February's FREE Machine Embroidery Designs from Embroidery Library

Yet again Embroidery Library gives us some lovely machine embroidery designs in two sizes each for this February 2015. While a few companies will give very small simple designs to show their digitizing capability, Embroidery Library gives out full-fledged gorgeous designs to try and use and this month's are beautiful. I appreciate all the companies that make these wonderful designs and give out samples to try. I know with Embroidery Library, it sure works for marketing, since every time I don't have a design I need, I go to Embroidery Library first to buy what I need if they have it.

Do you ever fill overwhelmed with emails some companies send you? I sure do. I had signed up for a company that in the beginning only sent an email every month or two and then it became weekly and then daily! Sorry, but that is way too much and I had to unsubscribe. I've been running into the same problem with Craftsy. While I like their intention and they do have good classes, they also seem to be paying McCall's, Vogue and Threads Magazine to send out their emails as well, so almost daily I get 4 identical emails, day after day, all promoting a particular Craftsy class. Thanks but no thanks. I didn't sign up to get Craftsy emails from Threads or the pattern companies. So these companies that sent me specific, targeted email that I did want to see, are now bombarding my email on a daily basis as well. Tried to write to one of the companies and got the classic pass the buck response. Don't these companies know or understand how they are turning off their paying customers by doing this? I think I currently have around 100 unopened emails since I just haven't had time yet to get rid of the clutter.  Anyone know how to get companies from sending emails that I'm not interested in and that aren't the actual companies, to cease??? Okay, I'm done venting. Happy Stitching.

More Organizing My Sewing Room

Almost two years ago I set myself a goal of organizing my sewing room. Unfortunately it is taking much longer than anticipated due to my lack of physical energy, but every little bit helps. I have been enjoying getting different Binders, Dividers and other office supplies to try and review on the Amazon Vine program as I am slowly but surely trying to get all the paper and other items in my sewing room organized. One of the things that are hard to keep organized is the many different acrylic templates and rulers and their instructions used in quilting. For me they and their instructions were all tossed in the same drawer that I not only had to find the correct template but the instructions to be sure I am using it and measuring correctly. It is amazing how something that looks so simple needs to be used carefully so an entire quilt block comes out okay. So that is what I was working on this time. I had some 3 hole punched plastic sheet protectors that I put my rulers in and on the actual divider with the very nice big pocket I tucked the instructions for each of rulers that were in that section. Five dividers was exactly right for this project. The sheet protectors that I used were not real heavy duty, so I didn't stuff them full. just one or two templates/rulers was sufficient.

There were divider tabs that could be run through your printer with instructions on how to set them up at the Avery website, but for 5 dividers I decided it was much easier and quicker to write what I needed on each tab an slip them in. Some tabs were rather a tight fit, but I would rather have that than divider tabs that are too loose and the tabs would then fall out. For someone that is putting together a lot of notebooks with the dividers, I can see them setting up a template in the computer and then printing it out and they would be much more professional looking. As it is, I am happy that I now will no longer have to rummage around looking for the correct ruler and instructions. Ever minute spared looking for something is a minute more to do what I really like.

Compared to what was available back in the stone age when I went to school, it is nice that people can have a choice in exactly what they need in dividers, binders, tabs, etc. so that their notebooks meets their needs exactly and Avery works hard to give you those choices.

 

 

Curvy Sewing Collective

For all you curvy gals out there, myself included, a website devoted to the curvy woman that sews her own garments. So great to see examples of how particular patterns fit and see many take offs from some of these ladies favorite 'Tried-And-True' (TNT) patterns. I'm sure we all have one. I have a top that I love to make that I think I've made in at least 6 if not more variations. Also this site will give you even more inspiration to sew patterns that you haven't been sure about. Truthfully I was surprised at how well some dresses like a shirtwaist dress could look on some of these women. I have avoided anything with a definite waistline for years, maybe I will get brave enough to try one since dresses with waist are my favorite kind, but I can no longer do zippers up the back so will probably have to stick to front buttons or other kind of front closure.

