Celebrate New Year's Day With Us

Everyone has their New Year's Day tradition. For some it involves a sofa, a pile of potato chips, and a marathon of college football bowl games. For others, it might be ample servings of pork roast and sauerkraut to ward off bad luck for the coming year. For us fine folks at The Sewing Studio, it's selling fabric, notions, trims and sewing machines at ridiculously low prices.

That's right, it's time for another great New Year's Day sale where your entire purchase, with a few notable exceptions*, will be 40% off the entire day, and that day only. 

Been eyeing some silk for a project but couldn't quite make the budget work? Now's the time to pull the trigger. Getting married this year and your Dad's freaking out about the price of materials? Cut the bill down to size by taking advantage of the sale. Are you a quilter that wants to stock up on the latest cottons from Kaufman, Hoffman, Amy Butler, and Michael Miller? Think of the creations you can tackle with all of those designers' work at deep discounts.

What's that? You didn't get that snazzy new sewing machine for Christmas that you dropped about a dozen hints for, but you still have all of the cash your parents and aunts dropped on you? Guess what? You can get a new machine at a discount, maybe even as deep as 50% off. Need a serger to finish off your garments cleanly and neatly? Now's the time to take the plunge (lots of seamstresses forgo sergers, but once you use one you'll never work without it again).

But most importantly, come down to commiserate with hundreds of like minded people as they spend the day sharing their love of creative needlecrafts, whether they be quilters, smockers, costumers, garment makers, or home decorators. It's a big ol' party just waiting for you to be the life of it!

* Yeah, it's time for the legal mumbo jumbo buried at the bottom of the post. To prevent us from losing our shirts and shuttering the store on January 2nd, the 40% sale excludes sewing machines, cabinets, Ott-Lites, pleaters, special orders, items on hold, previous purchases, and internet purchases.

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

Sewing Studio employee Jennifer, recently created this outfit for her newborn daughter using fabric and ribbon from our store.  She shared pics of little Lane modeling the ensemble along with some information about how she created it. She began with the adorable cotton turtle fabric from Robert Kaufman's Urban Zoologie collection. She created the dress using the free Itty-Bitty Baby dress pattern by Rae, which features cute tie straps for easy newborn dressing.

Jennifer chose to personalize the dress a bit by accenting it with coordinating lime mini pom-pom trim at the waistline, and lime ric-rac at the hem for a bit of whimsy. The hem ruffle was added to the soft batiste underlining, and was created with a fat quarter of the lime stripe from the Dr. Seuss Christmas collection (also from Robert Kaufman.)

No dress is complete without accessories, so she also sewed a cute diaper cover (download the free pattern from MADE) and made a tiny pair of coordinating shoes using the Bon-Bon Baby shoe pattern (available for purchase at The Sewing Studio, online and in-store).

Lastly, Jennifer used an array of grosgrain ribbons from the store to create a whimsical and adorable Turtle hairbow to match the dress, and attached it to a stretch baby headband she also purchased at The Sewing Studio. ( **CRAFT TIP:  Trying using a lighter to lightly melt the ends of cut ribbon to melt them and prevent fraying. )

***** If you have pictures of garments, crafts or quilts you've created with fabric from Sewing Studio, we would love to see them! Please email them to us at: sewing@sewing.net 

Halloween Fun with Machine Embroidery

These Ghouly Ghost and Spooky Bat earrings were created using machine embroidery by etsy seller SharpMtnCreations. Unfortunately, they are currently out of stock to purchase ready made, but they are a wonderful jumping off point for inspiration this Halloween season. A variety of holiday themed embroidery designs can be stitched out and made into fun and whimsical jewelry designs. Perfect to accent your costume or give as treats at your fall party. 

The size is approx. 1.5 inches and the eye accents are sequin and swarvoski crystals. Experiment with a variety of threads to vary your designs and have fun making your own one-of-a-kind creations!

What better way is there to add some safety to your Halloween costume than with fabulously fun Glow in the Dark thread? This 100% polyester thread is soft and flexible for smooth stitching and works great for machine embroidery. It 'charges' quickly with natural or artificial light and is a wonderful way to give parents peace of mind while kids are out trick-or-treating on Halloween night!

Check out this amazing tutorial from Urban Threads on how to make a machine embroidered Glow-in-the-Dark Halloween treat bag! 

