The headlines are endless; we should all be exercising every day, getting lots of rest, drinking more water. These intentions are certainly worthy, but for now, let’s look beyond the standard list to some Sewing Self Improvement Goals. We were excited to join a new series from Janome at the beginning of 2024: Sew Smarter.
When you are first learning to sew, everything is flat and straight. Easy peasy. As your skills evolve, you add in curves and corners, layers of different fabric and stabilizer options, and finally – you’re ready to enter another dimension. Don’t be afraid, it’s not the Twilight Zone® - we’re simply Sewing in 3D. Ready
If you’ve been following along on our SIY-Sew It Yourself!™ adventures, you know there’s a lot going on behind the pretty pictures and easy instructions: from the fabric designers’ stories about how their collections come to be – to the careful steps we walk through here with the S4H team. Our goal has always been
It seems we’re always being told to, “Look at the big picture.” Solid advice, but sometimes… it’s the little stuff that’s more fun. As part of our S4H Tiny Trends of ’22, we took a look at some great little products available right now from our friends at Fat Quarter Shop. FQS truly has some
We all love knowing what happens “behind the scenes.” It plays into our innate curiosity, and it’s what drives all those crazy reality TV shows! There are no battling housewives here, but we do have a look at each of the four designer collections we chose for our set of shoulder sling shopping totes –
Being able to clearly see what you’re working on is critical in sewing… truth be told, I think we can agree it’s critical to just about everything! Studies have shown good light is essential to overall well-being. If you or someone you know suffers from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or clinical light deprivation, you understand
All the memes seem to center on Spring as the optimal time of year for a burst of cleaning and organizing. For me, it’s Fall. Right now, as we roll into the holiday season, is when I want and need to feel the most orderly, efficient, and neat. It’s like getting a jump start on
One of the most fun things about working with quilting cotton is how you can create your project in such a wide variety of fabrics. There are new collections coming out each season, each one almost more wonderful than the next! If you’re a S4H regular, you know we take our fabric selection seriously. And
Our Love That Fabric series has been on a bit of a hiatus, but we’re back… and it’s better than ever because the return of the series features an amazing giveaway of samples from all three featured collections. If you’re a S4H fan, you know we are the ultimate fabric enthusiasts. There are so many
We took at peek at some favorite cross stitch options from the experts at FQS this past Spring. The good news is: patterns are still in stock and many of the Stitch Alongs are available in their YouTube channel archives.
“I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.” Alice, from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Truer words have rarely been spoken, as we’ve all likely felt a bit bewildered and off-course during these many months of quarantine. So it
A lumpy, bumpy seam screams “amateur” louder than just about anything else. Pressing carefully throughout a project’s construction makes everything better. We love using the Oliso Minis … now available in FOUR cool colors.
Delicious new fabric collections, tempting notions to try, and product surprises to make your sewing and quilting easier. These latest fun finds at Fat Quarter Shop are like opening a fresh box of chocolates. Yummy!
There are 100 years of history behind that trusty Janome on your work surface. Learn a bit about all that’s gone into making your Janome such a trusted sewing companion: reliable, intuitive, precise, powerful, and easy to use.
We get asked a lot about our favorite things. Folks are interested in what we choose and use on our projects, and we’re always happy to share. At the top of the list: our machines, which are always Janome. Click to find out why.
It’s the little things that can make a big difference! You might not give your sewing pins a second thought, simply reaching for them in your pincushion or pin tray where they’re clustered together without much rhyme or reason. But these little bits of steel and plastic have a big job. They’re responsible for holding
Who loves pillows? We love pillows! Actually, we think it’s safe to say that everyone loves pillows. How could you not? They’re soft and pretty, and their flat…
Don’t you love it when you discover/re-discover a product that is inexpensive, natural, re-usable, and super versatile? Get classic Halloween Ideas plus Six Everyday Uses for cooking, cleaning, crafting, and more.
When you focus on one thing, you get pretty darn good at it. One summer during childhood, my pal, Marilyn and I spent every day going around in…
Hearing about new sewing machines is always exciting, but when you hear about a model that has been specifically designed with the comfort and needs of the power…
Get centered with this 12” Omnigrip Centering Ruler. It’s one of our Products We Love and makes finding your center point and measuring from it in either direction faster and easier. We use ours for fussy cutting.
