-Cotton burns
steadily and smells like burning leaves. The ash is soft and
crumbles easily.
-Wool smolders and
sputters when near flame. It doesn't burn easily and smells
like burning hair. It produces a crisp, dark ash which
crushes easily and turns to powder. Wool will also dissolve
in chlorine bleach.
-Silk burns slowly
and smells like hair or feathers burning. It burns slowly
with a grayish ash which crumbles easily.
-Linen is very similar
but it takes longer to light and smells like burning paper.
-Manmade Fibers (acrylic, nylon, polyester, rayon, etc.)
will melt when exposed to a flame and the ash will form a
hard bead (except rayon which disappears.) It smells
slightly acidic. This test is not as reliable with blends.
Marking Stains
Test your
pencil/marker on scrap fabric before using it on your quilt!
If it's too late and
you are having trouble removing the marking lines on your
quilt, try mixing this recipe together:
- 3 oz rubbing
alcohol
- 1 oz water
- 4 drops clear
liquid dishwashing detergent
Take a clean,
soft-bristled toothbrush and dip it in the solution and
brush onto your fabric. Blot dry.
(Sometimes, 1/4
tsp of baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup water will
neutralize a blue marker to make it easier to remove.)
About using a
dye magnet in your wash.
A great dye magnet
to use would be a piece of un-dyed, untreated terrycloth.
Untreated cotton will absorb escaping dyes, so the piece of
cloth will collect all the dye in your wash water.
Once it is
saturated, you can just bleach it all out and keep using it
in your future washes. Old, well-used, white, 100% cotton
terry washcloths, towels, T-shirts, and underwear will work
just as good too.
Be careful.
NEVER expose your dye magnet cloth to fabric softener.
Fabric softener will coat the fibers and will interfere with
the cloth's ability to absorb dye.
Make your own chenille.
Layer 4 to 8 layers
of fabric (cotton, rayon or silk) with the brightest and
boldest fabric on top. Spray baste between each layer, or
pin baste when you are done.
Mark a diagonal
line on the bias crossing the center of this piece.
Using your walking
foot, stitch all layers along that line, then stitch 1/4" to
1/2" on either side until the entire piece is quilted.
Carefully cut
between the lines, without cutting the bottom layer of
fabric, using shears, a slash cutter, or a specially
designed mat with your rotary cutter.
To make the
chenille bloom once it has been slashed, throw it in the
washer then dryer.
All about
Stabilizers and how best to
use them. Stabilizers are designed to support, and
sometimes replace, fabric under the stress of dense and
multi-directional machine stitching. They can be
applied in many ways, but are commonly used with an
embroidery hoop to hold fabric as flat and inflexibly as
possible.
Sticky-Back
Best for any fabric that cannot be hooped easily (especially
quilts!) like shirt cuffs or collars, socks, bags, etc.
You stick it to the fabric on one side, while the other is
covered by protective sheeting. You can either put the
stabilizer in your hoop with the sticky side up and place
your fabric on top or place your fabric on the stabilizer
and then hoop it.
Tear-away
Best used for light to medium weight woven fabrics like
cotton, canvas, silks, sheers or satins, and corduroys and
any embroidery project that is "in-the-hoop".
Considered a soft stabilizer for lightweight fabrics but it
does come in different thicknesses. Consider it
temporary support that is faster and easier to use, just
realize each needle hole lowers the stability. Choose
a bi- or multi-directional tear-away for the easiest
removal. If you are doing a lot of stitching (large
design) it is probably best that you use two layers of
tear-away, it will help with stabilization, but when you are
done, only tear one layer at a time away. If you have
little bits of stabilizer left behind after tearing, either
use tweezers to pull them out or, if more difficult to
remove, a permanent felt pen the same color as your stitch
thread to colour over them.
Cut-away
Best used for stretchy and more unstable fabrics like knits,
stretch denim, velvet, corduroy, fleece or towelling.
This is more of a medium weight stabilizer as it is consider
a more permanent support that should last through wearing
and laundering. Again, if you are doing a larger
design or using a lot of stitching, it is probably best to
use two layers of cut-away, but it is a better choice for
larger designs or ones with more stitches. Cut away
any excess stabilizer once you are done. This type is
also great for any project to be framed - because you don't
see the back!