Visit The Curvy Sewing Collective for Plus-Size Sewers and see all the great info and chances to participate in monthly sewing photo ops.  While we may not carry all the patterns that are posted on that blog, we do carry a large selection of plus-size pattern styles at Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts.  We would love to have you visit and make us your pattern stop. When sourcing patterns for our store, plus size patterns are always the first thing we buy, any other size comes in after that.

Here is a link to a great Threads article for a Fashion Sketching Tool Kit.


Threads is one of my favorite sewing magazines. I have learned so much by reading it - every issue no less!

Great Little Sewing Light

I have the privilege of being on Amazon's Vine Review Program (sorry you can't ask to be in this program). Besides lots of books that I get to read and review, I also get all sorts of items to use and review. This little light I just got to review. It can clamp onto an embroidery hoop if you need extra light for part of a design. With the arthritis in my hands, I can't continually hold onto my embroidery hoop with even this little bit of extra weight added on. But if you are in a tiny very technical spot, and need extra good lighting this little light will do the job. I have also checked, and if I clamp it onto the accessory table that came with my Janome 7700, and then point the light to any unsewing I have to do. Don't you just hate unsewing? I know I do and with this little light I'll be able to see those stitches that are hard to focus on with bifocals.


 

Embroidery Library December 2014 Free Designs

Embroidery Library December 2014 Free Designs have now been posted and if you haven't picked up the November ones, they are still available through November 2014. December's designs are lovely ones that you can use for Christmas projects. One is a Christmas Deer called Prance and the other two are Poinsettia designs within a circle or diamond border. All three designs come in 2 sizes each so you get a total of 6 free designs. Be sure to pick them up while you can.

Spring Floral Monogram Embroidery Designs

With the snow we already got--in less that a week!!--and so many machine embroidery sites promoting lots of Christmas designs currently, it was such a nice surprise to see this Spring Floral Monogram - ABC available for FREE at Hatched in Africa. Now the hard part, remembering to check the site on Tuesdays and Fridays until the set is complete. The whole set will be free as long as you pick it up within the three days after being posted.

Artful Machine Embroidery: A Visual Guide to Creating Clothing You'll Love to Wear

I just saw this book on a embroidery design site. I'm not sure how this book got past me as it was published in 2012. It looks like a terrific book to help you learn some principles and design settings for using machine embroidery designs to make your garments just that much better. The book is Artful Machine Embroidery: A Visual Guide to Creating Clothing You'll Love to Wear by Bobbi Bullard. The book is 227 pages with ISBN 13 - 978-1607055822 and is a softcover. It also come with a bonus CD with 20 machine embroidery designs. I always love getting some of the designs that are used in a book so that I can recreate the look. 

Back when I had my first sewing-embroidery machine, the Janome 8000, you could only buy designs from Janome and they cost almost $100 for 8-9 designs, all smaller than 4" x 4". Since Janome was the first out with a sewing-embroidery machine combo for home sewers, no wonder new designs were so expensive and would entail a wait of anywhere up to around 6 months before the next Memory Card would come out! We are so fortunate now that we have an abundance of machine embroidery designs and no waiting or extraordinary high expense to purchase them! I have probably several thousands designs that I got for free from the different companies so that you can test their designs before purchase. Way back in the early 1990's I would never have conceived of being able to get designs for free! I post many of the ones that I find on a Pinterest page and just in the last two years since I started Pinning I have over 400 free designs posted!

 

The Janome 12000 is my current dream machine!
 


Don't have a ton of money for a dream machine (which is why it is a dream machine!) The Janome 350 is a nice stand alone embroidery machine that can be used to embroider while you sew on your regular sewing machine.
 

November Free Machine Embroidery Designs from Embroidery Library

I don't think anyone can read this blog for long without realizing that my favorite machine embroidery company is Embroidery Library. The are generous with freebies and sales and their designs sew out so well. Over the years they have added extra features which has really helped including being able to run off a color chart of Thread Exchanges depending on which threads you use or have. I have a mixture of Robison-Anton, Sulky, Coats & Clark and Janome threads. However they don't have Janome threads, but they are hard to find anyhow except at a Janome dealer. So for each design you print out you can choose to print out several thread companies on one sheet of paper so you can see which colors you actually have that you can use and what you might want to buy or substitute. You can also print out a sheet with all the design info such as the size of the design, number of stitches, etc.

