SEWN Blog Party winner

A big THANK YOU to all who entered our SEWN Launch Blog Party Giveaway! What fun it's been to read what each of you are sewing.

And the winner of Autumn Threads SEWN Launch Blog Party Giveaway is (drum roll please).... JJ in California! Thank you for entering our Giveaway JJ. Your prize will be making it's way over the ocean shortly, we hope you enjoy it!

Dusting off the sewing machine

Yes, I had to dust off the cobwebs from my machine before I could start this but it was great to get some time to sew. Oh, for a few more hours in the day!
It's an apron for a craft swap I'm a part of this month. I've also unpacked my new Dressmakers Model to take some photos...makes it looks professional hey!
The apron turned out okay, considering the pattern was in Japanese! It was from a free pattern found here:
http://otsukaya.co.jp/Tedukuri/FTezukuri57.pdf
The fabric was a sweet floral cotton and it all came together quite easily, well, after a little unpicking. How did I ever do ties before my loop turner....here's a pic of one if you haven't seen them before. A very useful tool!

SEWN Blog Party

An exciting new website for sewers will be up and running in June. SEWN will feature just about everything you've been looking for... a forum, tutorials, interviews, free patterns and much, much more! We're joining the fun and as part of the SEWN Launch Blog Party will be giving away a handy "Bucket". Great for keeping all your sewing bits & pieces organised. We'll also include a 45mm floral OLFA Rotary Cutter! Picture is for illustration purposes only.

All you need to do to win is leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you! Tell us what you're sewing and a lucky winner will be announced on Monday the 8th June.

How do you use your Autumn Threads?

I must confess I have a bit of an addiction to collecting threads, particulary overlocking and decorative threads. Maxi-Lock, YLI, Polyarn, Designer Threads and of course I have to have the entire colour range ;) Who knows when you just might need that exact shade of pink? I often use my overlocking threads for decorating the girls clothes when I want something a little special.
Here are two pieces I finished recently.

The first is a little snail appliqued onto a skivvy using Maxi-Lock "Rainbow Swirl". These cones are huge, 3000m and they last and last. I think I've had my rainbow one now for about 3 years!
The second picture is a pair of pants for the baby with an owl embroidered on one leg using YLI Jeans Stitch in Earth Tones. I used a triple stitch on my machine and a metallic needle to accomodate the thicker thread. It ran through the machine so smoothly.

(The owl design was found here embroidered button tutorial)

So, how do you use your threads?

Handmade Christmas

Hands up who's having a handmade Christmas? I've been making lists and gathering patterns and ideas all year and hopefully soon I'll actually start sewing! There's no greater feeling than knowing your gift was "handmade with love".

Here are a few ideas from Autumn Threads to get you started early on your handmade Christmas.....

1. Insul Bright is a fantastic product that helps you create your own insulated items. Anything from Pot Holder, Table Mats, Oven Mitts, Water Bottle Covers, Casserole Cosies, Tea Cosies, Insulated Soft Lunch Carriers, Ironing Board Covers, Outdoor Cushions. The possibilities are endless! It's only $3.50 per half metre and measures 55cm wide. Best of it it's fully machine washable and you can even pop your creations in the dryer! Here's a pic of a fun oven mit Mum made up using Kwik Sew pattern 2284











2. What about jazzing up a simple top or pants with some iron on motifs. Autumn Threads has a huge range of bright and colourful motifs to brighten up your gift. Here are a few of my favourites.






3. Even if you're not a sewer yourself and need a gift for a crafty friend, patterns make a super gift! We have lots of new patterns in stock for you to choose from. As well as the huge range of Kwik Sew patterns, we also have quilting and embroidery patterns, sewing books and DVDs plus our new fitted cloth nappy pattern.

Hope you found a few ideas to get you started and organised for a very crafty Christmas!

What's New at Autumn Threads?

Exciting new stock has arrived this week at Autumn Threads!

The first is a fun range of flannel fabric with gorgeous LDS prints such as 'I am a Child of God', 'Noah's Ark', 'Bible Stories' (featuring Jonah, Daniel in the Lion's den, David and Goliath, Joseph and Adam & Eve), 'I hope they call me on a mission' (in both flannel and cotton), 'Pirate Treasure' and 'Ballerinas'.

Perfect for making a cuddly patchwork blanket for someone special. We will also be adding a range of co-ordinating solid colours soon, so you will have everything you to need to get started!

We are also very excited to introduce our New Fitted Cloth Nappy Pattern!

Our family has been a cloth nappy family since our first was a bub and I've really enjoyed making unique and practical nappies for my girls over the years.

Being able to make your own fitted nappies not only saves money but is also gentle on our environment.

The pattern is a multi-sized one and is a great starting point. Once you've mastered the basics then you can get creative and add your own unique style with fun fabrics and embelishments.

Cloth nappies also make great gifts for friends and family!

Enjoy!

Pretty it up with lettuce edging

How cute does lettuce edging look on the hem or sleeve cuff of a little girls top! It's easy to do with your overlocker and a bit of woolly nylon. Every overlocker is different but these are the steps that I take with my Janome

Step 1. Remove left needle

Step 2. Disengage cutting knife and change setting to R for rolled hem.

Step 3. Make sure you have a woolly nylon thread in your upper looper and regular poly thread in the right needle and lower looper.

Step 4. Change your upper looper thread tension to it's loosest setting, mine is 0.

Step 5. Change your stitch width to R for rolled hem...sometimes I shift it to past the rolled hem to 1 if I want a really close stitched rolled hem, it will depend on your fabric. It's always a good idea to do a few samples and see how you like it before you do the final hem on your garment.

Step 6. Change your differential feed to the woven setting, mine is 0.7 to 1.5 and this will help stretch out the knitted fabric.

Step 7. Begin edging your hem remembering to stretch the fabric as you go. Double knit fabrics give the best rolled hem as it doesn't curl back up on itself like a single knit. I make sure I'm giving the thread enough fabric to roll over as well, a good couple of millimetres, this gives you a plumper rolled edge that sits better.

Step 8. If you are doing around the entire hem of a t-shirt for example, when you get close to where you started, stop and trim off the hanging thread from where you began and then run the rolled hem straight over the join to make sure it won't come undone.

Step 9. Trim your threads and finish it off......I always give it a generous tail and then very carefully with my handy dandy unpicker untangle the tail threads. You'll notice that the upper and lower looper threads will be longer that the needle threads. Gently pull these to tighten and then tie these two threads together in a double knot. Then thread them into a needle and sew them back through the hem.

All done!! A lovely neat rolled hem :-)