LOL!! I hear you!! Not only your clothing, but the tablecloth..... 3 times!!! I guess I'm a slow learner!!

when hand sewing the binding i use the bendable hairbrets to hold the binding while i sew

I really like the Invisi-Grip to cover the bottoms of rulers. It is a vinyl cling product that one cuts 1/8 inch smaller than the ruler. It doesn't throw off the balance of the ruler.
Also, the rubber ring BobbinSaver is terrific for storing bobbins so they don't unwind. They slip so easily in and out, and you can see the color of the thread at a glance. Both of these items are available at JoAnn's.

Great idea - thanks Donna

Yes, I think they are raised a bit, but that hasn't bothered me. The ruler doesn't wobble, and its lines aren't distorted. Maybe mine aren't as high as yours???

Glanced at your bio. I, too, live alone and love it. A friend of mine stopped by the other day and said, "Wow, this looks like a quilt factory in here!" I couldn't have been happier. It's messy, but I'm happy and look forward to getting up every morning.k

Yes, I think they are raised a bit, but that hasn't bothered me. The ruler doesn't wobble, and its lines aren't distorted. Maybe mine aren't as high as yours???

Glanced at your bio. I, too, live alone and love it. A friend of mine stopped by the other day and said, "Wow, this looks like a quilt factory in here!" I couldn't have been happier. It's messy, but I'm happy and look forward to getting up every morning.

Would Love them!!!! [email protected]

?? Might want to let us know what thread you are referring to? Maybe PM the poster?

Also a warning - not a good idea to post your e-mail address in a thread, save that for a pm, also!

Enjoy!

When cutting strips for binding, I cut an extra strip ( if enough fabric) and make binding as usual. Whatever I have left over, I put in a box and when I need binding for a child's quilt, or a charity quilt...or any quilt that could stand a muliple punch of color, I just sew them together and have my binding already to go.

That is a great tip. I need that one

Other folks tips are always welcome, we can't possibly think of all these things for ourselves. :thumbup:

My favorite tip is one I learned here- after I sew the binding on the front, I press it over, miter the corners and then GLUE it into place (ironing it again). Then I can handsew (or machine sew if it's a quickie, or I'm using a decorative stitch) without pins getting in the way. I LOVE doing bindings now!

On old embroidery thread if you are having thread breaks, I unwind some and try again if it continues to break I trash it. ( I have heard some say refrigerate for a day and try again) I have never tried that. I buy the small hair circles at wally's (1 dozen or 2 different colors for under $3.) they control the bobbins.

That's what I do too!!!!!

It sounds odd, but thread can dry out and dehydrate and get brittle, and break easily, so leave it out in the open on some rainy days, let it rehydrate, and you will be surprised that it regains its toughness.

I use a schaslick stick for opening and closing safety pins when pinning a quilt, and a strip of masking tape wrapped around my fingers for picking up those obstinate threads left from reverse stitching.

I use small pony tail bands (look like terrycloth) on my bobbins. I buy a big bag in the dollar bins at Kmart, Walmart, Alco, dollar stores. They hold the threads in and protect the plastic bobbins from other bobbins.

I use the bottles that my dibetes test strips come in to store used quilting machine needles. I also use them for storing needles when traveling by car...I peel the label off so I know it's not full of strips.

Post it in wrong place.

Aloe Vera gel works great too...

Love this idea and will give it a go. Thanks for sharing.

I use Clear Grip made by Sew Easy. You can remove it if you wish but I've had it on for quite a few years and don't even know it's there anymore. It was a bit on the expensive side but well worth it to stop slipping while cutting.

I took a piece of Masonite just bigger than 9x11 and put padding and then ironing board fabric and wrapped it around and glued it down. Trimmed all the edges close. Then on the back side I glued a fine grit and paper to holding down fabric while marking it. This si portable and gives me a double use. It goes into my kit for classes. I take my portable travel iron and it sits right beside my sewing machine during class. Jan

No, I didn't know this...great idea..thank you!

For those of you who iron with steam.

I was always making a huge mess when trying to refill my iron with water, so finally bought one of those red picnic ketchup bottles. Fill that with water, stick the nozzle down in the fill hole on the iron and wala no more mess!

This is almost the same. I cut a hole in the top of a 35mm film canister and leave it next to my sewing machine for bent or broken pins and needles.

You can use Chinese chop sticks that you get at the restaurant for a stiletto.

When quilting on my longarm machine, I put a strip of blue painters tape across my quilt at the point that I need to stop to prevent "bumping" into the stopping place (the place that my machine head will go no further.) This has shows me not to try to go past that point and have "bump" in my stitching. When finished, I just take it up, roll my quilt, and re-use it on the next pass.
Another tip: I found that one of my medicine bottles for large pills, is exactly the right size to drop my "used" rotary cutter blades into. It can probably hold 50 or more.

Love these two items also. I have a couple BobbinSavers in my drawer!

I'm surprised no one's mentioned using comic book boards to organize smaller pieces of fabric, less than 2 yards... Fold your fabric with selvedges together, then fold that width in half again, and you will end up with just the right size to wrap around the boards and make "mini bolts" of fabric. I recently bought a bookcase to store all my mini bolts on, like books on a shelf. It makes it so much easier to see everything, organized by color.

For the longer length pieces, I wrap them around my long cutting ruler then pull the ruler out. I stack those folded pieces horizontally, like a stack of full-sized bolts. I love being able to see all my fabrics now!

I always keep some sharp razor blades near the sewing machine, and use them to rip out seams. Also, once you have ripped, turn the blade sideways and "brush" or scrape it gently over the cut seam, and it will pull all the thread bits up and clean up the seam, pronto.

Just think how much money has been saved with all of these tips. "The more money to buy fabric with my dear", don't you think? LOL Marge L.

Oh, this is perfect timing, Kitsie! I'm sure that DH has some of that in his shop. Thanks!

Great timing...I just did this last week. I don't have a big stash but now at least I can see what I have. Anything more than 2 yards I folded with the ruler method; anything smaller but more than a fat quarter-ish size, I used the comic boards. When I bought the boards, I thought no way could I use 100 of them! I used 97!!

Been there done that & it wasn't even 3:00a.m.!!!

What are the comic book boards and where did you buy them?

I guess this could be a tip...when I folded the fabrics on the ruler, I counted the number of folds and stuck a note on the shelf....13 folds = 4 yards. Now, if the note stays up there, I can figure out how much yardage I have without having to unfold and measure.

They are used by collectors to keep their comics flat....they're white cardboard, heavier than card stock. I got them from Amazon. Just search for comic book boards. About $14 for 100, I think.

I got a set of the clear dots at JoAnn's, it works ok for my large rotary cutter but my smaller one has a hard time b/c the blade almost too small for the thickness of the ruler and dots.

Spray lightly with Sulky Spray really works well