When do you change your needle? Recently I conducted an informal survey at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo and found that 46% change their needles with every new project or every 4 to 10 sewing hours. That was a pleasant surprise, but again I was asking attendees at the largest sewing party in North America. Hmmmm 46% . . . .
What is everyone else doing? That leaves many sewists waiting to replace their needle until it snags, pops or breaks. Well for those of you that never change your needle - you know who you are - or wait until the needle breaks, take a look at this magnified pic of a used needle. The needle on the left has been used, yet a closer look tells a very different story.
This needle is not as sharp as it looks to our naked eye. Look at that giant burr and striations! What is it doing to your fabrics? Is it compromising your machine? Just like a razor gets dull and pulls at a beard, a machine needle is similar and needs to be changed. The general rule of thumb is to change your needle after 8 hours of sewing time. Fabrics with different finishes and even your sewing technique may determine needle replacement more or less than every 8 hours. In the meantime, here are a few clues to help you to determine when to replace the needle:
Broken or Shredded Threads
Skipped or Uneven Stitches
Puckered or Damaged Fabrics
Popping/Clunking Sound Made by Sewing Machine
Yes, your machine talks to you. Look and listen. Change your needle.
Sew SCHMETZ!
Rhonda www.SCHMETZneedles.com
What sewing and creative blogs do you read? This was my question of the week at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo. With the zillions of websites and blogs, where do others find sewing facts, education, inspiration, some humor and a recipe or two? Through an informal questionnaire, I got quite a list. In fact I was thrilled with the variety! So here's a list of blogs - or websites with blogs - that our creative friends are reading.
If you are new to blogs or you just want to break out of your reading rut and discover new blogs, have some fun checking these out. Each blog or website below is linked, so just click a name and you are off to discover a new site. . . . Of course I was thrilled to know SCHMETZneedles is regularly read.
Besides sewing tips and lots of inspiration, did you find the recipe for the salted caramel brownies? Maybe it's time for a little snack. So the question to YOU is "What blogs do you read?" Let me know by commenting and I will post another list.
What ingenuity! Meet Mary Collen. Mary took a few moments from her busy schedule at the Sewing & Stitchery Expo to talk about her entry into the IPCA, Independent Pattern Company Alliance, Ticket To Paradise Challenge. Mary used a Dana Marie Design pattern to create a ski jacket with QR codes that when scanned with a smartphone redirect the reader to her website for details about the jacket at www.sewjazzyparadise.com. Mary used a SCHMETZ Microtex needle.
Mary didn't win the challenge this year, but she won last year with the beautiful jacket she is wearing in this video. Note the timeless embellished lapel. What will Mary think of next year? I'm going to keep a look out for next year's IPCA challenge.
Sew SCHMETZ!
Rhonda
www.sewjazzyparadise.com
www.danamarie.com
www.patterncompanies.com
I'm still winding down from the largest sewing party in North America - The Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA. What a whirlwind of classes, chance encounters, authors, designers, vendors, volunteers and people like you - that love to sew, quilt and craft. As the Expo Facebook Hostess I took a ton of pics in classrooms, show aisles, booths, fashion shows, even a men's restroom, and elsewhere on the Expo grounds. Visit www.facebook.com/sewexpo. While I still sort through nearly 1,000 pics, I want to share with you a few favorites in no particular order:
Love the joy in Leslie's face as she donates 6 pillowcases made by her Super Saturday Pierce County 4-H Group. Over 4,595 pillowcases were donated by Sewing and Stitchery Expo attendees to Mary Bridges Children's Hospital. Adorable Leslie and her friends made the pillowcases "for the sick children".
This young gal is nearly ready for The Best of the Best, 4-H Fashion Revue wearing a lovely, cool blue, romantic dress, topped off with her mother's wedding hat. The ensemble is timeless.
Rita Farro, publicity director for the Expo, unofficially declared to Facebook & blogger friends, "Zebra Day" on Expo Friday. Wow, we saw some creative uses of zebra fabric! Note that young Olivia seated on the bench is wearing knee-high zebra sneakers. Even Olivia's Mom - not pictured - wore the same zebra knee-high sneakers. Pictured on the bench are Olivia with her aunt, standing are Jan and Bonne.
