New Technique I've done

I've only tried it once and didn't care too much for the look. But I'm not giving up.....

I did something very simple. Just straight stitched a shaker box. I wanted kind of a homey feel. I definitely want to experiment with maybe a zigzag stitch or other decorative stitches on my machine. Like you said don't give up and experiment.

Lynne

I've only tried it once. I'm not a sewer. I bought a crafts little sewing machine at M's for 10.00. I broke the needle the first time. I need to try again. I like the looks of the zig zag sewing but this little thing doesn't do it.

I haven't wanted to lug out the sewing machine but I did want to try the sewing technique. So, I stitch by hand....

I use the back side of a mouse pad like a cutting mat under my paper. I then use a push pin to poke holes in the paper. I often use the grid lines on my cutting mat as a ruler to offset two rows of holes. I then cross-stitch. Single pass for a zig-zag, double for a cross-stitch. This is great for embellishing a picture mat or a boarder.

Or take a 1" square. On the back, use a ruler to draw an X from corner to corner and then vertical and horizontal for a star. Using the push pin, make 8 holes on the lines equal distance from the edge. Stitch corner-to-corner to make stars bursts. Makes a quick embellishment. See an example of a star burst at

-- Amy L.

Great tip on sewing Lynne.

Teresa in MD