Cajun Corner – Vol.
4, No. 13 – April 7, 2012
Bon
Jour! Welcome to Cajun
Stitchery’s weekly email and welcome to our family.
ΘΘΘΘΘ
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forget to visit our blog at www.cajunstitchery.blogspot.com,
and www.cajunstitchery.etsy.com
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This week I’ve been able to do a bit of catch up
work and try out some techniques that have intrigued me.
The first technique was embroidering scalloped
edges on a tee shirt. Using the appliqué
technique, I digitized a simple scalloped placement line, then a tack down
line, then the satin stitch. After
sewing the tack down line, I was able to trim the excess fabric as in
appliqué. When the satin stitch sewed
out the fabric was trimmed and left a very nice scalloped edge. I used a tear away stabilizer. The only problem with the tear away
stabilizer is that when you tear it away some fuzzy cotton residue
remains. That’s not so bad if you are
embroidering with white thread, but the darker the thread the more obvious the
fuzz. There are a couple of ways to deal
with the fuzz. One is to trim the fuzz
that you can and then using a magic marker the same color as the thread, cover
the fuzz with the magic marker. Another
method is to singe it off, but only if your thread is a poly-type threads that
will melt. The final method is to just
leave it. Most people won’t even
notice. Another technique is to hoop
plastic or wash away, instead of the tear away.
It was my tee shirt and I used tear away, trimmed away any noticeable
fuzz and let it go. It looked good
enough for me.
Next, I wanted to begin practicing some
continuous hooping a/k/a multi-hooping.
This is where you embroider a design that is larger than your hoop. After embroidering the design in the hoop;
un-hoop and re-hoop the design in such a way that the embroidery will begin in
the new hoop where the previous embroidery stopped. I used the scalloped edges of the previously
mentioned tee shirt. Paying close
attention to where the first stitch is placed and pinning the fabric in place,
the continuous/multi hooping project proceeded without a hitch. The end of the multi-hooping, when doing a
continuous hooping that meets at the other side, i.e., table cloth edging or
scalloped edges on a tee shirt, should match perfectly with the beginning. In other words, the last stitch of the last
hooping should meet with the first stitch of the first hooping. Alas, mine did not. The tee shirt was very stretchy and I ended
up with a space of about one scallop, which I kind of slid into place. That is not the most professional method but
it worked in a pinch.
The scalloped edged continuous hooping was very
simplistic. This technique can become
quite arduous with more complicated designs.
Therefore, I need to practice, practice, and practice.
My mama loved scalloped edges. She thought they were very feminine and had a
professional look. Hand embroidered
scallops require drawing and cutting the scallops; then sewing a running stitch
near the depth of the scallop satin stitch; and finally, tightly and evenly
sewing the satin stitch along the edge.
That is much too time consuming for me.
On a sewing machine there are a couple of techniques. One is just like the hand embroidered satin
stitch, except you use a tear away or wash away stabilizer after the edges are
cut. Good luck getting those to look
right. The simpler way is not to cut the
fabric but sew the scallops and come back and trim the excess fabric from the
scalloped edges. This is especially nice
if you have a scallop stitch on your sewing machine. But you have to be very careful not to
accidentally clip a satin stitch. This
method is used frequently on items at stores.
The embroidery machine method, explained above, gives the best of both
worlds. The end result is a satin
stitched scallop without the clipped fabric showing and no snipped
stitches. Of course, scalloped edges can
be done easily on a sewing machine by using a facing, but that isn’t embroidery
and embroidery is what I do.
Scallops are not the only thing done this
week. We had an accident at the
house. One of the burners on the stove
was left on and a pot holder somehow was on the burner. The pot holder burned. Don’t worry.
There was no damage other than a ruined pot holder. The pot holder is one that I made several
years ago and was our favorite. Pot
holders were probably the first thing that Mama taught me to sew. They are a great way to use scrap
fabric. The nice thing about making pot
holders is that they are not as thin and flimsy as most store bought pot
holders, and they are large enough to be useful. The ITH (In The Hoop) designs for pot holders
all seem to be too small and too flimsy.