Ben won a collection of 28 fatt-quarters provided by Studio-e Fabrics. Ben was surrounded by quilters anxious to win this beautiful collection. We all had quilts dancing in our minds, when Ben won the contest. Ben loves to sew bean bags and blankets for his bears. I am soooo happy Ben won these beautiful fabrics!
Thanks to Grandma, this is one adorable coat with leopard trim and felted rose embellishments for sisters.
Getting a dash of lip gloss from a friend before moving backstage for The Best of the Best, 4-H Fashion Revue.
Ellen March, Host of SewItAllTV.com and Laura Mendoza, State Fashion Revue Superintendent are framed while playing with sewing props.
Hmmm... my husband always asks me to hem his new pants. To me, hemming pants is NOT sewing. Of course, I always say yes, but I really want to say this as seen on a cute SewItAllTV t-shirt .........
I have many more pics to share on Sew Expo and SCHMETZneedles Facebook pages along with this blog. So, stay tuned for more memories of a truly great sewing party - The 2013 Sewing & Stitchery Expo.
On more thing about Twin needles - they are available in a variety of needle widths and sizes. Below is a pack of 3 Universal Twin needles, just like you would find in your local store. Look at the bottom of the needle pack and you see 1.6/70, 2.0/80, 3.0/90. The first number indicates the stitch distance between the needles, so 1.6mm between the needles will stitch narrow parallel lines. The 70 refers to the needle size, so size 70.
Universal Twin needles have the widest assortment of stitch widths and needle sizes: 1.6/70, 1.6/80, 2.0/80, 2.5/80, 3.0/90, 4.0/80, 4.0/90, 4.0/100, 6.0/100, 8.0/100.
Looking to jazz up your sewing? Try stitching with a Twin or Triple needle. Twin needles are sometimes called Double needles. Two like needles mounted on a single needle bar with a single shank. Twin needles are available in Denim, Embroidery, Metallic, Stretch and Universal.
A Triple needle is sometimes called a Drilling needle. Three Universal needles mounted on a single needle bar with a single shank to create three rows of parallel stitches. With the Twin and Triple needles, two or three rows, respectfully, of stitches are created. Miss-stitch . . . and you have a lot of ripping out to do.
With every rule there is an exception. This time it is the Double Hemstitch (Wing) needle. There is no way you could get the width of two Hemstitch needles past your needle plate, so a Hemstitch needle is married up with a Universal needle.
Hmmm, this brings up an important point . . . make sure your needle plate can accommodate the width of your twin needle and your stitches. Use two spools of thread - or three if using the Triple needle - with your single bobbin. Have some fun and use different colors of thread. Twin needles can be used with decorative stitches and certainly with straight stitches, but again make sure your needle plate is wide enough. Otherwise, what's the result? A broken needle.
I love meeting new people. I especially love learning the stories of quilters and sewists. While waiting for the 2013 QuiltCon exhibition doors to open in Austin, TX, I had a delightful encounter with Sandra Benoit. Our conversation opened while admiring each others eye glasses. Mine are Italian, but Sandra's glasses are not only French, she bought them in person . . . in Paris. Voila! Sandra loves to quilt and as a former math teacher incorporates mathematics into her quilt designs. In fact she designs quilts in Excel spreadsheets!
Sandra's iPad was loaded with pics of her quilts: A soothing, reflective Japanese garden quilt, a biblical quilt with each block telling a bible verse or story and a wedding quilt for her Islamic friend. In this video Sandra explains the thought process in the creation of her Islamic floor tile inspired quilt and develops an eight point star using flying geese. Really!
Thanks Sandra for your inspiring conversation and quilts. Next time I open my Excel spreadsheet to plug in numbers, I will think of you designing beautiful, thoughtful and mathematical quilts.
Sew SCHMETZ!
Rhonda
PS: Sandra's favorite needles are SCHMETZ Microtex/Sharp 70/10 and Universal 70/10.
