Guest Blog: Spring Clean Your Sewing Room in 7 Easy Steps

As you are storing your winter jackets, scarves, and boots, now’s the time to turn your attention to your sewing room. There’s no avoiding it, spring cleaning is in full swing.

If you’ve been quilting up a storm, it probably looks like a hurricane recently blew through. If you’ve been meaning to get back to your projects now that the holidays are over and the weather is warmer, you are most likely dreading the Christmas mess that you left behind.

We feel your pain. And, we think we can help you recover the creativity you feel from a well stocked and organized sewing room. We’ve scoured Pinterest to bring you seven tips that should perk up your favorite room.

Your Sewing Room: Organized

1.    Buttons look cool inside an old jar but you can never find what you need. Solution? Sort your buttons and use paper clips to keep the same types and colors together. You’ll have to bend the paper clips open and twist them shut. This might feel a little tedious but you will always be able to grab exactly what you need.

2.    Embroidery floss becomes a tangled mess when left unattended. You know what would be fun? Wrapping each color around a wooden clothespin, writing the color number on the clothespin itself with a sharpie. If you are really inspired by all the fun colors in your collection, display them in a pretty bowl or vintage tool box.

3.    Fabric Scraps are the one area that quilters lose all organizational skills. There are always an overwhelming amount of scraps that we can never seem to part with. Have you tried using those fun little mail sorters? This keeps the fabric within sight so that they get used while keeping them off the floor or the table or every square inch of your sewing room.

4.    Winter quilts don’t need to be packed away in dusty basements. You can install towel racks on the backs of closet doors and keep them accessible year round.

5.    Bobbins like to roll around and unravel, but if you attach a magnetic strip to the bottom of a drawer or on the wall near your sewing machine, you can keep your bobbins locked and loaded for use at any moment. Make sure your bobbins are metal before installing magnetic strips.

6.    Tools, like scissors or glue sticks or seam rippers, work best when you can actually reach them. Try storing like things together in mason jars. There always seem to be extra mason jars around the house, right?

7.    Pressed fabric for your next quilt project. Be honest, even if we are spring cleaning, we can’t possibly put every single thing in our sewing rooms away, because we are always in the middle of some fantastic project.

Let’s Get Started

Spring cleaning is usually just an excuse to pick up pretty storage things.

Like any great project, the idea of it seems amazing, and it’s even better if it involves a trip to the fabric store for supplies. So, just because these tips require very little in the way of purchases, it shouldn’t deter you from your goal: a happy and organized sewing room!

You see, it’s totally possible to organize your sewing room without breaking the bank or weeks of planning and building a complete remodel. Sometimes, it’s best to work with what you’ve got!

Author Biography:
The Jones Sew & Vac family has been bringing south Idaho together by sewing for over fifty years! Over that time, they’ve gained immense knowledge and love sharing it whether it be about sewing, embroidery, or quilting!

Choosing a prom dress

…can be as easy as A, B, C.

Aesthetics: 

The most obvious thing to think about when choosing a dress to wear to prom is how the dress looks, but there’s more to it than just loving a beautiful dress you see on the internet or on a store mannequin.

Consider the appropriateness of the dress(es) you like. Not only will the dress you choose have to conform to any guidelines set by your school or by the venue the prom is being held in, but it should also be in line with the level of formality you expect at your particular event. Some proms are “fancier” than others, and you don’t want to over or under dress.

Once you know the dress code and how formal the event is, begin to narrow the search.

It’s easy to find out what types of dresses are on trend for prom during any given year; check out styles worn on the red carpet during awards season, flip through a couple of fashion magazines aimed at a teen audience, Google “prom trends 20xx”. You can use these sources as inspiration and as a rough guideline for your dress shopping, be careful not to lock yourself into imitating a celebrity, or wearing a certain shape of dress because that’s what friends are planning to wear. Above all fashion considerations, you want your dress to make you look great, and the best way to look fabulous in a dress is to choose a dress that reflects your personal style and is flattering to your skin, shape and features.

