Knitting/Crochet, Session 12

Yarn Guide

What is it? – Stranded colowork is the technique.  Fair Isle knitting with its beautiful symmetrical geometric motifs in muted colors or Scandinavian knitting with its striking large asymmetrical motifs in bright contrasting colors or even your own dramatic multi-color creative invention is the result.  Each a piece of art.  Using two or more strands… Read More Yarn Guide

Session 12, Sewing/Quilting

Wonder Fuse

   What is it? – Welcome to the wonderful world of Wonder Fuse.  What is it?  It’s appliqué.  Well, more accurately, it’s how you do appliqué.  Why do we want to do appliqué?  Unlimited creative potential.  We can take any fabric, plain or with design, and cut it in any shape to represent pieces of… Read More Wonder Fuse

Crafts, Session 12

Rosette Makers

What is it? – Kudos!  Well done!  Grand Prize! First place!  Honorable mention! Special achievement!  Student of the month! Employee of the year!  It’s all recognition, plain and simple, and we all like it.  When we do something exceptional, remarkable or noteworthy, a little personal recognition makes it all the more rewarding.  And tangible evidence… Read More Rosette Makers

Session 11, Sewing/Quilting

Roll & Press

  What is it? – These are pressing issues.  Shakespeare might even ask, “To press or not to press, that is the question.”  Well, no matter who is asking the question, the answer is the same, a resounding yes to press.  Some very important things happen when we press each seam as we sew it… Read More Roll & Press

Session 11, Sewing/Quilting

Nancy Zieman Hobo Tote

  What is it? – For today’s active life styles a handy tote is a required accessory.  Satisfying requirements of both form and function they are both fashionable and useful.  Totes of one kind or another are available everywhere.  So many styles, so many colors, so embellishments.  But therein lies the problem.  Which one?  Choices,… Read More Nancy Zieman Hobo Tote

Knitting/Crochet, Session 11

Darning Needles

  What is it?– In the history of mankind it is hard to find a tool that is more enduring, more useful than the hand sewing needle.  Initially they were basic to the production of everything we made from clothing to shelter.  And we still use them today.  Modern needles, however, have become much more specialized,… Read More Darning Needles

Session 10, Sewing/Quilting

Chacopy Tracing Paper

What is it?– Fashion, fashion accessories, heirloom sewing, quilting and home decor.  All of these projects are often one time or another blank canvases that are truly enhanced with the addition of the appropriate decorative pattern.  Some of these pattern designs are professionally developed while others are original work we’ve created all by ourselves.  Beautiful, often… Read More Chacopy Tracing Paper

Session 8, Sewing/Quilting

Mini Wonder Clips

    What is it? – You know them.  You love them.  And they’re everywhere.  Few sewing, knitting or crafting tools have ever enjoyed a more widespread and enthusiastic reception.  Years after their introduction they are still perhaps the most versatile and useful sewing tool ever devised.  Often copied but never equaled, the Wonder Clip… Read More Mini Wonder Clips

Crafts, Session 7

Pom-Pom Makers

What is it? – Think of the stereotypical ski hat and you’ll realize that it just wouldn’t be complete without a pom-pom on the pointy tip.  Actually I think it’s a requirement.  But pom-poms are much more than funny hats emblazoned with snowflakes and deer heads.  Pom-poms are everywhere we look.  Home decor, jewelry, fashion… Read More Pom-Pom Makers

Session 7, Sewing/Quilting

Silk Threads

What is it? – China, circa 3600 BC.  That’s where it all started.  A young Chinese empress expressed a desire for a luxurious new fiber and silk was the result.  Threads of different types had been around for many years but this was different.  In fact, silk was very different.  It had a texture and… Read More Silk Threads

Session 7, Sewing/Quilting

Scissors

What is it? – Scissors.  It’s hard to imagine doing anything in sewing, knitting or crafts without them.  They are, in fact, one of the most common tools used universally by us humans.  They were even carried by Apollo 12 astronauts on the surface of the moon.  The earliest known scissors appeared in Mesopotamia 3,000… Read More Scissors

