Best Tip or Hint

My best hint: if you ignore the threads on the floor long enough, and walk on them for a long, long time, they sort of web together and begin to feel like carpet underfoot.

Seriously, the best "tip" came with the sewing machine I inherited. It's a throat plate made just for a single needle and the foot that goes with it. Piecing is soooooo much easier when the chances of the fabric being yanked down into the depths of the bobbin hole.

If you don't have a single needle throat plate, I highly recommend getting one. Just don't forget and try to zigzag when it's in place. That would be a BIG oops.

Sunny

Whenever I have my single needle plate on, I attach a sticky note to my sewing machine - over the buttons that would allow me to switch from straight sewing to zig-zag or another type of stitch. The sticky note simply says "Straight Needle Plate". I got tired of breaking needles:)

My best tip is to put a white plastic spoon behind the needle in your sewing machine to help you to see where the hold in the needle is when threading. My Viking has a white bar behind the needle, but sometimes I still use the spoon. (Never could get the hang of the self-threader:))

Pauline Northern California

Good idea! If I ever have a sewing room with carpet, it will come in handy. Right now, the dust bunnies graze up all the threads and take care of that problem for me.

My tip is not to put off whatever you think will make your work space easier to use or more comfortable. Do it now! Today is the 1st day of the rest of your life! Roberta in D

"jennellh" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@34g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

A computer mouse pad is a useful addition to the sewing table. It is a place to park scissors and implements while protecting the surface. A pad is useful for both hand sewing and machine sewing, so add one to your traveling sewing kit to use in bees and classrooms.

My best and most personally used sewing hint is to use a teensy dab of glycerine on your fingertips when working with fabric. It is completely colorless, odorless and will not leave a stain on your fabric, but it will make your fingertips slightly tacky so it takes much less effort to keep your recalcitrant pieces in line when, if your are like me, your fingertips start to get really smooth when you're doing a lot of machine piecing.

I got this from an old time pro quilter who used to keep it by her machine in a cleaned out roller style deodorant applicator bottle which are a little hard to find today. Or you could dampen some gauze and keep it in a flat cold cream container. A little goes a long way. Sometimes it is hard to find plain old glycerine at the supermarket, but most pharmacies have it if you ask for it.

Diana from Gulph Mills, PA

I wear my threads. When I'm quilting, my usual tasteful ensemble begins with a t-shirt, plaid flannel or sweatshirt. Cut threads cling quite handily to them so I just plop the stray threads on my shoulder. None of that Hootchie Mama spandex or crisp linen worn in here. When I happen to pass a mirror or get so hairy that Yogi complains, they're easy to swipe off and toss in the trash. Polly

"jennellh" I have always had a problem with threads

The newest scathingly brilliant tip comes from our Val in Seattle. I wanted my sewing chair to support my back where my body sways and the chair leans the other way. Val suggest that I make a pillow the size I needed and attach it to the chair. Why not? The pillow is about a dozen layers of leftover batting folded to just the right size. It is grossly attached to the chair with duct tape. When, if, I have it worked out just right, I may make it look nicer. Might not. My back thanks me every time I settle in for a marathon. Polly

I have an old worn out squeegee that I pulled out the rubber squeegee thingy, replaced this with a strip of magnetic tape. A quick swipe around the floor and all your dropped pins and needles are ripe for the pickin'. Works quite well if you happen to have carpet in your sewing room. I've fined tuned this tool to have about a 3ft handle and I can sit in my chair and do a sweep without even bending down. Very handy!

Val

One of the best things I have done to make sewing easier is not fancy wooden cabinets, or tables or trick notions or any other "helpful hints", type of items. It was the purchase of an adjustable commercial sewing chair from a commercial sewing supply store. It makes sense if you think about it. People who sew for pay for 8 hours a day can only do so if they are comfortable and this chair, a "Reliable" brand chair, is adjustable in about any way you would need to make it, to make your sewing experience pleasant. I now don't get those upper back and lower back pains like I use to with whatever chair I was using at the time. They are a expensive, but pay you back with an easy sewing experience. I like all those notions also, but this chair is a winner, and makes the difference between comfort and pain.

John

Genius! Can I put this in our guild newsletter? Let me know how you want to be credited if I can.

marcella

You may use this anyway you like. It's reward enough to know some quirky little gizmo can make life easier ;)

Val

I totally agree. My chair made it fun to sew, and it's on wheels so I can roll over to iron if I want without getting up. And no more pains.

Denny in Fort Wayne

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John wrote:

Val, Your tip is simply brilliant!

That makes a noise that I NEVER want to hear again from my machine!

Cindy

Pfobe has a 'lock' that you can put onto any stitch. Won't go off until you shut it off.

Butterlfy (Now to REMEMBER to use it--had only put a note by the SM when I did use it)

Well, this isn't really brilliant, but it probably kept me out of divorce court. I get the big magnet-on-a-stick out of the toolbox and run it around the machine and cutting table once in a while. It keeps DH from stepping on pins. We both rarely go barefoot in the house, but it's like Murphy's Law. If there;s a needle in the carpet, it WILL end up in his foot.

Sherry

OMG! I posted before I saw this! This IS brilliant. Much more efficient than my idea.

Sherryt

I remember (as a child) jumping off the dining room table and landing on a darning needle which buried itself in the sole of my foot, fortunately it didn't break off by hitting bone! It required an emergency room visit to remove the needle but I was 'rewarded' another day with a visit to the pictures with my Dad to see another Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis movie. Before someone makes a comment - my nephew and I were on the table 'performing' the grand finale of a puppet show - just my luck that I found the needle.

I haven't had much luck with magnets for f> >