Just because you love a color doesn’t mean it’s a good color on you. The best colors for you are colors that occur naturally on your body. Try on dresses in your eye color, lip color (sans lipstick), and hair color. Broaden your search by trying colors that are roughly the same saturation level and tone as those that occur in your eyes and hair, and also try and stay in the same “temperature” range. You’ve likely heard skin tones described as “warm” and “cool”. There is an immense amount of information about colors and color temperature, but to (over) simplify…warm complexions have a more yellow undertone and cool complexions have a pinker undertone. Those with warm complexions look best in colors found in fire and in the front ½ of the rainbow – red, orange, yellow, brown. Cool complexions look best in colors from the back ½ of the rainbow – green, blue, purple, pink, black.

Don’t stop at color when considering what dress looks best. Take into account the texture of the fabric, the scale of the print or details, and the level of contrast in the piece. Just like with color, textures and shapes that appear on your body are flattering. If your hair is straight and smooth, a fabric with a silky finish might be a nice choice. If you have angular features, they’ll be well-complimented by something geometric rather than flowing. Think about your scale as it relates to the scale of details in the dress. Are you petite? Do you have small, delicate features? If so, large, bold prints or embellishments will probably look overwhelming and draw too much focus. But if you’re tall or broad, larger patterns balance with you better. Again, tomes have been written on these topics, and if you’re interested in further information, check out Nancy Nix Rice’s blog and books.

Finally, choose a silhouette that flatters your figure. Select a shape that highlights features you like, and causes features you’re not that thrilled about to recede into the background. The best dresses lead viewers’ eyes down and up the figure and draw the focus to land at your face. If there’s a portion of your body that’s short, avoid lines that cross the area horizontally. For instance, if you have a short torso, a contrasting band or horizontal seam at the waistline might not be the best look. The belt or seam visually cuts the body and makes the torso look shorter and wider than it is. If you have an hourglass figure, a drop waist won’t be optimal since the narrowness of your waist will be obscured while the width of your hips will be highlighted. Be mindful of adding extra volume in places you don’t want attention drawn to. 

Budget: 

Not only should you consider the sticker price on the dress, but also what will need to be invested in it, like for alterations and accessories.

Alterations are almost always needed, and vary wildly in complexity and cost. Most alterations shops, including sewBoise, set their prices according to how long an alteration takes, how skilled the sewist needs to be to complete the alteration, and if there are any notions needed for the adjustment (zippers, extra boning, etc. ). The more time-consuming a task is, the more expensive, even if the dress isn’t. Take a look at this alterations price list. You can see that hemming a dress can cost as little as $15 for a plain straight hem, or over $100 if there are multiple layers, beading, or other complications.

Consider as well what shoes, undergarments, jewelry, handbag, and outerwear you are going to wear with the dress. Do you already own these items? Or is there a special bra, slip, or wrap you’ll need to purchase? Add those to the cost of the dress.

Awareness in the dressing room can help you avoid busting your budget with unanticipated costs.

Comfort: 

The prom isn’t ALL about the dress. It’s about having a great time, and it’s difficult to enjoy yourself if you’re tugging at or tripping over your clothes all night.

 Fit is paramount. Your dress should be neither too loose nor too tight. You should be able to easily breathe, eat and sit without discomfort and without worrying your dress will tear. If it’s strapless or has spaghetti straps, ideally it will be anchored at the waist and supported with boning. If the bodice of your dress fits correctly, there should be no need to keep hiking it up all night. A good alterationist (hint, hint) will be able to modify a dress to stay put on your body. Another thing an alterationist can help you with is the length of your dress. Be sure your dress hits at a flattering part of the leg if it’s a short dress, and that it’s not a tripping hazard if it’s a long dress. Also, try walking backward in your dress. You should not be able to step on it. Trains on dresses are not appropriate for anyplace that people other than the train wearer are standing up and/or walking. A dress with a train will get soiled, torn or jerked off of its wearer when it’s inevitably stepped on at prom.  

Check the mobility of your limbs in the dress. Can you take a full stride, or must you penguin-walk? Can you hug or dance with your date without cutting off the circulation in your arms? Some movement restrictions can be reduced with alterations, but changes requiring extra fabric are time consuming (read expensive) and a perfect fabric match can rarely be found.

