Palmerston North Craft Fair

I spent last Thursday at the Palmerston North Craft Fair hunting for new gadgets.  Well I have added this one to my "Want List".  The Brother Scan n Cut.  There are two models.  One for cutting paper and one for cutting paper & fabric.  Basically you scan your image into this machine and it will cut it out for you.  Imagine how quick you can cut your applique pieces.  What about those hundreds of fabric hexagons you cut by hand!  Goggle this product.  There are on line videos demonstrating how this piece of equipment works.





I bought an automatic French knitter.  I have an idea using French knitting and the thought of spending hours manually slipping each stitch individually over a nail has deterred me so I will test this product and show you my results.

I bought a Levi Bear pattern and yarn by Cameron-James Designs.  These beautiful bears are made from Boucle 12 ply yarn.    Visit www.cameronjamesdesigns.co.nz for more wonderful characters.


Visit www.tulis.co.nz website.  Tulis textiles promote the squedge tools designed by Cheryl Phillips.
I was impressed with these clever rulers which include cutting instructions and a pattern. 

Finally - I was excited to see my "Singer Story" finally on display.

Back to creating.

Tips for the scissor (thread) cutter on your sewing machine

I have a couple of tips to share if you are fortunate to have the scissor cutter feature on your sewing machine.  This is where the top thread is brought down into the bobbin bay and both threads are cut when you press the scissor button.

1.  Allow the scissor cutter time to cut your threads.  If you move your fabric away to quickly before its finished your top thread wont necessarily be cut.  Listen to the sound the cutter makes and you will soon get into a natural rhythm between cutting and moving your fabric.

2.  Don't use the scissor cutter when using metallic thread as it will quickly blunt the blade.

3.  Take care when cleaning your bobbin bay area so as not to disturb the cutter.  I use CRC air brush dust and lint remover to blow lint out that I am unable to get at with my brush.

4. The scissor cutter is a great feature when machine quilting as you sew from the batting onto your quilt and then off at the other end.  However if you have just used the cutter and need to bring both threads up so you can tie them off, the bottom thread will be shorter.  Once I bring up the bottom thread to the top of my quilt, I use a good pair of tweezers and gently pull the bottom thread to the length I require.  See image below.

Back to quilting my class samples for the 4 sided Kaleidoscope class. 
Happy stitching.