Machine embroidery is an EXPENSIVE hobby. Machines, software, supplies, blanks, and everything else you need add up quickly. Not to mention, as a beginner I constantly made mistakes, costing me more money and time. However, I’m a thrifty gal who can pinch a penny and get the most out of my money. So, check out…
Everyone has an opinion on the best sewing machine for beginners if you start looking around. You can ask your local sewing shop, Reddit, or Quora or even check online retailers, and at each place, you’ll find different reviews and recommendations. Because everyone has unique preferences, circumstances, and budgets, the needs and desires for a…
Sewing machine needles are not all the same size, and using the wrong one when quilting can wreak havoc on your blocks and quilt tops. While a room full of quilters probably won’t ever unanimously agree on needle selection due to strong opinions, general rules do exist for picking the best size sewing needle for cotton…
You’re in a pinch and need to finish a sewing project. However, you only have the specific color you need in your embroidery thread stash, not your sewing thread collection. Can you use embroidery thread in a sewing machine? Yes, but not for all sewing tasks. Read on to discover what projects you can sew…
Embroidery and sublimation can both customize products. The common end goal of producing personalized goods is one of the very few similarities between these two methods, though. Sublimation and embroidery differ in everything from the equipment and supplies used, the time they take, the expertise required, and even the projects you can create. I’ve been…
The first time I tried to hem denim jeans with the 75/11 needle on my sewing machine, I was ready to give up after the first few stitches. That poor little needle looked about ready to break, and my machine practically groaned at me with each stitch. Thankfully, I’ve had some sewing sense knocked into…
One great thing about living in a big Southern city is the zillions of craft shows within a few hours’ drive. I love a good quilt show, sewing expo, or embroidery convention, and if the shows are local, I pick up my mom and 90-year-old grandmother, and the three of us make a day out…
My husband and I recently started shopping for a replacement for my 10-year-old car. We were SO shocked at car prices with inflation and the ridiculous interest rates (even with good credit) compared to the 0.9% we got a decade ago. As such, we still haven’t bought a car and are enjoying not having car…
One of my favorite things to do with my ridiculous scrap stash is creating crazy quilting blocks. I especially enjoy using up charm pack scraps to create a slightly more coordinated block. While creating these blocks is easy enough with my sewing machine, crazy quilt block embroidery designs are also easy to digitize and stitch…
If you’ve ever been tempted to start constructing your next knit garment as soon as the fabric crosses your doorstep, think twice! Prewashing knit fabric before starting to sew might be something you dread doing, but if you plan to use that stretch fabric for anything you’ll ever wash, power through and do that laundry…
One great thing about living in my metroplex is there are two IKEA stores within an hour from my house. While neither store right around the corner, I had a doctor’s appointment near one and an hour to spare before needing to pick my daughter up from preschool. So, I popped into IKEA, survived the…
When I bought my first serger, I was suffocated by school loan debt and quite simply couldn’t afford anything snazzy. I researched all the affordable serger options, penny-pinched for what felt like forever, and ultimately saved enough to purchase an entry-level Brother serger. And, I have loved that thing to pieces and serged to my…
When I purchased my first serger, I was on a strict budget and chose a model based on what I could afford, which was not much! After paying off student loans and working for several years, I later had more financial flexibility to purchase a nicer machine. The kicker was…I paid ten times the cost…
Whether providing an image to a digitizer for logo embroidery or transferring an embroidery design from a computer to your machine, having the correct embroidery file format is essential. Not all image and embroidery files are created equal, so knowing the differences between the fundamental types will make your embroidery journey smoother. Let’s dive into…
A few months ago, I ran across a booth selling keychains with sublimated QR codes at our local farmer’s market. I had NEVER seen anything like this before, and I was intrigued. Since QR codes can link to a website, email address, social media account, image, or even text selection, this idea has many applications. …
