Today we are going to address the issue of sewing feet! Have you ever sewn with more than the presser foot that came with your machine? I did for many years. But one day I wanted to sew a ruffle. I looked up ways to do it & it involved basting the fabric with needle & thread. Boo! But then I saw a Ruffle Foot. And I ordered it. And it arrived. And I had no idea how to mount the thing on to my machine. There were not any directions that came with it. I did what anyone would do, I googled a YouTube Video on how to attach the ruffler foot & how to make it ruffle my fabric for me! I use a ruffle foot for *lil' lady aprons *pillowcase dresses *crib skirts A few tips that I learned along the way, set you stitch straight & to a "1" or the tightest stitch. This makes your ruffles tight & ruffly too! When measuring the fabric when making a ruffle, I least double it then add a half. I would rather have too much ruffle than not enough! Next, is the zipper foot. Sewing a zipper is a love/hate relationship! Again, I decided to over come the fear of the zipper. If I was going to sew pouches, I didn't want to settle for velcro or button closures. A zipper can also be sewn with a presser foot, but I am a rule follower & I use the zipper foot! The benefit of the zipper foot is it leaves the zipper exposed & doesn't get caught underneath the foot. With much practice, I can get really close to the edge of the fabric. There's a line on the zipper that I follow, I make sure that that part of the zipper is under the fabric. I also don't use pins as you will see in the picture. That is a huge time saver too! My latest foot that I bought was a walking foot! And it does exactly that! I have never sewn with knits because they stretch & they are scary! But if you have the right foot, in this case the walking foot, it makes the project easy to accomplish! This foot I found at Joann's. And I had a coupon! Most of the time, I buy them online, because Joann's does have a slim selection of sewing feet. What I love about the walking foot is it does just that, it walks the fabric through the machine without stretching it. Another tips for sewing with knits, is make sure you are using a needle for knits. A knit needle has a ball on the tip so it doesn't snag the fabric. Finally, the 4th foot that I use is the presser foot. The presser foot is the main foot. It comes with the machine, it's the tried & true foot. I sew many, many, many things with this foot! This foot isn't so fancy, but it's necessary for many things & is probably the most popular of all the feet! I hope you enjoyed all the fancy feet! I'd love to hear what kind of feet you have used on your machine & for what project/purpose! Sometimes we shy away from projects because we are not sure what the proper tools are & how to use them correctly. But I have found that if I desire to make a project bad enough, I will do my research (thank you google & YouTube) & find out what I need so it doesn't turn into a disaster!
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Okay, here's the big news ladies and gentlemen! lil' alice went wholesale!!!! {insert small celebration}. If you are keeping track like me, that's another 2013 goal that has been reached. It's okay I don't expect you to keep track, it was a joke. First let me explain wholesale before I tell you about the super adorable, pure Michigan store. Wholesale is simply selling products at a discounted price in larger quantities. The seller {store} pays the supplier {me} for my products upfront. They sell them at "suggested retail price" and they make a bit of a profit too. Okay now on to the important details: The store.
It's called The Eyrie and the owner is Janette. Opening day is April 25th, yep this Thursday from 11-7. It's located in Depot Town of Ypsilanti. She has the end store that has a beautiful yard off to the side and a garden on the side, which can be seen from the inside of the store. Her store property meets with the river walk and bridge. The location is very quaint! Inside the store, Janette has worked so hard at getting her inventory built up. She has scoured etsy for local artists. She has found beautiful handcrafted pieces such as plates and mugs from Artists that are members of the Ann Arbor Art Guild. The handmade soaps were beautifully displayed on silver trays that she has thrifted. So many talented artists are featured in this quaint little store. Janette is opening this store to offer people the chance to buy unique items that are made locally. How often do you go on vacation and you want to buy something unique to that trip and it's hard because it was Made in China? Yep, me too! Stop in to Depot Town and pick up a unique treasure for yourself or someone special! You will fall in love with The Eyrie and its owner, Janette! I have a show on Saturday. I don't do many these days. I will get to that in a minute.
I'm pretty pumped about this show though at Plymouth High School. They have great publicity. It's very organized and its juried. Because I'm pretty organized and time management comes naturally to me, I have been sewing and planning this show for about 2 months. I don't work in a panic. I don't pull all nighters. In fact, it's Thursday night and I'm ready to roll right now! How do I do that? I have a white board in my studio. I make a list of all my items I want to make and take. Then I choose one item and make it start to finish. Once totally completed I move on to the next. I work in mass production (mass for one person). About 20 of the same of one item. This is the best method that works for me. Why is it that I don't do many shows, you ask!
Well, not all shows are equal. I found this out by experiencing it for myself. I participate in shows that are going to give me sales that will exceed the price of what I paid for my table. Do I know that for sure? Of course not. But I can ask lots of questions to make a informed choice as to whether its a good fit and worth my time. What was your total for people that walked thru the show last year? They should know this number if there is an admission fee. Do you advertise? With all our resources to FB, twitter, good old signs on the corner, postcards, newspapers, fliers etc, there's no reason not to get the word out. A good organizer will work for you! Is the show juried? Submitting pictures of your work in the process of being made and as a finished project is a good indication they are looking for quality and unique items. I enjoy participating in shows. I enjoy connecting with people. I find great joy in connecting with others that make their goods. Everyone has a story on how their biz/hobby began. I also value my time too. I have a family that I have left at home so I can be at the show so I want to make it worth my time. As I finish preparing for the show, I have a list of goals to meet. I have them written down and that drives me to accomplish them. Because I find great pleasure in checking off goals as they are met.....no matter how small or big.
Here's a few glimpses into my life. It's fairly boring. Nothing exciting. It's messy. It's real. Far from perfect, but it's my life and I love it. I adore make up and I order the majority of it from Sephora on the Sephora app on my iPhone. I only bought the 2 powders. Everything else were freebies. True. I ate the whole jar. It is in my sewing room. I just bought a new jar last week. I don't share it either. Boys laundry. The clothes r getting bigger and the basket is getting smaller therefore it fills up quickly. Too quick. I work out 3x a week at a local gym. I go every time at the same time. I haven't missed a day since Feb. I follow rules even if I made them. :) I don't thin I have lost a pound either but I'm not giving up. When I started I could only walk fast. Now I can run. Even though the scale doesn't move I can see physical improvements. My nasty winter feet. I went for a pedi on April fools day and it was 30*. Crazy pic. The teenager celebrating Spring Break with Root Beer.
I'm sad it's almost over! Happy Friday! |
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June 2019
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