Crafts, Session 7

Wonder Knitter

What is it? – As children, most of us can remember having an old wooden spool with four rounded metal pegs protruding from one end.  By threading yarn up through the center and then wrapping the yarn around the pegs we could maneuver bottom loops over top loops.  As a result we were able to… Read More Wonder Knitter

Crafts, Session 6

Felting

What is it? – Needle felting is an age old art form that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity and is being enthusiastically embraced by an increasingly wide spectrum of creative expression.  Art, jewelry, fashion embellishment, home decor, toys . . . it does them all.  Needle felting techniques are applied globally but are adapted… Read More Felting

Session 6, Sewing/Quilting

Hot Ruler

What is it? – What do you do when you have a hit?  That’s a no brainer.  You make the sequel.  And if you make the sequel well you will have another hit.  And that’s exactly what Clover has done.  The success of the Hot Hemmer was and is unprecedented.  There is nothing like it… Read More Hot Ruler

Session 5, Sewing/Quilting

Tracing Wheels

What is it? – The venerable tracing wheel.  The first one I ever saw was as a youngster looking through my grandmother’s sewing basket.  I thought it was there by mistake.  It was obviously a toy.  What could a stick and a wheel possibly have to do with sewing?  Fast forward a few decades and… Read More Tracing Wheels

Session 5, Sewing/Quilting

Thimbles

What is it? – Thimbles in one form or another have been around a long as needles have.  Ancient sewing artifacts include “press stones”, the precursor to modern thimbles.  Almost 2500 years ago residents of the Mediterranean area were using more familiar shaped bronze thimbles. Why?  Well, whether you’re pushing a spike through animal hides… Read More Thimbles

Session 5, Sewing/Quilting

Bias Tape

What is it? – Let’s face it, a lot of sewing is just basic construction.  You start out with a set of tools, some fabric and an intended pattern.  Then you add your own creative expression and that’s what makes it yours.  One of the materials used by sewers in virtually every genre is bias… Read More Bias Tape

Session 5, Sewing/Quilting

Wedge Iron

What is it? – Pressing is an essential part of most sewing and many craft projects.  Pressing during sewing construction creates accurate assembled pieces which match up beautifully into quilt, fashion, heirloom or home decor finished projects.  Unfortunately, the modern pressing tools available to us do not always provide the specific features and capabilities we… Read More Wedge Iron

Session 5, Sewing/Quilting

Fusibles

  What is it? – Interfacing is used in many sewing and craft projects to provide extra support, body, reinforcement or shape.  Basically it enhances our creative potential by allowing us to do things beyond the capability of the fabric alone.  A fusible interfacing is a specific type of interfacing that has a heat activated… Read More Fusibles

Crafts, Session 4

Mini Beading Loom

What is it? – As children, many of us went to scout camp or attended other summer activities where beading was a staple activity.  It was fun, fast, creative and we were left with something that was uniquely ours. Unknowingly that was our introduction to an art form that was thousands of years old.  From… Read More Mini Beading Loom

Session 4, Sewing/Quilting

Marking Pens

  What is it? – “The devil is in the detail”.  It’s a common enough phrase.  Perhaps some of us has even used it.  But what does it really mean, “the devil in the detail”?  How often do we start a project that looks like it’s going to be a snap, only to get bogged… Read More Marking Pens

Session 3, Sewing/Quilting

Straight Pins

  What is it? – In some of the oldest archeological digs around the world you can find ancient straight pins. They’ve been around that long and probably always will be.  There are so many uses for them and in many cases there really is no substitute.  We use them to hold patterns in place… Read More Straight Pins

Crafts, Session 3

Quick Yo-Yo Maker

What is it? – Chances are either you or someone you know has a box full of fabric yo-yo’s under the bed or in a closet.  And chances are either you made them or they were given to you by your grandmother or an aunt.  It’s surprising how many people tell the same story.  But… Read More Quick Yo-Yo Maker