Here is one of the November 2014 Freebies from the Autumn Birds Department.

 

 

The next design is a Suzani Fall Flower Trio in one large design or for those with a smaller hooping capability two smaller designs that can be joined to make the larger one. You can see more Suzani designs in the Suzani Department.

 

 

These are only available for this month, November 2014, so be sure to get them soon!







Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing

I just discovered a Craftsy class last night that I hadn't seen before. It is called Machine Savvy: Tips for Creative Sewing . The teacher is Linda McGehee. She uses Janome sewing machines for what she is sewing and teaching. Best of all the mini class is FREE! I love finding instructions for doing things based on the brand of sewing machine that I have, although I don't see Janome projects very often except on their website http://janome.com/ so I am extra excited about this class! Most of the projects for this class provides a foundation for making bags of all sorts and who doesn't need another bag?

If you have a Janome sewing machine, or any machine for that matter (although you may have 'transpose' some of the instruction to fit with your machine) this should be a great class to learn some of the techniques to take your sewing and crafting to the next level!

Here is a book that might be of help to you as you do the projects in the class and then want to finish the samples into bags. This book isn't written specifically to go with the class, but should provide some good guidance in making your bags.

My Birthday Present from Embroidery Library

One of the great things about Embroidery Library is all the terrific Freebies they give out during the course of the year. Even better is the birthday present of credit they give you in your birthday month. So I want to share with you what I have picked out for my present(s). I could have chosen one design pack with my credit or get as many packs as I wanted half off and I chose the half off deal as there are a couple of ideas swimming around in my head of things I would like to make with these two sets. And I had enough money in my PayPal account to pay what was left owing.

 

How to Sew Hexagons By Machine for Grandmother's Flower Garden

An interesting video to help you know the best tips for sewing hexagons by machine.

Sewing Tutorials

One of the great things about the internet is how you can bring learning to your home whether in the middle of a city or living out in the country, you can access the same educational opportunities. When it comes to sewing some of us learning from watching mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or home ec teachers. But for those of us that never got a good grounding in the basics or have machines that are so advanced from what we learned on, we need more instruction.

One of my favorite sites for learning is the Bernina Sewing Machine site. Do I have a Bernina? NO, but that doesn't mean that I can't learn. Many sewing machines have the same type of presser feet and decorative stitches, so with some simple transposing you can follow along with the written lesson, the videos or webinars that they present. You can also download e-books with different skills. I always love the ones about combining stitches to get the look of a larger design. They call this stitch recipes or other places call them stitch stacking. Whatever you call it, be sure to use this technique whenever possible. On different forums, I have heard that some sewists have machines with over 200 stitches, but only use the straight stitch for quilting or sewing straight lines. Break out of your box and learn a new skill! Only have a machine that does straight stitches? Perhaps the time is ripe to get an advanced machines so you can see all the many ways you can use your sewing machine.

Doll Houses

 

I don't know what it is about doll houses and their furniture that catches my eye, I only know that they do. Since I have no need of yet another hobby, I tend to put these items up for sale at my store Moonwishes Sewing and Crafts. I noticed this one the other day and had to get so it could go to a good home. Specifically one where there is a little girl that loves her Barbies and would rather help make some doll house furniture that is pretty and comfortable with her mom or grandmother than use molded plastic furniture. This pattern booklet uses no sew techniques, in other words uses glue, etc. to hold pieces together. It is geared for children seven and up although I think they would need an adults help. You can find this pattern booklet with all patterns intact here.  We also have a nice selection of doll clothes, stuffed animal patterns etc. here for those who want to get busy on their Holiday sewing.



Fall 2014 Color Trends Abandon Typical Palette - Threads

Fall 2014 Color Trends Abandon Typical Palette - Threads



Finally some colors that I like!

Janome MC12000 Horizon Demo

A nice video about my "Dream Machine", the Janome 12000 which I will probably never get, nor do I need, but boy would I like to have one at my house for awhile!