Be aware of the fabric and texture of your dress. Sometimes beads, sequins and trims can be scratchy against bare skin. Identify areas of discomfort and decide whether the removal of beads or trim in that area will compromise the beauty of the dress. It’s easy for a professional to remove a few offending beads from the armpit of a gown without any negative impact to the aesthetics. Be sure the fabric itself doesn’t irritate your skin. You don’t want an itchy ruffle bugging you all night. See if the irritation can be removed by adding a slip or removing a tag, or if it’s better just to find a more comfortable dress.

Think about what the temperature will be like on the way to the prom and once you arrive. A long dress with multiple layers and long sleeves won’t be a good choice at a venue without air conditioning. Likewise, a flimsy short strapless won’t do if it’s cold out, though layering a long warm coat over your dress can help in this scenario.

Buying a Sewing Machine: a primer for the overwhelmed and under-experienced

Whether you’re buying a holiday gift for a budding fashion enthusiast, outfitting one your kids for the years away at college, or setting yourself up for a new or resurgent pastime, here are some tips for making a painless purchase and a sound investment.

Who is using the machine?

The features of the machine need to be ones that are important to the user of the machine, not necessarily the buyer. For example, a 12 year old does not have the experience of controlling acceleration with a foot pedal, as all adult drivers of cars find second-nature. One feature some machines have is a control to adjust the maximum speed of the needle. No matter how hard you press the pedal, the needle speed will not go any faster than what you set it for.

Likewise, who will need to learn to operate the machine, and who will maintain it? Although sewing machines can be purchased from lots of places; a sewing machine shop or dealership, a big-box store, online, or from an individual, it’s best to set yourself up for success in terms of correct operation and maintenance.

Unless you’re intimately familiar with sewing machines already, and can troubleshoot , adjust, and repair one yourself, you’ll definitely either want to purchase it from a place that offers support, service, warranties and advice, or know where you can go for lessons (sewBoise) and service (Johnson’s Sewing Center).

What for?

It makes a difference what someone’s main sewing projects will be as to what features will be useful, and what level of quality can be produced by a certain machine. Many sewing machines come with hundreds, or even thousands of decorative stitches. To someone who does machine quilting, that’s a fantastic feature, but of the 100 stitches available on my Bernina, I use 4. Decorative stitches are of no use to me, because I sew almost entirely on garments. The features that are critical to me are a quality straight stitch, adjustability in my needle position and stitch length, and workhorse innards that will hold up to my many hours of sewing every single day. I also appreciate features like good visibility (which can be accomplished with after-market presser feet), a knee lift for hands-free presser-foot lifting, an upper feed dog for moving unfriendly material through the machine, a nice machine buttonhole, and an alarm that sounds when my bobbin gets low. Unless you are me, the features you care about most aren’t likely identical. Sure, everyone needs a quality straight stitch, but does anyone NEED a bobbin alarm? No. Just pay attention.

New sewists won’t know what features they like until they have experienced some of them. Go to a sewing machine dealership and test drive different models with common fabrics and projects to you. It’s important that you test the machine with the actual fabrics you’ll most frequently be using. A machine that is great on 2 layers of cotton might not be the best for sewing nylon webbing to a backpack or doing a narrow hem on silk chiffon (though the correct needle and thread combination and the right presser foot certainly come in to play as well). Don’t be shy about bringing samples into the store. A reputable dealer will happily demonstrate and let you test several machines.

What’s your budget?

Though there are always “deals” to be had, you should resist the lure of a “bargain” and buy the best sewing machine you can afford. 

The following analogies and cautionary tales are intended to warn you of the hazards of buying a sewing machine based on price alone.  A very common, unhappy decision is to buy a cheap machine at a big-box craft store or online. What can be purchased for $99 at these merchants is best described as a toy sewing machine. It looks like a sewing machine, but won’t act like one.

The better your tools are, the more enjoyable your work will be, and the better the result. Our couture instructor, Barbie, puts it this way, “Can you make dinner with an EZ Bake Oven? Certainly. But it’ll take forever, it’ll be smaller than you want it to be, and it probably won’t turn out as well as if you used a full-sized oven and an actual pan instead of a light bulb and miniature spatula.” 

sewBoise’s resident gentleman sewist, Frank, shares this anecdote about buying his first sewing machine.