The new AcuFeed™ Flex Professional Grade Foot (HP2) and its matching Professional Grade Needle Plate from Janome have been gaining quite a reputation for their precision stitching. Well alrighty then… it’s time we took the set for a little test drive. Follow along to see how we put this specialty set through its paces, testing
Choosing the right thread for a project is an important factor that determines the final look, feel, and oftentimes, longevity of the project. In this Guest Tutorial, our friends at Sulky offer some expert advice about cotton thread.
A skosh, a wee bit, just a hair… sometimes, the distances we want to work with when sewing aren’t quite as precise as the engraved inch and millimeter markings on our machines. This foot allows you to custom set your seam.
Life can get a little sticky. In sewing, it’s the surfaces of specialty fabrics, like laminates that love to drag across your presser foot and/or needle plate, causing stitching to bunch or break. Janome Ultra Glide to the rescue.
Going in circles doesn’t have to be a bad thing! In fact, when it comes to pretty stitching embellishments, the circle is always a winner. But… how on earth can you stitch in a truly perfect circle?! Even following a drawn line can lead to bumbles and bobbles. Our secret: the Janome Circular Sewing Attachment.
“Up against the wall.” “We’re stuck on you.” “If these walls could talk.” The introductory lines came fast and furiously for this article about the new designer wallpaper from Hawthorne Supply Co.. But what it finally came down to was: Wow. Just. Wow. We’ve always loved wallpaper – just not putting up wallpaper. In fact,
Pleats have been with us for centuries as a functional and/or decorative way to reduce the size of a piece of fabric. They are firmly ensconced in fashion sewing, but are also perfect in numerous home décor applications, like bed skirts, window treatments, and table linens. We’ve even incorporated them as unique embellishments on a
English paper piecing is handwork not machine stitching. Most people associate it with beautifully intricate quilt tops, but the precise, perfectly shaped pieces are just as wonderful on our pair of graphic decorator pillows.
We love this unique hand stitching tool. Our step-by-step tutorial shows how it can quickly attach one item to another as well as create an interesting line of stitching as a decorative accent. Great for bag handles!
If a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, I'm guessing this three-in-one presser foot is easily worth a bird, a hand and a bush. We love a cool accessory that does several things, and the Janome Clear View Quilting Foot and Guide Set is one of our favorite multi-tasking tools. It comes
Sergers. For some, the word alone can send them screaming into the darkest corners of their sewing rooms. “The threading… not the threading… make it stop!” Well, perhaps that’s a wee bit dramatic, but the fear of threading the loopers on a serger, “Sergiothreadaphobia” as it is known in medical circles, keeps many a sewer
Pre-cut bundles can shorten your cutting time and give you an affordable way to purchase an entire collection of fabric without breaking the bank. Learn the most common sizes and names for these handy little fabric cuts.
When budgets get tight, repairing and re-purposing is the way to go to extend an item’s life. We explore some innovative ideas for using iron-on patches for scarves, t-shirts, pillows, and… of course, jeans.
Large, snap-on plastic grommets are traditionally associated with curtains, but they are a great solution for a variety of projects. Dritz makes the best, and we outline how quick and easy they are to install.
A cover hem is a professional-style "serged" hem that traditionally has two to three lines of parallel stitching on the right side and a looper stitch which covers the raw edge of the fabric on the back side. It's the type of hem commonly found on most ready-to-wear knit garments (and many woven RTW items
Simple panel window coverings are often one of the first DIY home décor projects people attempt. Figuring out how best to hang those pretty panels can be more of a challenge. Dritz offers three drapery tape solutions.
If you’re a Sew4Home regular, you know we don’t traditionally present a lot of projects in the wearables category. Of course, there are all our super popular aprons and a few other easy items, but in terms of fitted garments, we tend to leave those to other experts. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t love
There are lots of embellishment ideas out there, but for our money, it just doesn’t get much more fun and versatile than pom poms and tassels. If you’re a regular Sew4Home follower, you know we’re fans of both, and have already done our own step-by-step tutorials on making each. But we’re always up for learning
This clever Janome foot helps you attach tape evenly and smoothly to the edge of your fabric. Adjust it to handle widths from 5mm to 20mm. Use both single fold and double fold binding styles, either tape you’ve made or packaged.
Pom poms are fun for so many projects. Whether you need one great pom or dozens, a Clover Pom Maker simplifies the task, and each one will be as perfectly puffy as the next. Find some yarn and get ready to get fluffy.