I have been working on baby blankets and recently found a time saver.  I used to pin pleats on the satin ribbon and then sew on the minky fabric.  After a few blankets and  a lot of time, I purchased a ruffler foot.   You can actually ruffle satin onto the fabric at the same time.  I wish I had gotten a ruffler foot a little sooner.  Now I am looking for projects that need ruffles!  Pillow cases, dresses, etc.

I handsome extra minky fabric and wanted to think of a something else it could be used for other than baby blankets.  I decided to make my daughter a pillowcase.  She got to pick out the color and the embroidery design.  She thought that was great!   She loved  how soft it was on her face.  Well, when she woke the next morning her long hair wasn’t tangled like normal.  Which meant less brushing and fusing that morning!.  It’s the pillowcase.  Grandma was right!  If you don’t want your hair messed up during the night than sleep on satin…..and now minky too!

I recently made the cutest little purse out of some cute little Mizzou (where I am sending my daughter off to college)fabric.  It didn’t go together as easily as I had hoped.  Let me share with you a couple of things I have learned during this project that may be helpful.

1.  Read the pattern instructions before beginning.  I like to read the instructions several times to get a good visual of how everything will fit together.

2.  If the pattern is printed on paper like you would run through your printer, take the time to copy it onto some thinner paper.  Tissue paper works pretty good and it’s much easier to pin to your fabric.

3.  Don’t be afraid to improvise.  When you get to a point where things don’t seem to be going together as they should, it can sometimes be easier to alter things slightly instead of using the dreaded seam ripper.

I recently discovered some of the amazing features on the Lauren. For the past couple of weeks I have been trying different things on the serger and recently learned of the rolled hem.

The rolled hem is a simply a hem made from thread to prevent raveling. On a traditional hem you fold the fabric over the edge to get a nice finished looked, but for a rolled hem thread is used instead. Pull out a nice set of napkins and you’ll likely see a rolled hem around the edge.

I used this technique to create receiving blankets for my friend. Most store-bought receiving blankets are 30″ x 30″, which doesn’t really allow you to wrap up the baby. So, I made her 36″ x 36″ blankets that would also work great for swaddling. And, the best part, I got to pick out the fun flannel fabrics!

I hope you all enjoyed the wedding projects during the month of May.  My sister got married on April 25th of this year and the projects posted were things I had made for her wedding with the exception of the purse. (I would have made these but I ran out of time!)  Anyway, I thought I would share some things that I learned while working on my sister’s wedding.

1.   There are just about as many wedding websites and there are wedding couples.  But, these are a great place to idea shop.  You can email links and pictures so you know exactly what the bride is talking about.

2.  Pace yourself.  Tackle one thing at a time, ring bearer pillow one weekend, flower girl basket then next, etc…trying to do too many things at one time can become overwhelming and limit your progress.  You want to make the bride happy with everything completed right?

3.   Buy plenty of fabric.  I can tell you, once  you have your list of items set, the bride will come to you with one last thing she saw and say, it’s no big deal but it would be nice to have…and you being the one that wants to make the bride happy will say sure…I can make these for the entire wedding party….. for the rehearsal dinner…

4.   We didn’t have a veil project but I can talk from experience, a simple veil makes a big impact.  And when I say simple I mean just a bunch of tulle gathered to hair clip!  The best part, it can be done at the last minute.  This is not recommended as it does tend to stress out the bride….

5.   The most important thing I learned is only you know what didn’t get done in time, and well, maybe the bride.  So relax no one else needs to know.  Enjoy what you did get finished and save the other things for the next wedding you get to make things for!  And remember, all your touches big and small will add to the special day in a way that a gift of a can opener never will.

A spool cap is designed to keep the thread spool on the machine as you sew.  But if you have ever had your thread catch on the spool cap it can be quite frustrating. To keep your thread from catching on the spool cap and breaking, match the size of the spool cap with the size of the thread spool. When in doubt, use a spool cap smaller than the spool.

Lost your spool cap? Only have one size? Locate a retailer in your area to get more.

When buying buttons for your next garment project, do what ready-to-wear brands do! Buy a couple extra matching buttons and sew them to the inside side seam. Then you will have a spare ready if you need one!

Avoid embarrassing moments and future mending jobs by backstitching seams in stressful areas such as the hip seams or underarm seams when sewing the garment.

Start a sewing bulletin board or a journal to jot down patterns and outfits purchased, ideas you would like to copy and sketches of future projects. Then all your ideas are together when it is time to decide on the next project to sew!