Thanks to A Girl in Paradise, here's a great quickie tutorial on how to machine embroider a t-shirt for a fun and easy Cookie Monster costume for your little one. She doesn't include instructions for the hat, but it's easy to replicate with a couple bright blue marabou boas and a pair of ping pong balls for eyes. Great for a variety of Sesame Street characters for sibling costumes!

Lastly, we found this fun costume idea for the 'Super Mom' in all of us. This simple cape and tiara are embellished with a machine embroidered super symbol by designs by cuties, and was easily modified from the original Super Baby design. Perfect to wear along with your lil Superhero on Halloween night!

Get to Know the Store: Machine Repairs

Anyone who walks into our store will immediately see our Machine Department. The ladies that work in that department are an invaluable source of machine knowledge and can help you find whatever bobbins, feet or software you may need for your particular brand of machine. But we'll highlight those lovely ladies another time. Today, we wanted to point out a facet of our store that many people don't know about: that we have an extremely busy and expert repair department.

And by department, we mean Andy.

Andy has been repairing machines for the Sewing Studio for years, which makes him the most knowledgeable person we know about the innards of sewing machines. He can, and has, repaired machines from half a century ago as well as the latest in computer controlled machines.

In fact, his eyes will light up if you bring in an old metal machine, as he claims that if you keep you mom's old workhorse in top condition it will continue to serve your grandchildren's quilting and sewing needs.

As with any machine with moving parts, yearly maintenance is recommended to keep it in great shape. But, be aware that due to his technical prowess Andy is often running two weeks from the day you drop off your machine until it's ready for you to pick up. He's just that popular!

So be sure that you can take a short vacation from your sewing projects while your machine is in the shop. But don't worry, when you have it back it will probably be running better than the day you originally unboxed it.

I'm a Fabricoholic

Sometimes, when walking through the store, rubbing fabrics between my fingers, I feel the need to confess my addiction of fabrics to a room full of strangers with the same disease who simply won't judge me for it. When I see commercials for the TV show "Hoarders", I'm often reminded of my 'stash'. Although my collection is only one or two storage tubs, and nowhere near as bad as the people on that show, I feel guilty all the same.

I just can't help myself sometimes, you see. Some fabrics are just too beautiful, too luxurious, to allow to sit unpurchased on the racks. Yes, I may not have a project in mind for this particular piece, but on the day I do I can't guarantee that it will still be there, so I most certainly should buy it now.

Coupons are a dangerous thing in my hands. It gives me an excuse to buy one of my coveted prints or soft velvets at a discount so I don't feel so guilty about adding it to the stash. It just makes sense to me that I'll save money in the long run by buying it now, for a discount, than in the future when I really need it and will be forced to buy it at full price. After all, coupons expire. You have to use them while they're good or it's like throwing money away. Right?

And then I remember that night - that late night - I was working on a project that needed a little something extra; a velvet sash to tie around the waist. There were no stores open, but I did have my stash...

The creative muse had seized me, and there was no going to bed unless I wanted to lay there wide awake while the specter of that dress danced before my eyes, taunting me in its half-finished form. Creative projects are like brain viruses that you can only expel when you complete it, otherwise it will gnaw at your consciousness until you do.

So I dug into the stash, and sure enough, there was the perfect piece of velvet that I had purchased years ago that absolutely finished the dress. I was not only able to go to sleep peacefully, but I knew my random purchases of beautiful fabrics were completely justified in that moment.

Yes, I may be a fabricoholic, but that's not a bad thing. In fact, I consider it to be one of my more attractive qualities. And on nights when I need to dive into a storage tub or two for that beautiful piece I bought previously, it's actually a life saver.

BlogCatalog

Get to Know the Store: The Bridal Department

A destination of dressmaker for several decades, the bridal department showcases some of our most luxurious fabrics. Although called Bridal because all of the fine silks and velvets make you think of a wonderful wedding day, anyone interested in fashioning an evening gown or prom dress should make it a point to spend a few hours perusing the racks in Bridal.

To get to the bridal department, simply enter the store and walk straight back down the center aisle until you find heaven. Once there, you'll most likely be helped by Ms. Tina. She'll be able to direct you in whichever direction your plans dictate, and if you need advice she'll be glad to offer it with a great deal of honesty honed by a solid upbringing in the South. Her knowledge of fabrics and her good-natured ribbing will both set you at ease and get your project off on the right foot. She's a true gem and a wonderful resource for any level seamstress.


