Midwest Modern with eyelets!

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fussy sort of person, I might have some vintage doilies but they are not sitting on my chair backs they are appliqued to my jeans and my life is pretty casual. So when pondering the eyelet kit that is a possible accessory for my Bernina 830 I had a hard time of thinking of a lot of uses for it in my life. After all I am not doing any heirloom sewing right now and I am not the "dainty nightie" sort of gal.  ( This of course begs many questions but we are just NOT going there!)

But..but.... it's SOOOOO cool and it makes BEAUTIUL full- lush eyelets..but then I was not in need of a lot of full-lush eyelets but something did start brewing in my head.  As I saw the circles for what they were.. design opportunity! In my head they were the large fluffy top of Spring Alliums.. those huge purple ball flowers that look like they were created by dr Suess???  Bold lines, interesting shape.. circles.. potential.  So I started sketching.. and came up with idea. 

Using the eyelets in a loose casual way  I was able to achieve a modern clean look that works perfectly on a t-shirt  to wear with jeans.

Please note that I had to do some fast working with these eyelets to get them to NOT be full and lush.. I wanted to be true to the look of a wind-blown plant, scraggly and  a bit disheveled but still beautiful in the way only nature can get away with!

The stem and  star burst area of this design are run in the embroidery machine and then then eyelets are added using the Bernina Eyelet kit ( #82/92)

If you would be interested in doing this yourself please drop me a note here on the blog and I will see about getting it posted up to share!

Just a few more days!

Just a quick reminder that Septembers Free Files will be going away at the end of this week so if you want them you had better download them now!

Scroll down a couple of posts for more details and download links!

Tip Tip Hurray!

It has been a while since I have offered up a tip but I hope this little gem makes up for it.

When making clothing I often cut the fabric when I have time and then sew as I have time. This works well except I often forget what I need to do and which part is what. To solve that problem I have stepped back into the past and pulled out a little used office supply,

Gummed Reinforced Circles

 These little gems are are small , get sticky when you wet them and hold tight to the fabric letting you mark details and make tiny little notes to keep you on schedule!

Try it!

Walking Foot woes and some clarification

I have had a couple of questions about the Retro-Fit kit for the Bernina Walking foot guide issue that some 830 owners have with their machines. 

 To answer these  questions:

YES!.. you can buy this stuff yourself.. please do!.. it's rubber tubing, often used for mower gas lines.  Just find the right size at your handy dandy hardware store and you are in business.

Does everyone need this?  NO!.. if your waking foot and it's guide and bracket fit on your machine you don't need it.. so don' buy it!

Why did you make this kit?  I created the retrofit to solve my problem, I let people know how I did it but some people did not want to have to hunt down the tubing, thus I made the little kits ( find the link on the right side of the page. )

How do I make this little kit work?.. ah.. glad you asked... how about you take a peek at this webacast for more details!  ( yep.. camera was tipped funny... sorry about that!)

Dreams Come in All Sizes

I am so glad you all have liked the new Freebie file!  Remember it's up just for the next week for free!  But so many of you needed other sizes and I hear you!...

 So.. for you 5x7 people how about a dream that looks like this???

And dont' worry 4x4 folks... your litle dream is just as sweet!

to download the 5x7 click HERE

To download the 4x click HERE

And remember... add those hand stitches... you will be charmed and delighted!

Finally a Freebie!!!!

Well that took WAY longer than I ever dreamed...  you know..life..yadda yadda

BUT!.. I think you are really going to like this.

Enjoy a totally modern take on machine embroidery with this new design. Just right for an accent pillow or as a free-hearted touch on the back of a jean jacket! Sized for the larger 7x11 hoop this file stitches out quickly but is greatly enhanced by the careful addition of hand done running stitches to echo the machine work. This simple addition raises the bar on the project from a simple embroidery to something you are going to want to really show off. After stitching simply use DMC pearl cotton to add simple running stitches to accent the tree and the swish. If you desire also add a small eye to the bird, it’s just that simple!

The sample shown was stitched on pre quilted fabric for a fast project but don’t be afraid to use this design on other fabrics. I think it would look wonderful on a dark denim!

This design is yours free for the next week. Enjoy! 

You can download the design here!   CLICK HERE

Where is Maddie?

Right here!

CLICK

Dear Friends, I will be closing down my yahoo page for Fresh Thread due to some technical issues.. please feel free to join me over at Facebook where it will be MUCH easier for me to manage things :)

Finding inspiration

There are days when I would not be surprised if my head just exploded with all the inspiration I see around me each day! So many ideas and so little time to get them on the fabric!

Today I was looking at this sweet piece of Fabric

It's part of the Farmdale collection by Alexander Henry and it just SCREAMS  Fall, but in a fresh/retro way that steals my heart.  It reminds of a some fabric in the depths of my childhood.. very cool!

From that...

I did this!

This one was just a test but I was quite charmed by it and think  I will get it posted up here for everyone to enjoy very soon.

What do you think... do you like it??

I am still refining the technique  since I don't want to see the cross hatch color running on the edges.. of course this effect is easy to pull off in print ( see fabric sample above)  and more more complex when it comes to fabric! :)

I am thinking of doing it on some new Fall grocery bags..cute..no?