The Sew Liberated Trunk Show arrived Tuesday afternoon. Items from Meg McElwee’s book, Sew Liberated are on display through March 20. Come check out the trunk show and sign up for the Sew Liberated package give away ($80 value).

To celebrate I am offering a complementary sewing technique demonstration on applique Saturday morning at 10:15 am.

Also enjoy our Sewing Lab on Saturday from 10am-1pm. These sessions are $10 and machines are available for use. Stop by or call to reserve your spot!

Happy Sewing! Carrie

We received the NEW Laura Gunn poppy fabric in and it is beautiful.

Some new classes being offered are the Remake/Remodel. In this fun class we take a mans shirt and turn it into a womans blouse. Imagine my husbands surprise when he stopped by the shop and noticed his shirt didn’t fit him anymore! He was pretty good natured about it and promises to shop for a new one for himself!

Open the doors to new possibilities in the Art of Tailoring. In this class we will be creating a tunic that will fit and look skillfully constructed. You will be able to and understand how to better pick patterns and fabrics, fit and construct a garment.

The NEW Janome 3160 is in! This machine has many features only found in top of the line machines for an affordable price. It comes loaded with accessories too! If you are in the market for a new machine stop by and check this one out.

NEW Anna Maria Horner patterns are in! These are flying off the shelves too! Get ready for Spring and Summer with a new dress or purse.

Happy Sewing! Carrie

How can a person resist true life pictures! Rendy Tucker Photography is helping us capture The Top Stitch look and feel with photography. The 3 beautiful girls are modeling Barcelona skirts in Spokane’s Riverfront Park yesterday morning. It was cold, even so, they are full of smiles! Check out more of Rendy’s work on http://www.rendytuckerphotography.com

I’m excited about what is in store for us at The Top Stitch!

Happy Sewing! Carrie

We will be giving away prizes and hosting free sewing events!

Check this site soon for trunk show dates and times!

Our First Place Winner:

Pink Haired Housewife

She created this amazing over-sized make-up bag from Amy Butler’s Laminated Love fabric. We loved the way she described her bag, “bring it to the gym with a towel, hairdryer, makeup and everything else you’d need to leave the gym looking like you didn’t just leave the gym kind of bag.” Check out our flickr site for more super cute pictures of this bag!

Congratulations you won a $50 gift certificate to The Top Stitch!

Becuase we had such a hard time choosing we decided that we needed a second place winner too!

Second Place Winner:

Smgates5

She created an adorable rain poncho with Amy Butler’s Laminated Love fabric. She explains it as a, “cotton poncho in limes, teals and cornflower! Lined in Cornflower flanel, with hand-warming pockets inside. Split seam at sides so curious toddler arms can be out exploring or under, keeping dry. Playful piping round front and tasle-bobbles along bottom.” Check out her super cute pictures on our fickr site!

Congratulations you won the new book One Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins!

Check out The Top Stitch Flickr page to see pictures of our winners and more great ideas using laminated fabric!

We just received new hand dyed rayons in. These fabrics are beautiful and will make great skirts, blouses and scarfs.

It’s not too late to enter our contest to win a $50 gift certificate to The Top Stitch! Stop in a pick out some laminated fabric and made something creative, post it on our flickr site.

We also have hand stitching kits and classes. Have you ever wanted to learn or re-learn hand embroidery? This vintage art form is making a strong come back thanks to designers like Jenny Hart. Stop in and check out her patterns and book, Sublime Stitching.

Happy Sewing! Carrie

AND…

Stop in, purchase your fabric, create and post your projects on The Top Stitch flickr site in the month of January and the most creative approach using laminated fabric will receive $50 worth of fabric from The Top Stitch! That’s right FREE fabric!

Here are some useful tips for sewing Laminated fabric From Coats and Clark

Thread: Use All-purpose thread. Dual Duty XP or Coats Cotton All-purpose
Needles: Size 12 or 14, sharp. A smaller needle makes a smaller puncture hole.