But, what kind of fabrics do we have in Bridal, you ask? Whatever you could possibly imagine, is our answer. We have it all. So the real question is, what's your project?

Obviously, if you are in the market to complete your perfect wedding vision with a custom dress design of your own, we have beautiful peau de soie, which is a medium to heavy, drapeable fabric with a satin weave and de-lustered finish that comes in many shades of the traditional white. This fabric can also be used for bridesmaids dresses, evening gowns, saris, or homecoming or prom dresses and is available in many colors.

You'll also find silks of all varieties. Silk is such a wonderful fabric for any fine dress, really, and can also be incorporated into a home dec project as well. Which is not to say that you shouldn't also run some satins through your fingers for a dose of luxury as well.

If you can think of a wonderful fabric you want to use in your dress, chances are that we have it in any variety of color -- and if we don't we can more than likely order it for you.

But we know that it takes more than just fabric to complete a wondrous creation. We carry all of the extras such as decadent trims, tiaras, veils, gloves, and silk flowers that finish off your dress like a cherry does a sundae.


The only issue you might have is the overwhelming choices our Bridal department offers you. If you're the type of person who thrives on possibilities, Bridal should be your destination of choice.

Quality Fabrics: Good Cottons

It may come as a surprise to some of you (but not all) that there are different quality fabrics. Not just that silk is obviously finer than cotton, but even within the realm of cottons all fabrics are not created equal. One distinguishing factor is the thread count.

Thread count is the number of fibers both horizontally and vertically in a square inch of the fabric. Obviously, the higher the count the stronger the fabric. But what does that mean to a quilter?

Primarily, it means your quilt will stand a better chance of withstanding time. Lower thread count fabrics will fray easier and stitches will lose their integrity rather quickly. Imagine spending all that time on a quilt, hoping to turn it into an heirloom for your new baby granddaughter, and it pulls apart before she's out of diapers. But that's only if the thread count is horrifically low.

Higher thread count cottons are just softer. And when you imagine that newborn skin, don't you want the softest materials rubbing up against it? That's why it's important to ensure higher quality cottons go into your quilt.

Another element to your cottons you want to look for is that the pattern is woven into the fabric and not simply stamped on in ink. If it's just a pattern stamped in ink, it runs the risk of smearing or washing away too easily.

There are many fine cottons that are imported, and are always an excellent place to start, especially for an heirloom quilt.

When quilting, it's important to take the time to choose quality fabrics lest you want all of your hard work and creativity lost before it really has the chance to be appreciated.

Wintersburg Winter Shop Hop

Any quilters out there? We thought so. It's time for another bi-annual Shop Hop! It's a ridiculously fun event that spans seven Central Florida shops over four days. It's a quilter's dream!

The only thing you need to participate in the Shop Hop is a love of quilting, and a passport which you can purchase at any of the participating shops. The object of the Hop is to visit each store on the list to get your passport stamped and turned in at the last store you visit in order to be entered for the grand prize of 70 yards of fabric! There will also be a second prize of 35 yards of fabric and $50 and $75 prizes at each store. Over 15 Prizes will be awarded in all!

You can also collect a quilt panel from each store that can be combined into a beautiful quilt (some assembly will be required, but that's the fun part!) Each store will have their completed quilt on display for you to admire and be inspired by, and you will also have the opportunity to purchase the finishing kit.

The Shop Hop will start on October 5th and run through the 8th. Operating hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Friday which gives you three extra hours until 8 p.m.

In addition to The Sewing Studio, participating stores include the Bernina Sewing Center in Lake Mary, Quilters Cove In Orlando on Curry  Ford, Clermont Sewing and Quilting, Cornerstone Quilt Shop in Orlando at East Colonial, SEW-MINI Things in Mount Dora, and Nancy's Quilt Shop in Winter Garden.

Passports sell for $5 prior to the event, and for $6 during the event.

This is an excellent opportunity to pick the brains of the quilting experts at each store and be inspired by the thousands of yards of wonderful fabric on display to create your own special quilt.

The Difference Between Hand Smocking and Mass Manufactured

As a follow-up to our post from yesterday, we wanted to show you the difference between someone who took the time to hand smock a dress, and a mass maunfactured item we found in the store.