Iron-On
Most commonly used because it is good for most fabrics,
especially lightweight ones, but can be used for medium- to
heavy-weight knits as well. It's not good for designs
with tightly packed rows of stitches though because it would
make it difficult to remove. It is a paper-based
stabilizer with a waxy film that irons on the back of your
fabric. You can use iron-on stabilizer with tear-away
if you want more stabilization. It's good for
getting proper hooping. You should tear or peel off
any excess once you are done. If you avoid ones with a
lot of glue, you will have less problems stitching because
it will not gummy up your needle.
Water-Soluable
Best for any free standing lacework design or for top ups on
towelling, corduroys, velvets or knits because it can be
used on top or underneath fabrics and any excess should wash
away in water. It is great for use on top of towelling
to ensure the fabric nap does not poke through your
embroidery designs and also for more intricate designs where
it might be more difficult to tear or cut away the
stabilizer. Note: store in zipper-lock-type
baggies as this type tends to stiffen with continued
exposure to the air.
There are a few
types available. The most common being a plastic-like
film and soluble paper. Both can be used with hoops.
There are also adhesive-backed and heavier films which are
great for embroidering lace and Richelieu, as well as
cutwork and designs. Also there is a type of brush-on
liquid as well as a spray-on that makes the fabric firmer
than starch without the build up or scorch. These last
two aren't really stabilizers, but you can use them along
with tear-away for things like appliqué projects.
Heat Removable
Best for projects that are very delicate or can't be washed.
You can only use this on fabrics that will not burn, as heat
removes it. Good for use on off the edge stitching
techniques. You should really only use this type when
your fabric is too delicate for tear-away, too sheer for
cut-away, is not washable, or when you're working with
special techniques like making lace at an edge.
Note: store in zipper-lock-type baggies as this type
tends to stiffen with continued exposure to the air.
There are two types
of heat removeable stabilizer. Woven or a plastic-like
film. The woven turns brown and flakes when heated
with an iron, and the flakes can be gently brushed away. But
be careful because the chemical it uses to do this is
water-soluble, so a steam iron wouldn't be appropriate.
The plastic-like
film heats and melts. It is used more for topping so
stitches don't get lost in dense nap or pile. It stays
under the stitching to support it during washings. Any
excess around the stitches disappears when you use a hot dry
iron. Just touch the surface, don't slide the iron
across the film. Then you can just wipe away any beads
on the iron with a paper towel or fabric scrap.
A few last
tips.
A lot of
stabilizers look very similar. If you remove the
original packaging and label information, it's in your best
interest to put some kind of note labelling its type to ease
future confusion.
You can use more
than one type of stabilizer in the same project in some
cases. It can simplify a more complex project where
you might use wing-needle stitching on a soft fabric with
stabilizer before hooping the fabric with a sewn-in
tear-away from a digitized design.
If you do a lot of
embroidery, sometimes it is good to keep samples on
different types you've done to make it easier to figure out
what type to use for future projects.
Some fabrics just
aren't good for embroidery, so no stabilizer will help that.
As long as your
fabric doesn't show holes, sometimes you can also use pins
or baste stitches to hold the stabilizer in place on the
fabric for a better result.
Wondering if you
should use tear-away or cut-away? The general practice
is that if your fabric stretches, use cut-away. If
not, then tear-away.
How to use
stabilizers and adhesives more cleanly:
Get an empty container (tailor the size to your project),
cut off the bottom and top.
Now when you want
to spray something, set the container over the area and
spray away! Residue clings to the inside of the
container, not your hoop or cutting table.
Machine-quilting a
project doesn't always happen in one sitting and can take
several hours. An easy way to remember your
machine
quilting settings is once you've determined your project's
stitch number, tension setting and length, write them down
on the quilt backing selvage in pen. The information
will be where you can see it when it’s time to start
quilting again and won't show up on your finished project.
Are you having
tension problems?
If knots are appearing on the top of your fabric, try
loosening the upper tension. If there are loops on
the bottom of your fabric, tighten the upper tension.
Anytime you find unexpected bird's nests
on your fabric, check that upper tension!
For more great
ideas....contact
the creative crew at Ultimate Sewing Centre!