Stay the Fly and Anchor the Pockets - Threads Kenneth King

Stay the Fly and Anchor the Pockets - Threads



Here is a great tutorial from Kenneth King.

Inspirational Reading

One of the things that is most frustrating to me with this blog, is the days I can't post and the things that I want to. Having a chronic disease that never lets you be in control of your schedule is rough. The last few weeks, or lets be serious, most of this year has been grueling which means not only am I not posting as much, but I'm not getting much sewing done either. That doesn't mean however, I have lost my interest in sewing. I had a 3 1/2 hour Remicade IV session on Wednesday and was still exhausted from it on Thursday, so the mail was exciting for me. The latest Threads magazine (Oct./Nov issue) with an interesting article on making shirts using Simplicity 1279 as the base, but any shirt pattern would do.

As I read the article I thought back to the last time I made shirts and blouses with button fronts, collars, long set-in sleeves with cuffs, etc. and realized it was 1985 when I made myself some clothes for nursing school. I came out of nursing school and for most of the next 14 years lived in pullover scrubs.  The tops I had gotten down to making them up in about 45 minutes. Now, buttons aren't part of my life. Still the article was interesting about those small details that can mean so much in making your garment look great. In sewing the clothes for school I made 11 garments in nine days! A bit different than the pair of shorts I'm making for hubby ALL summer when I feel up to sewing. Maybe today I can get them finished.

Besides the Threads magazine which always fascinates me, I got a cookbook from Amazon to review called Sweet: Our Best Cupcakes, Cookies, Candy, and More . It seems like most of the cookbooks that I have gotten to review lately weren't my cup of tea, with most ingredients missing from my pantry, but this books I have many of the ingredients and many of the recipes, I wanted to go make then and there they looked so yummy. I will definitely need to spend some more time with the book and try a recipe or two before writing the review, but this looks to be a good one. They even include a few recipes that are gluten free or can be made gluten free, but that isn't the thrust of the book. Yumminess is!

Free Machine Embroidery Designs - Christmas

Since they opened their business, Embroidery Library has been my absolute favorite machine embroidery design site. Not only do they give bountiful free embroidery designs monthly, but I know when I buy a design or use one of the free design it will sew out perfectly. They also have a color match page where you can tell them which threads you have and they will tell you what color threads to subsitute for the Madeira threads that they use in their deisgns. this is great for when the color is 'honeysuckle'--what does that mean? They also publish many of their designs in multiple sizes so you don't normally have to take a 2 inch square design and try to increase it's size to 6 inchs in your software. If you haven't signed up for their weekly news flash of latest designs and latest freebies, you should now so that if they do the Christmas Club as they usually do each year you can take advantage of it. Club members get lots of Free Christmas designs, generally all coordinated, but you also earn points towards more designs.

Yesterday they came out with three Christmas designs that are only free this weekend, through August 24, 2014. There are three designs and all come in 5 different sizes. I'm pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but I take advantage of downloading all sizes even if my embroidery machine can't accomodate them since I never know when Santa might bring me a Janome 12000 which could take all sizes. Hmm, maybe I could just save my Amazon reward points for the next 1000 years and then I could buy the machine myself. Anyhow, the point being, just because you don't have the capacity NOW for sewing out all the different sizes, download them just in case next year you  or the year after you move up to that bigger capacity machine.

                                                                

 

 

Today's Patterns: McCall's Sewing Pattern 8032 & 8033

 

I used to dream of one day having a little girl and making us matching dresses to make cookies in and other fun activites. Well I had two great sons, but no little girl, nor do I have any little grand daughters (at least at this point!). So that is a dream I have had to give up, but that doesn't mean that I don't notice patterns coming through that can make monther daughter clothing. McCall's Sewing Pattern 8032 is a great mother's dress and it looks as if it is loose enough to wear for the first 6-7 months of pregnancy as well. McCall's Sewing Pattern 8033 is the same style only for little ladies. What fun it would be to dress up alike to have a tea party!

Even if these aren't the patterns for you, if you want mother-daughter or father-son patterns we do have a category for that in our store that you can go to by clicking here.