The first example is an item we found in the store.

The threads are thick and the geometry is way off. It just lacks the care given to a a handcrafted piece.

The next piece is a picture we found on the internet that shows off how well a hand smocked piece looks.

Photo courtesy of "Gabi with an Eye"

You can just see the quality and care that it took to create this dress. It's something that compels you to pass it down through the family, whereas the manufactured piece looks disposable.

This is the quality of needlework that is simply not appreciated anymore. It's a difference you can clearly see.

The "Unappreciated" Art of Needlework

You read that title right, needlework is an art just as much as painting or sculpture. Far too many people think of it as a practical skill; mending shirts, hemming pants, etc. Where as they see fashion as an art, they think crafts like quilting, smocking, embroidery, and tatting can be done by machines and don't need a creative hand. We're far too polite to use the word we want to describe how wrong that it, but trust us, it is.

Just last week we had a customer in the store who created beautiful baby doll dresses that used all sorts of techniques such as hand embroidery, lace insertion and ribbon embroidery. She truly makes beautiful creations. But she bemoaned that no one seemed to value her work. Although she spends hours creating it, people don't want to pay anymore than they would for a mass-manufactured clothing item from Wal-Mart, thinking it's the same thing.

Trust me, kids, it's not.

If clothing, fashion, and home decoration is an expression of who you are, what do you express by purchasing the same outfit or quilt that a hundred of your neighbors have? That's why the personal creation of garments and quilts will always be a better expression of who you are as a person, and expressing oneself is the very soul of art.

The art of needlework begins with the selection of materials. Sure, you can buy a smocked dress from a store, but it simply won't have the same quality materials as will a hand crafted item. To withstand the industrial size machines that churn out dress after dress, they must use coarse fabrics and harsh threads. This practically flies in the face of what smocking really is. Smocking is a delicate art that uses fine materials to make dresses for babies, young girls, and dolls. How can you make a delicate thing with tough materials?

Just like a painter carefully mixes colors to evoke an emotion, hand crafters carefully choose threads, fabrics and patterns to evoke feelings in their work. It's not always as easy as just choosing the right color from the store. Often true artisans will dye their fabrics to match the perfect color for their creation.

There are machines that can replicate heirloom sewing, but the whole point of an heirloom is that it's passed down your family, from your ancestor who made it. Machines aren't ancestors.

And when it comes to art, nothing quite expresses a person's creativity like a quilt. This is where the selection and assemblage of fabrics truly allows a person to pour their souls into a cohesive work. Quilters can do some really amazing things with fabric and needles, and that's why it's so common to hang a wonderful piece on the wall.

We'll be highlighting many of what we consider to be the lost arts of sewing that need to be cherished in upcoming posts. The Sewing Studio does all it can to promote and preserve the heritage of American artistry in needlework.

New Experience Machine Embroidery Class

M-I-C-K-E-Y

Why? Because We Love Disney and Embroidery!

 

We just added a new class to the schedule that we think you will flip for! It's your chance to experience machine embroidery and leave with a t-shirt embroidered with your favorite Disney or Pixar character! That's right, Mickey, Minnie, Buzz, Woody and all of their friends will be featured as part of a class that enables you to test drive a Brother 950D Embroidery machine -- and see how easy and fun machine embroidery really is. Once you start you won't be able to stop!

The class will be taught on Saturday, September 24th from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm for a cost of $20. Just bring in the t-shirt of your choice and we'll take care of all the other materials.

We're signing up students now, but don't wait as space is limited and classes fill up fast! Just call the store at 407-831-6488 to reserve your seat.

See Ya Real Soon!

Lovely New Free Spirit Sateen and Canvas Cottons in the Quilting Room

Look what showed up in the quilting room today! The reason we do what we do and the reason we love our jobs is we get to see all of the new fabrics when they are unloaded from the truck and before they move to the floor. We don't know about you, but these fabrics inspire us to sit down at our machine and let the needle fly!

This week we got some gorgeous home fashion fabrics from Free Spirit. These 100% cotton modern print canvasses and sateens come from the newly released Garden District Collection by Heather Bailey. These are part of her debut collection of home decor fabrics, and we're very excited to showcase them in our store!

