Category Archives: How to

Okay, so it’s been a while since I wrote a blog, and I did promise to write up how to quickly install a pillow zipper with a decorative flap covering the zipper. It’s been a while, but, I eventually got back to writing some blogs, so, here goes! Flap Method I specifically love the...

Combine OESD Glitz designs+Brother ScanNCut+rhinestones+t-shirt and get ready to sparkle! I love rhinestone-studded “just about anything.” Even more, I really love using the ScanNCut to make the process of adding rhinestones to a project so easy. I’ve published a couple of...

You know the old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” Well, if you’re applying binding to the edge of a quilt, a wall hanging, a placemat, a pot holder, or even the inside of a backpack, at some point you have to join the beginning and ending of the binding. In this blog,...

Jon Caulkin is one of our customers at Arvada, and he stitches out the most amazing embroidery designs on balsa wood. If you haven’t seen his work, click here to be amazed. I am so impressed with his work, and I want to embroider on balsa wood, too! So I thought that the Zen Bookmarks...

I thought I was being original when I thought of the phrase, Quarantine hair, don’t care. I was sadly mistaken, as I found lots of examples of shirts and hats being made with that phrase when I did a Google search. However, most of those products were: Something you had to buy. We’re...

Although cotton face masks do not stop the SARS-COVID-19 virus as the N95 masks do, they do offer some protection, particularly in helping people not touch their face, a major source of transmission. In addition, with the current shortage of face masks, they can be used in other areas of the...

How about a cute embroidered Holiday Wreath for your Christmas decor? One of the designs released by OESD in November was Free Standing Holiday Wreaths. (Check out a special offer on OESD designs at the end of this blog.) This freestanding collection puts a fun twist on a holiday decorating...

I love to set an elegant table for our family Christmas dinner. I get out the good china, silverware and crystal, and, of course, cloth napkins. In the past I’ve embroidered some napkins, but was never really satisfied that they were exactly what I wanted for the table. Now, though, I have...

I am working on my Sew Fun projects for October including one from Annie’s Quilting called Oh Christmas Tree. This beautiful pattern calls for turned edge appliqué to make the tree. Well, I’ve never done appliqué that way, so I thought I would share my experience with you. Of course,...

Make a tea towel apron with this quick and easy pattern and instructions from Missouri Star Quilt Company. With the adjustable neck strap this apron is ideal for people of all sizes. Read on to see how cute you can make this simple apron by adding embroidery and a contrasting pocket. Tea Towel...

Several years ago I found some embroidery designs on Embroidery Library that had fringe as part of the design. I love the added dimension that it gives to certain designs, and wanted to try my hand at some of the designs. Since then, other embroidery designers, like OESD and Anita Goodesign have...

When we had the PFAFF event with Karen Charles back in May, she directed us in the making of three wonderful projects, one of which was a folded accessory holder. This holder is perfect for keeping your sewing area neat and tidy. It will help keep the important stuff at your finger tips while...

A couple of months ago at the Brother All Star event, we had the great pleasure of a class and trunk show by Angela Wolf. What a delight! In the class, we made a cute sewing tote, and Angela has graciously allowed me to share the directions for the tote on this blog. In the […]

If April showers bring May flowers, what do May snow storms bring? I’m hoping for lots of June sunshine! One good thing about these past few snowy days is that I’ve had the mind to hunker down in my sewing studio, and figure how how to use the foiling feature of the ScanNCut. Make...

I’m waiting on the May flowers that the April showers are supposed to bring. But first, it has to quit snowing! Despite the recent snows, a sure sign spring is in the air, is the beautiful spring colors our Sew Fun presenter has incorporated into some of her projects for May Sew Fun....

In my previous blog, Hop to It! Make a Bunny Word Collage with FTC-U, I showed you how, in Floriani’s FTC-U, to create a word collage inside of a bunny shape. I mentioned that I thought it would be a cute bunny appliqué, and want to show you how to “make it so” in FTC-U....

I’ve already admitted to liking embroidery designs with a word collage in the blog, Christmas Word Collage to Embroider. However, I am not artistic enough to come up with my own designs. So I love it when our graphic designer gives me some artwork to digitize. I did, however, decide to try...

Well, we celebrate centennials, centuries, 100 episodes, etc., so why not celebrate Cathy the Blogger’s 100 blogs? We reached that milestone with our previous blog, What’s the Buzz? March Events at RMSV. Do you read our blogs? Well, since you’re reading this, we guess that...

Ah, love is in the air, and, at Rocky Mountain Sewing and Vacuum, we sure love our customers! To celebrate Valentine’s day, we are pleased to provide you with a lovebirds embroidery design just right for Valentine’s Day. As with our Christmas collage, published in the blog on...

Back in November, we held an Embellish event at our Aurora store. The end product after three days of using ScanNCut DX1, Luminaires XP1 and various cutting tools, the students ended up with a cute little two -block wall hanging. One of the techniques, that I didn’t know about, was making...

I have messy grandkids! So when I dress my Christmas table with the good linens,  I like to have some “wipeable” placemats, that are easy to clean, for the kiddos. I ran across an idea to use oilcloth to make placemats and thought that was a fine idea to make sturdy, but wipeable,...

