metallic Threads so easily. Since I have learned how to use metallic threads, I use them in almost every project that I do. I have always been a girl who loves bling, so really, this is not a surprise! One of the things I love about Sulky Metallic Thread is it isn’t rough or stiff, so I am able to use it on just about anything and not worry that it will make my project too stiff. There is a secret to using metallic threads. Do you want to…