These stunning fabrics in lucious colors are rich in texture and are sure to inspire you to create artful designs for your home, memorable fashion accessories such as purses or totes, or even stylish accents for your modern nursery.

Check back and we'll pass along some enticing projects we know will be perfect for this collection.

The Ms. Pac-Man Lounge

Our Venerable Ms. Pac-Man Machine

For years, the Ms. Pac-Man machine at the front of the store has served as a refuge for drug-along children (and some husbands) of quilters and seamstresses as they besiege the store to exercise their creativity with fabrics.

Although it's never been given a formal name, the small "waiting area" offers magazines as well as the electric allure of a bow-topped mega mouth who gobbles up electronic dots at a rate that would make some champion hot dog eaters blush.

The machine, at first, offered Dads and Moms a nostalgic window from which to perch and share memories with their offspring of pizza parlors with similar table-top video games that they frequented as children . But the machine has been there so long, and entertained so many children, that we're finding younger adults with small children getting nostalgic about it simply because they played it at our store while their moms shopped for fabric.

The Ms. Pac-Man machine not only has become a staple of our store, it's become an institution in the Orlando area. We're proud that it's sparked so many warm memories of childhood and has crossed generations with its simple appeal.

And it's not going anywhere anytime soon, so rest assured that it will remain a touchstone of childhood for children who only now first experience the simple pleasure of mazes and ghosts. Although she doesn't run as smoothly as she used to, she still gets the job done by keeping the kids busy so Mom and Dad can shop. Or, for that matter, it can keep Dad and the kids busy while Mom shops.

So the next time you visit the store, be sure to check out the Ms. Pac-Man lounge at the front of the store (there, I just gave it a name), and maybe take a stroll down memory lane and take the old girl for a whirl.

Not Your Grandmother's Yo Yo's!

Who doesn't remember those vintage yo yo quilts spread across their grandmother's bed, displaying not only her lovingly placed hand stitching, but also the various colors and textures from her scrap fabric stash?  These little circles of hand gathered fabric are a staple among vintage quilts, folk art and primitive crafts. However, some modern sewers often view these embellishments as a bit far too passe' to be incorporated among their sylish and current fashion creations. (Remember Angela from Season 3 of Project Runway and the flack she caught for embellishing all of her fashions with fabric yo yo's?)

Well, as is often the case with fashion and trends, what was old is now new again, and those who once closed their mind to the possibility of using fabric yo yo's on any of their designs are having to give these whimsical rounds of material a second look!
Modern fabrics and a fresh approach to yo yo's place the sky as the limit to how you can incorporate a touch of whimsy to your quilts, clothing, handbags and crafts while also using up your ever growing fabric and scrap stash. Plus, they're perfect for employing those fat quarters of fabric you have yet to find just the right project for.

Mixing not only colors and fabrics but also varying the size and scale of your yo yo's is a great way to create texture and add interest to your crafty creations, and no where is this more important than in quilting.

By choosing to simply stitch the center of your fabric yo yo down, allows you to add a bit of whimsy to your finished piece, and can make these little pieces appear like sweet posies among your field of fabric. Try adding a variety of buttons and beads to the centers of your yo yo's to add interest and fun to your finished piece!

Artist and designer Amy Butler, has also embraced the resurgence of fabric yo yo's as part of the modern sewing trends, and she has created a stunning and eye catching quilt featuring yo yo's in various sizes stitched upon a floral stipped base and edged in a fun and whimsical fabric ruffle. You can download the free pattern here!

When crafted out of pieces from Amy's amazing fabric collection, this quilt is a feast for the eyes and imagination! Stop by the store to see this gorgeous model on display in our quilting room!

Ready to get started crafting your own yo yo projects? Try the "Quick" Yo Yo Maker by Clover (available in the store and via mail order from Sewing Studio) This great little tool truly makes yo yo crafting swift and easy! It's also available in a variety of sizes and in floral patterns for a fun twist on the traditional yo yo circular design.

We've Redesigned Our Site!

Welcome to the new sewing.net! Thanks for being patient during the redesign, we're still working out a few bugs and kinks, but we'll be 100% up and running very soon. Can't wait to share lots of pictures and projects created by our expert staff and crafty customers in the days to come!

Don't forget to follow us on twitter and facebook for the most up-to-date developments in all things Sewing Studio!