One experience that is sometimes hard to appreciate second-hand, is the difference ease-of-use makes. I remember when I purchased my first sewing machine, I had pretty much decided against the model that was on the high end of my budget and had decided on a less-expensive machine that I was assured would give me the same high stitch quality. The (quilting store/machine dealership)  I was shopping at encouraged me to take a class there so I could use both machines before making my final decision. I used the more expensive machine first, and sat next to a lady that was using the machine I had planned to buy. During the first few activities of winding the bobbin and threading the machine, I noticed how hard every step was for her, and how easy it was on the machine I was using. Throughout that entire class I continued to notice the same thing…everything took so much extra work for her, and required help from the instructor. On my machine, everything was so intuitive and easy. Despite the higher price tag, it was clear to me after that night that I was going to buy the machine I used in class. I knew I was not going to appreciate having to learn all the special information needed to operate the cheaper model.

 All of this extra time, work and special knowledge is something that can impact how much you enjoy sewing. The frustration of a poorly engineered and designed machine can be enough to turn a new sewer away from sewing altogether.

Now that you’re fully preached to, let’s talk numbers.

The machines we use in the classroom at sewBoise are the Brother Innovis-40 model (Project Runway Edition). They’re a good middle-of-the-road machine. We find them adequate for most tasks and most fabrics, they have a good repair record, are incredibly user-friendly, and have a couple of invaluable features (like speed control and multiple needle positions). This machine costs about $400.

$400 is a pretty significant investment, especially if you suspect the machine’s recipient may not stick with sewing as a primary activity, but I again urge you to consider how much more enjoyable sewing on a good machine is than sewing on a bad one. It’s also true that a decent machine holds its value much better than a cheaply manufactured machine. Should the hobby fall by the wayside, a good machine can always be consigned at a dealership (yes, many take trade-ins, just like cars), or sold on craigslist. There is always a market for good, used sewing machines – and the only place suitable for a crappy, disposable machine when you’re done being frustrated by it is the landfill…and you have to pay to put it in there.

Obviously, even though a $99 Singer is no substitute for a $400 Brother, many budgets place a brand new sewing machine of quality out of reach. For those with a budget under $200, we highly recommend a quality used machine over a new machine. Again, try machine dealerships where people are trading-in and upgrading. If you are a savvy garage sale or craigslist shopper, have at it! Ask to test-drive the machine before you buy and have it looked over and tuned up by a reputable technician.

We always recommend Vern Johnson and Johnson’s Sewing Center in Nampa as a machine-shopping and machine-repair destination. Vern and his wife Teresa are friendly, honest and pretty much know everything about sewing machines and accessories. Their shop carries new and used machines, sells on consignment, and Vern is the repair and maintenance man for the entire sewBoise staff (I think there are over 35 sewing machines across 9 brands among us). 

If you’d like more specific advice about brands and models, we’re happy to help you at sewBoise, though we’ve obviously not had experience with EVERY machine out there. Give us a call or e-mail, or pop by when we’re open. Best of luck with your sewing machine shopping! You’re probably still overwhelmed, but at least now you’re (over) informed.

Happy Hollidays!

The Perfect Summer Fabric- Linen!

Linen is a "natural" for summer!

Linen is made from the flax plant, and feels smooth and cool to the touch. Each fiber has a hollow core, so it wicks away moisture from your skin and releases it into the air. It can absorb up to 20 percent of its weight in moisture before it even feels damp. It's anti-static as well as lint-free. It even resists mildew and moths. Yes, there is the matter of its propensity to wrinkle, but my philosophy is, “who cares? Everybody will know it’s REAL linen and will therefore be jealous of your super-chic comfort.” Iron it once before you leave the house, and then let the world do its worst.

Linen is the oldest known fiber to man- samples of woven linen have been dated back more than 8,000 years, and both the ancient Egyptians and Northern Eurpoean cultures believed that linen was a gift to man from their prospective godesses (Isis and Hilda). Who can argue? Linen is an unarguably splendid thing and probably was flung down here by one kind deity or another. 

