purplefiend

Hi Tammi,
The best method I've found to make binding and sew it on is by Kaye Wood. I've used her method for many years with great results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf7Mm_mkbCc
Sharon W.
Singers:99K hand crank,treadles: 201,237,15-90,66-1 red eye decals,Pfaff 60

ArchaicArcane

Thanks! I finally got to the fabric store and picked up a nice co-ordinating fabric for the binding. I spent the evening learning how to make the binding. It's now cut, one set of strips were on grain, the other set were on the bias. If things go well tomorrow, I will try to get the bias and handles on. My goal is to have both of these both finished before Jan 14th when our sewing circle resumes.

I settled on using Sharon Schamber's method for doing binding, and have been following her tutorial on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PE0Yq9iGlc

I keep sending DH out for supplies. He thought I was a little weird when I started asking for glue sticks and school glue.


Darn! Neither of which are machines that I have anymore. The 66 I haven't run across in my price range yet, and the 15-91 went to a shop where it would be used. That said, I'm pretty proud of how well the 411G did. Not a single hiccup. (Guess I didn't need the "spare" 411G I snagged today after all. )



Hey Dan! What sort of needles do you use for sheet metal? I haven't had a chance to bond with the 201. This wouldn't be a bad project at all,... same with the 115 that Joe said I need to do a project on to validate all the hard work I did rehabbing and removing paint from it.

ArchaicArcane

No kidding? I used the walking foot in the end, so I don't know how it would have done without.

I must not have had a good technique for the glue stick. I found it stretched the batting,and stuck poorly to the heat resistant fabric.

At the end of the day, my biggest hurdle was keeping the cat off the work while it was being fed. She's so weird! She sat on the work behind the machine and stuck her head through the harp and talked to me. The 411 didn't care a bit even when stuff wadded up against her!

Hey Sharon,

Thanks for that link! I had seen somewhere that someone started on the back of the quilt so you could finish it by machine, and I couldn't remember where. (It's probably in one of my "beginning quilting" books that I made the mistake of trying to read before bed. I absorbed some, but ultimately, mostly got hit by a lot of hard cover books when I fell asleep.) That 5 min video is less daunting than the 3 parter I've been watching, that's for sure! Before I embarked on this project, I was cool with just "tucking the ends in",.. old school according to Kaye Wood.

BoJangles

I have never heard of using a glue stick. I would think the glue stick would stretch the batting, fabric - everything. I also would be afraid the glue stick would cause problems with the needle getting gummy when sewing through the stuff?

There is a basting spray for quilting. It comes in a can and you have to go outside to use it, but it works well! JoAnnes and most quilt shops will carry a basting spray that is designed for quilting without pins.

Most everyone pins. I pin heavily, but I remove the pins as I am sewing. I try not to go over pins! Even if your machine will handle hitting pins, it is not worth it to take the chance on a pin breaking and hitting you in the face!

Glad you got through! Please post a photo!

Nancy

Muv

Hello Tammi,

Use clothes pegs. Pins are a waste of time. If you visit my blog you will see I put it in a post on 18th December.

BoJangles

Muv, I visited your blog on the clothes pins! That is a great idea for putting on binding.

Nancy

ArchaicArcane

I'm sure that's why I didn't really find any actual tutorials online about the gluestick, just references to using it. I didn't like it at all. You're right, it did stretch my fabric and the batting especially. I'm sure at least part of it was technique, but it just seemed like a technique that wasn't for me. I watched a great series of youtube videos this weekend about how to FMQ (guess what my next project is going revolve around ) and she demoed the 505 basting spray, and I saw several people on the QB that liked it. I picked some up at Fabricland (our version of Joanne's) when I went there for buttons to finish the project I started this post about. I figured it was a good time to get the spray when some fabric magically jumped into my basket too. It's a good thing I liked it.

When I first started sewing 28 years ago, I did it very poorly with no guidance. I'm moderately better now (took lessons 2 years ago, still belong to a sewing circle), but having had some pins and needles throw bits at me early on made me start wearing glasses to sew (even though I don't need them prescriptively), it made me that nervous. I still "yip" if I get too close to one before I pull it out.

Here are the photos of the projects.

The first started out as cover for my little "tabletop" ironing board.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]385468[/ATTACH]

It's a Ikea board, and the batting was just too thin. I started out with the plan of just making another cover and adding batting. Then I decided to make it a stand alone, and thus more portable. [ATTACH=CONFIG]385469[/ATTACH]
When I went to "quilt" it, I found the layers shifted too much, so I changed the pattern, and did it a different way. All of the work that stayed in the final project was done on the 411G. Gee, I'm liking that machine, just like Miriam predicted.

The second is an Iron Caddy that folds out into an ironing mat.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]385475[/ATTACH]

It's not "news", it's been done all over the internet. I found a free pattern that was reasonably close to what I liked and modified.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]385471[/ATTACH]

I also added the ties on the side, so that I could corral the cord without putting it in with a potentially hot iron.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]385472[/ATTACH]

Things I learned:

• binding - bias and on grain, mitered and curved bindings. It looked a lot better before I washed it. I suspect it was a little too loose.
• I still can't sew straight
• washing your fabric before starting the project is mandatory, sometimes it doesn't shrink, sometimes it grows!
• I can't glue straight
• washing afterward will definitely bring to light some spots to be touched up
• I still can't cut straight.
• modifying the patterns isn't so hard, and can be fun
• I don't always have to use blacks and neutral tones.
• Pour the water out of the iron before using the caddy, it's not water tight.

Hey Muv,.. that's a fantastic tip, thanks! I was looking at my binder clips thinking the same thing.
How do you find so much time to blog? I always want to, but it just doesn't happen a lot of the time, and I'm an insomniac, I get more hours to the day than most. It looks like you get one in virtually everyday!

Muv

Hello Tammi,

Interesting projects. Thanks for the pictures. I couldn't imagine what you were talking about until I saw them.

Glad you liked the tip. Pegs worked a treat when I was putting that quilt together. It weighed a ton and nearly swallowed me.

Daily blog posts ... haven't a clue what I'm putting on there tomorrow. Trouble is, I've got too much to burble on about. I worry I'm boring people.

BoJangles

Tammi, what a great project! Now I want to make one! I always have a problem of what to do with my little - still hot - crafting iron when I leave a Social or Class! I need one of those caddy's! You inspired me to make one too!

Nancy

ArchaicArcane

Thanks Muv. They're not prefect, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out, considering how many "firsts" there were in the projects.

DH informed me that we have a bucket of clothes pegs downstairs, so my binder clips won't get repurposed after all. I can imagine it was quite a job with that quilt. I have pieced a top, but haven't quilted yet. I keep eyeballing the harp and thinking well, other people have done it, it must be possible.

You're definitely not boring me. I pop up from time to time and learn bits and pieces.


Thank you! That is high praise, indeed. I look forward to seeing how yours turns out. I know that the binding could have been better for sure, but as the lady who runs our sewing circle asks: "Can you live with it?",.. yes I can. If your iron holds water, I'm not sure which one you have, make sure you pour the water out first before you put it in. I left my iron full and put it inside and left it there while I cleaned up the work area. There was water everywhere!

I started out with this pattern: http://api.ning.com/files/aJybRxMwi2...nCaddyTote.pdf

For some reason I can't find the page that originally linked to it. This pattern isn't strictly right. The lines for the front and back panels should be angled not straight, and the dimensions are wrongish (out by 1/2" in total length and Width) so I fiddled a little and what you see above is what I worked out.

It ended up looking closer to the Sister's Common Thread caddy by the time I was finished altering the pattern though.