Awhile back I did design and made some pot holders ITH but they were not
exactly what I wanted.
BASIC
POT HOLDER
1. Find
the fabric you want to use for the pot holder.
2. Embroider
the design you want on ½ the fabric for the pot holder.
3. Cut
the fabric, leaving enough around the edges for your seam. This step can also be done before the
embroidery process as long as you have enough fabric to hoop. I cut mine on a fold. I like a pot holder about 6” wide and 8”
tall.
4. With
right sides together, sew a seam around 3 sides, leaving one side open for
stuffing. Turn.
5. Take
some scrap fabric, or whatever you want to use for stuffing, and place inside
the pouch. Lay the pouch down and spread
the stuffing evening throughout the pouch.
Do not fill tight, just enough to give a nice, thick, quilted pot
holder.
6. Turn
the open end inside and pin closed.
7. Run
your sewing machine over the entire pouch a few times, creating the quilting
and sew the end closed.
8. Trim
your threads and voila! You have a pot
holder.
Of course, this pot holder is very simple. There are all kinds of pot holders and
designs for pot holders. Mama always
taught me to save scraps of fabric and keep a bag by my machine for the trimmed
off thread and little bits of fabric and lace.
These come in very handy on many sewing occasions. I’ve been teased a lot about saving all of my
scraps but when I was making those little letter pillows to spell “Cajun
Stitchery”, those scraps came in very handy.
When making Evie a soft pillow those scraps came in handy. There are numerous uses for scraps.
Our new puppy, Sammy, is acclimating to life at
our home. We searched online about how
to introduce a puppy to an older dog and found several articles. Basically, you just let them alone and they
will handle it. Make sure the older dog
gets lots of petting and attention. One
article specifically addressed a male and female dog and said, “The bottom line
is that the bitch rules.” It is obvious
that Evie rules in this situation.
However, I liked the sentence so much that I told George it is now my
mantra.
Tonight George and I continue our tradition of
Easter Egg Dying
.
.
HAPPY EASTER
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========================================================
A
little shimmer never hurt anyone! Add some metallic or glitter stripes you your
Easter eggs to give them a super glam look! Easter just got super stylish!
Found this at: http://www.ehow.com/how_2126489_make-homemade-easter-egg-dye.html
HOW TO MAKE HOME
MADE EASTER EGG DYE
Instructions
o
1
Add vinegar as a mordant. A mordant prepares the fiber to accept
and hold the dye. Vinegar is safe to use on eggs because it can be ingested.
You need 1 to 2 Tablespoons per batch of dye that you make.
o
2
Make homemade dye with produce or pantry items. The outer layers
of an onion make brown dye, spinach or dandelion leaves make green dye and
celery seed, ground turmeric or orange peels make yellow dye. Use crushed
blueberries to make blue dye, crush cranberries or raspberries to make red dye
and beet juice or chopped rhubarb to make pink dye. Put enough water to cover
eggs, produce or pantry item and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.
o
o
3
Use drinks to dye your Easter eggs. Add vinegar and hard boiled
eggs to coffee or tea to dye them brown. You can make unsweetened Kool Aid into
dye. Or you could use vibrant juices like grape juice or cranberry juice.
o
4
Mix food coloring for dye. Add 20 to 40 drops of food coloring to
a cup of water and vinegar. The amount of food coloring determines the shade of
the color. You can mix different amounts two or more colors to create a variety
of shades.
Tips & Warnings
·
Use
gloves to prevent your hands and fingers absorbing your homemade dye.
·
Put
newspaper under the area where you are dying Easter eggs to protect surfaces
from dye.
·
Always allow your eggs to boil and then simmer
for at least eight minutes.
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C’est tout, mes amis
Cajun Stitchery
(850) 261-2462
P.S. You are always
welcome to stop by and look at all of the catalogs and pass some time with me,
cher.
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