Sewing Tips from the Amateur

I have received a few comments and a few more emails regarding sewing on cards.

As I said before, I am clueless and am just learning. I have had my sewing machine for a whopping 2 days but I will let you know the tips my mother-in-law told me (and she IS an expert sewer):

1. First, make sure the tension is set correctly for cardstock. Play around with the settings until you find a setting that works well. On my sewing machine (Singer) it is right between 4-5.

2. Second...use the edge of the presser foot as a guide. The presser foot (and I could be spelling this totally wrong) is the piece of metal that holds the paper (or material) down. Push your cardstock through keeping an eye on the presser foot. If you line up the edge of the cardstock or material with the edge of this, it is much easier to sew a straight line.

3. Make sure you do not stitch too fast...the hardest thing for me is keeping an even pressure on the petal. And, I actually stop before I get too close to the edge and go very slowly for the last few stitches.

4. If you are sewing a box shape to create an edge around an image, here is what you want to do to get a sharp point at the edges. First, stitch the first side. As you get to the end of the cardstock, stop pushing on the petal. Turn the needle handle toward you so that the needle goes into the cardstock (if it is in the air at this point). Then raise the presser foot with the lever in that back of the machine. Turn cardstock the way you would like to continue sewing (the needle keeps the cardstock from slipping and you are able to pick up right on the same line). This produces nice results when done correctly.

If you look at the following card, you can see where I stitched the corner correctly (bottom left corner) and where I did not (upper left corner). Still learning...and sometimes I forget!

I think sewing on cards is beautiful and does not have to be perfect. So I used my imperfect sewing to make this card.



I stamped the image from Gina K. Designs (Got Snow? set) http://www.ginakdesigns.com/ and then stamped it again. I colored the sledding scene and cut it out and applied a layer of clear embossing powder on it.

On the other image, I colored the edges of the sledders (in case you can see them) and the background. The sky was sponged. I added liquid applique for the snow and some dazzling diamonds for some shimmer. I added the sledding cut out to the background using dimensional stickers. Finally, I added the snowflake brads and a tiny twinkle sticker to the center of them.

I attached the image to the bayau cardstock and stitched the edges. I did mess up a bit and stitched too far from the edge on one side so I simply trimmed the side and then the image to make it appear like I am perfect (haha!).

The sentiment is stamped and I added some sparkle over the words using my Sakura stardust pen. The background is Basic grey. I used a glue pen to go over areas of the snowflakes and added more dazzling diamonds.

This card is a lot more sparkly in real life but oh well. Hopefully you can get the idea from the picture.

Here is a close up of the main image so you can see the sparkle and stitching better:

Materials: Stamps--Gina K. Designs (Got Snow?); Ink-brilliance black, bayau blue; cardstock- bayau blue, white, red, basic grey dp; dazzling diamonds; clear embossing powder; twinkle stickers (A Muse); snowflake brads (Paper Studio); silver brads (SU!); Copic markers; Sakura stardust pen; liquid applique (Marvy); sewing machine, dimensionals (SU! version of mounting tape).

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