Linen is durable, strong, and machine washable (for a softer look) or dry cleanable (to preserve a super crisp look). Although it's commonly woven as a basic weave, it is readily available in many different weights--from sheer, light weight handkerchief linen, to heavy canvas weight linens. It takes dye quite well, and is available in a full range of beautiful colors and prints. 

And as an added bonus, it's easy to sew! It's tight weave and even hand makes piecing and stitching a breeze. It's perfect for showcasing seam details and topstitching. It presses like a dream (unlike plastic-propertied polyester knockoffs), and behaves itself in hemming situations.

***

Of course, we have the perfect class to get you acquainted with this addictive fiber. It guides you through making the Perfect Summer Sheath Dress! 

 

Sample of the dress made in the Summer Sheath class.

The class takes into account busy summer schedules and allocation of summer vacation funds--it’s just ten hours (with some easy homework, naturally), and allows some hybridization of couture techniques (underlining) with industry shortcuts (serging seam allowances). In addition to carrying a couple of bolts of linen in stock, sewBoise has linen samples in more than 50 different colors, and will be placing an order from our supplier this weekend. We'd love for you to take the class, but even if you don't, you're welcome to peruse our samples and place an order; the linen will be in next week.

Click here to find out more about the Summer Sheath class and to sign up.

Benefits of fashion sketching

Fashion sketching is not just reserved for costume designers or fashion design students; in fact, it can benefit anyone interested in expanding their sewing and design skill set. Professional artist, sewist, designer, and teacher Carol Kimball will be here April 27^th and 28^th, 2013, to teach two classes on fashion sketching and one on sewing ergonomics. 

Jumpstart your brain

• Rather than just sitting at your sewing machine and hoping inspiration will strike, sketching can get you over the paralysis of beginning a project. It can break down that sew-er’s block and get the creative juices flowing.

Create a garment that is truly one-of-a kind

• Why be constrained by the mundane offerings in commercial pattern books? You needn’t be restricted by that which already exists
• Take a neckline inspired by a commercial pattern, sleeves like the ones on your favorite dress, and the piping you saw on that jacket Stacy London was wearing on TV, or imagine something completely new.

Save time, money and fabric

• Sketching allows you to examine different combinations without making countless muslins.
• Instead of just visualizing fabric and style combinations in your mind, you can see the design on paper and critique it before constructing or purchasing anything.
• Sketching means you get the design right before cutting expensive or irreplaceable fabric.
• You can experiment with fabric from your “stash.” Have enough for a dress or a jacket, but not both? Draw a quick sketch to figure out the best use of the fabric.

Recreate and reimagine existing garments

• How would a major-remodel type of alteration change an existing piece of clothing? Is the time or money investment worth it? What if I (raised the waistline/removed the sleeve/added pockets)?
• Make your wedding day special by refurbishing your mother’s gown. Figure out how it’s going to look before making changes that can’t be un-done.

If you sew for others, get on the same page

• Your clients (or your daughters) need reassurance that you're paying attention to them. Why go to the trouble of making the pattern, sewing a muslin, and then finding you need to start over because it wasn’t what the client had in mind? 
• For example, one of Carol’s clients, a mother-of-the-bride, had a definite design in mind for some lovely silk her late husband had brought back from Thailand. When she saw the workup of her "dream dress" she exclaimed, "It looks like a bathrobe!"
• When you sketch with your clients, they are right there providing feedback. As they see their ideas worked out, the dynamic changes from master/flunky to fellow collaborators.

Find the most flattering look for the wearer

• See quickly how design changes make an outfit look better (or worse) on the body it’s being designed for.
• Determine what details, hem lengths, fabric combinations, and silhouettes are the most flattering on a particular person.

Minor modifications were made for a considerably more flattering look; neckline was lowered, pockets were slanted, double buttons traded for single button, armhole was raised.

Below are sketches done by students after the first day of Carol’s “Fashion Sketching for Any Body” class.

If you'd like to join us for Carol's classes, visit this link.