I finally purchased my first air-threading serger, the Juki Akane MO-3000QVP. Except for a Singer heavy-duty sewing machine, I have only used Brother machines (sewing, embroidery, serger, and coverstitch even.) However, with Brother just now putting out their first air-threading serger (with nowhere near as many features as the Juki MO-3000QVP), I took a plunge…
Recently, I got fed up with my manual threading serger and splurged on a self-threading serger to decrease my frustration with failing hand joints. As I was weighing options, I decided if I was going to spend a ton of money on a self-threader, I might as well pony up a few more bucks for…
I loved my trusty Brother 1034D and 1034DX sergers for many years. And yes, I owned two sergers–one threaded with white thread and one with black. Not only was changing threads a pain, but I started having more difficulty with hand and finger dexterity, and trying to change threads became flat-out demoralizing. Unfortunately, I have…
Want to embroider but don’t want to purchase your own embroidery machine yet? I totally get that, which is why I used my local library’s embroidery machine before purchasing my own. Or, are you a home business embroiderer who just had your machine break with an approaching order deadline? That’s no fun! Thankfully, it’s easy…
Even though Dollar Tree raised the prices of items to $1.25 (and added the $3 and $5 sections to most of our local stores), I’ve been pleased that the craft supplies section has expanded to include some great deals. So, just like I did with my Dollar Tree embroidery blanks post, I headed to my…
Since I’ve run out of things to monogram and personalize, my current crafty focus is using my embroidery machine to stitch in-the-hoop projects and quilt like a fiend. When it comes to quilting, I love creating appliqued quilt blocks, adding continuous quilting designs to finished tops, and, my favorite, piecing quilt blocks in the hoop…
Getting new goodies sent to my house, whether they’re project boxes I’m subscribed to or the products of a late-night Amazon shopping binge, is always exciting. One of the most recent small joys to arrive on my doorstep was the Sew What Box, which I quickly stitched and displayed in my house. Want to learn…
Of the cutting machines I own, my Brother ScanNCut can do the most, but it was also the most difficult to learn to use. First, the manual isn’t super detailed, and second, because the ScanNCut is not as popular as Cricut or Silhouette machines, online tutorials aren’t as plentiful. However, thanks to trial and error,…
Years ago, I stumbled upon the rip-away applique process popularized by Stahls’. I imagined their vinyl had a specific characteristic that made it rip more easily when appliqued, and since I couldn’t purchase it locally, I didn’t think much more about the technique. However, I recently discovered that most heat-transfer vinyl (HTV) types could be…
Did you know you can use Silhouette Studio to direct your Silhouette Cameo to cut applique fabric for machine embroidery files? How cool is that?! One way Silhouette Studio excels over many competitors’ software is that you can directly import embroidery design files into the software and create cutting lines for applique fabric. Why is…
After hemming and hawing over whether the Brother SE2000 sewing and embroidery machine was worth purchasing, I broke down on Black Friday and bought it to try out. I’ve owned my Brother SE1900 (the SE2000’s predecessor) for almost three years now, and while it’s given me no problems, I couldn’t resist the siren call of…
Whether marking paper patterns for cutting or marking fabric for sewing, it’s important to have different fabric marking tools in your sewing kit. Most tools are interchangeable, but sometimes the fabric type or marking needed (like marking multiple fabric layers) requires a specific marking tool. Want to learn the ins and outs of fabric marking?…
I started using embroidery software on my older 11″ laptop, and let me tell you, I do not recommend that. Not only was the screen MUCH too small to plot out stitches accurately, but my slow processor just couldn’t keep up. Thankfully, that computer was near the end of its life, and I soon replaced…
When I first purchased my embroidery machine, I had NO idea all it could do. For example, I soon learned I could stitch in-the-hoop designs, make free-standing lace, and even quilt with my embroidery machine. In terms of quilting, my machine can piece blocks, create applique blocks, make crazy quilt blocks, and even add quilting…
If you’re not yet sure you want to spend your next month’s (or year’s) rent an embroidery machine, then you’ve found the right article! I hemmed and hawed for almost a year before finally purchasing my first home embroidery machine. Then, I continued to stress myself out with the pros and cons of updating my…