Sew La Ti Embroidery:
tutorial

How often do you change your needles?

I remember hearing once upon a time that you retain more information if you explain a subject to someone else, rather than just reading it. This could be a big lie, kind of like "if the wind changes your face will get stuck that way" or "watermelon seeds will grow in your belly", except it's not mean and won't give children nightmares and I've got to write about something here, right? Especially now that I have followers! Real followers with computers, and keyboards, and pins!
So today we're going to be talking about Needles!
So why needles? Well I have just purchased some gorgeous stretchy Jersey in houndstooth for my dress and some stretchy needles to go with it, but... what's the point? (haha! Pun! I bet you weren't even expecting that and then bam! A pointy pun!) So I thought I'd do a little mini-tutorial / how to guide all about needles. Brace yourself people, it's a long'n.
Why do I need to change my Needle? Well a blunt needle can make your fabric snag or pucker. A needle too big for your fabric acts like a 'cannon ball', and a needle too small / not strong enough for your fabric can snap. Basically wrong needle = possible ruined material. After the amazing effort and love you've put into the fabric, plus the money - why risk it?
How often should I change my Needle? So far I've read you should change your needle every new sewing project, every three spools of bobbin thread, or whenever it 'feels' like you need to. Obviously you might need to change it for the fabric (just like I am with my new super stretchy Jersey). What about you? How often do you change your needles?
What are the parts of the Needle? Um.... the pointy bit and the other bit? Oh, and these ones:
Shank - This is the bit that goes into the machine. It has two sides- a Round Side on the front which has the name and number of the needle, and a Flat Side that goes against the rear of the machine. This makes it super easy to make sure you've got the needle in the machine the right way.
Shaft - Don't think dirty thoughts! Ha! Now you can't help it! The shaft goes from the shank all the way to the point of the needle. The size of the shaft (thickness) determines the size of the needle.
Groove - You can see this running down the front of your needle, this protects the thread like a little cubby hole or super fashionable metal jacket.
Eye - This is where the thread goes! The eye can't be too small for the thread and there's a really easy way to check. Put some thread through the hole, now turn the thread on an angle so it's like a flying fox. Can the needle fall smoothly down the thread? If it gets stuck you might need to use another needle.
Point - Oh you clever cookie I think you've got this! This is the bit that penetrates the fabric and it differs too. I'll get to that in a minute...
Scarf - This is a small indentation on the back side of the needle, just above the eye. It helps pick up the bobbin and consistent stitching. So, the things that affect which needle you want is the size of the shaft, the eye hole, and the point.
How do I know what the sizes mean? There are usually 2 sizes on a needle, one is the European size and the other is American. (Why are there two different systems for everything? Can't we just get along numerically!) Basically the bigger the number, the smaller the needle.
How do I know which type of needle I need, and size?
VIA How often do you change your needles?
Flower embellishment tutorial

What you will need:
Something to embellish, I chose a tank top.
fabric
thread
buttons
rotary cutter, mat and ruler
sewing machine

When I do a shirt, I usually put three flowers on it, you could do as many or as little as you want, I like groups in odd numbers, I think it looks better.
First step: cut out three strips of fabric that are 10 inches long by 1 1/2 inches wide (when I have embellished shirts for my girls, I make them about 1o inches long and 1 inch wide)

Step 2: If you need to, iron your pieces. Then fold back on itself into a circle shape.

When I get to the end, I fold it under.

Then I take it to my ironing board and iron it flat.

I think this just makes it easier to sew it down. I do all three flowers to this point.

Then I figure out where I want the flowers to be placed and I sew them down. I start where the two ends meet and usually in a star shape. Really you could sew them down however you want, you could even hand stitch them down.
Sorry some of my pictures have weird lighting, a couple of them were at night.

Here they are almost done!

The last step is to sew the buttons on! And now you have a cute flower shirt or whatever you want to embellish! I've used these on dresses, bags, and shirts.
Have Fun! I hope this made sense :)
Scrap Happy Table Runner tutorial

This was my submission for the So You Think Your Crafty Auditions. I didn't make the top ten so I won't be going on (I think I was 12). It was fun seeing all the other fun projects and finding new to me blogs! There was alot of fun projects submitted and I am excited to see what season 3 brings. Anyways, I took pictures while I was making it so here is a tutorial!

Here is what you will need:

scraps of fabric, doilies, trim, really you could use anything that could be sewn down and would look cute.

You will also need two pieces of your main fabric (I used a cream colored Kona cotton) and a piece of batting (I used warm and natural batting)

I cut my pieces about 37" by 13" but you can make any size you want.

Once you have your two main fabric pieces and your batting cut, lay them down in this order: batting first, then your two main fabrics on top of that right sides together.

Then pin all your layers together so you can sew them together without them shifting. ( I know this part isn't fun, I hate pinning and avoid it unless I have to).

Then starting somewhere in the middle of a side, sew around the whole thing using a 1/4 inch seam, except you need to leave about a 3 or 4 inch hole so that you can turn it right side out.

like this

Once you have sewn around the whole thing, clip the extra corner fabric tips off to make it easier to turn the corners out.

Then turn it right side out, I like to use a plastic chopstick I found at IKEA to help with the corners.

Once you get it right side out, take it to your ironing board and iron the whole thing, taking care to pay attention to that hole you left for turning and ironing that part in so you won't be able to tell where it was.

Then, sew around the edge, again pay attention to the part where the hole was to make sure you get it sewn shut.

After I got that done I added pom pom trim to both my ends. (sorry for the picture quality, it started getting dark when i made this and I am too lazy to edit the pictures right now). After that I just layed down my bits of handkerchief and doilies down and then cut pieces of fabric to fit in the spaces that were left. I hope that makes sense.

Then I pinned them all down.

Now, take it to your sewing machine and sew all those bits down, (I left the edges of all my fabrics raw by the way, once it goes through the wash they will get a yummy frayed edge) I rolled the one end up so it would fit nicely in my sewing machine. Just be careful of the pins so you don't get poked ( I didn't get poked at all ) :)

And here's a tip, when I got one piece all sewed down, I didn't cut the thread, I just picked up the presser foot and moved over to another piece. Can you see the threads in the picture? Then after I got all the pieces sewn down I clipped all the threads.

Then I added bits of embroidery wherever I felt like it.

Then you are done and you have a happy table runner!

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