Presser Foot: A Teflon coated presser foot will prevent the presser foot sticking when sewing on the laminated side. This is especially helpful when topstitching. A roller presser foot may also be used.

Tips:
Use a longer stitch length (3mm or more) for seaming and topstitching. Shorter stitch lengths can have the affect of perforating the fabric.

Select a pattern with simple lines and seaming. Avoid eased, gathered or intricate shaping because the fabric does not give.

It isn’t necessary to straighten the grain on a laminated fabric, it will not shift due to the coating.

Cut in a single layer with the right side up. For pieces cut on the fold, fold wrong sides together.

Mark with chalk or smooth-edged tracing wheel.

Holes may remain in fabric, so place pins in seam allowances and avoid having to rip seams. If making a garment, be sure of fit and make alterations to pattern before cutting out.

Do not touch an iron to the right side. Use a warm iron on the wrong side.

Welt, flat-fell or topstitched seams will lie flatter than a plain seam, since seams cannot be pressed open.

Happy Sewing! Carrie

Amy Butler: Holiday Gift Tags

Anna Maria Horner: Tag You’re It

Hope you are having fun wrapping gifts and getting ready for Christmas!!

Supplies Required

· Any serger

· Standard foot

· Beading foot

· Piping foot

· Woolly Nylon thread

· Serger needles Size 11

Fabric and Notions Required

· Fabric scraps

· Piping cord

· Robison-Anton© embroidery thread

· Madeira© Dècor thread

· Water-soluble marking pen

Strips (Samples C)

Cut contrasting strips of fabric approx. 11/2" wide.
Set up the serger as follows:
Standard presser foot.
Left needle inserted
Remove right needle but set tension at 4.0 and thread with Robison-Anton© embroidery thread.
Upper looper: tension 2.0 and thread with Madeira© Dècor thread.
Lower looper: tension 3.0 and thread with Robison-Anton© embroidery thread.
Stitch length: between ‘R’ & 1.0
Serge the fabrics wrong sides together creating a Satin Stitch effect.
Serge along both seams. Press.
Strips (Samples D)

Repeat steps 1 – 4 for Sample C.
Set up the serger as follows
Standard presser foot.
Disengage the upper knife.
Move the needle to the right needle position, tension: 6 and thread with Robison-Anton© embroidery thread.
Upper looper: tension 1.8 and thread with Madeira© Glamour thread.
Lower looper: tension 4.0 and thread with Janome Woolly Nylon.
Stitch length: 2.8.
Serge over the top of the Satin Stitch.
Wrapped Piping Cord (Sample E)
Cut approximately 1 1/2" wide bias fabric to cover piping cord.
Set up the serger as follows:
Beading Foot
Disengage the upper knife.
Left needle inserted
Remove right needle but set tension at 7.0 and thread with Robison-Anton© embroidery thread.
Upper looper: tension 0.0 and thread with Madeira© Dècor thread.
Lower looper: tension 8.0 and thread with woolly nylon.
Stitch length: 3.0
Chain off to create a tail of stitches.
Wrap the bias fabric around the piping cord.
Place cording under the foot. You may need to slightly pull the chain stitch to get started.
Serge along the length of the piping cord.
Hint: There is no need to join the bias strips, simply overlap them as you serge. Stitch over the join.
Inserting the Piping (Sample F)

Place the wrapped piping between two layers of fabric with the raw edges of the piping matching the main fabric.
Attach the Piping Foot.
Follow the standard instruction sheet supplied with the foot.

New books, patterns and fabrics will be arriving in January as well as new classes. Look for our Learn to sew a little girls dress class. In this class we will work on a Valentine dress for the little one in your life. Our Art of Tailoring class is designed to help you learn the basics of tailoring your own garment! Check out our class listing page for more information.

Quilt sampler class and free motion quilting classes will be coming your way to help warm your Winter days.

Janome Club will have you creating small take home projects while learning new techniques!

Amy Butler full moon dots back in!
Happy Sewing! Carrie