So, by now you have probably figured out that I have grandkids and like to make gifts for them. I love the old saying that “If I’d known how great grandkids were, I would have had them first!” At Christmas, I always try to make something for them, especially while they’re...

In my previous blog, The mySewNet Blog on the PFAFF Icons, I showed some of the cool things available on the mySewNet Blog on the PFAFF Performance and Creative Icons. One of the projects that really caught my eye was the headband embellished with triple ribbon stitches. The braided look of the...

Back at the July Sew Fun, Lisa demonstrated paper piecing using the “Add a Quarter” ruler. There is a block in the Alaska quilt I am making that suggests using paper piecing. So, I thought I’d try that technique, use the ruler, and write about it. The idea behind paper piecing...

I “grew up” with computers. My Dad was a tech geek, and I married a tech geek, and frankly, I’m a tech geek. We’ve always been early and eager adopters of technology. So copying files, managing directories and other computer skills are second nature to me. I know,...

I don’t know about you, but it seems like we JUST had our June Sew Fun sessions! (Check out some of the great pictures posted on our Facebook Page). Time does fly when you are having “sew” much fun! Before you know it, it will be Christmas! Have you started making your Christmas gifts? We...

Got a cool design idea? Stick it to me! Use your ScanNCut to design your own custom, printable stickers with a professional finish. Create fun stickers for the kids. Make your own designer labels. Create organizational stickers for your planner. You can do it all with the ScanNCut Printable...

One of my UFOs is a quilt with different scenes from Alaska. Each block has a different quilting block as feature, along with an appliqué. The block for the bear has sixteen 1¼” finished (1¾” unfinished) squares made from half-square triangles. Now, I am really new to piece quilting,...

In my last blog, BES4 to ScanNCut: Appliqué Cut File from Placement Stitches, I showed you how to use BES4 Dream Edition to create ScanNCut cut files from the placement stitch sequence of the embroidery design. However, there are times when you want the actual cut fabric to be just slightly...

I do a lot of embroidery with appliqués.  All appliqué designs, as far as I know, provide a “placement stitch” so you know where to put your fabric for the appliqué.  Many people will place a piece of fabric larger than the placement stitch, and tack it down with the “tack down...

It’s almost summer, and I love making totes for summer activities. A while back, I showed you how to make a large beach tote out of laminated cotton and nylon flag fabric. Since I use totes for many purposes, I make a bunch. I especially use them at the grocery store because I don’t like...

Wow! Time sure flies when you’re sewing. Seems like it was just last week I traveled around to all of the Rocky Mountain Sewing and Vacuum stores to check out April Sew Fun sessions. I can’t believe it’s time for the May Sew Fun sessions already. Here, I thought, I had another...

A friend of mine wanted to put some embroidery on the back pocket of her granddaughter’s jeans. However, there is no way she could do that in a hoop unless she removed the pocket for embroidering and then sewed the pocket back on when finished. Who wants to do that? So I suggested she...

Two May special events are coming to our Rocky Mountain Sewing and Vacuum stores.   We continue to bring you the best in sewing and embroidery instructions with a visit from Melanie Coakley Starting Your Own Embroidery Business,  and another BERNINA event,  Fear No Fabric. Start Your Own...

Is bling still a thing? I hope so, because I like the look of rhinestone-embellished embroidery.  I’ve run across a few designs here and there that incorporate rhinestones in their designs, but I want to make my own. Recently, Brother introduced an add-on feature to their ScanNCut Canvas...

Recently, Brother introduced an add-on feature to their ScanNCut Canvas application (CanvasWorkspace) to design hot-fix rhinestone designs. With this application you can create your own designs that are either all rhinestones, or have rhinestones incorporated into an embroidery design. In...

I am making a set of draw curtains for my granddaughter’s bedroom. She picked out some sheer fabric and a taffeta lining. Since the outside fabric is sheer, and the lining ravels, I decided to join the panels together with French seams. These seams are perfect for lightweight and sheer...

A mitered corner is one in which the corners meet in a 45-degree angle. What does that mean? Take a look at a picture frame or window frame and you will see a mitered corner.  I like the look of a mitered quilt border around the edge of some of my quilts.  The miter is formed […]

I am making a quilt for my granddaughter and wanted one of the quilt blocks to be a floral peacock from the Anita Goodesign Floral Animals collection. Since I am making the quilt blocks in the hoop, I also wanted machine stippling around the peacock.  The Brother Dream Machine2 makes it a snap...

Laminated cotton is slippery stuff!  I love it, though, and have used it many times to make items that I need to be water and stain resistant.  I recently made a beach bag for a little girl, and I want to share with you some of the techniques I found useful in working with laminated...

If you want to build a snowman, this freestanding collection is for you! Pick one (or two) from the OESD Freestanding Snowmen collection, and get ready for some fun. A freestanding embroidered snowman will melt your heart and look fantastic wherever you place it in your home this holiday...

I wanted to make my granddaughter a cotton Christmas skirt full of ruffles. I already know the many ways to make ruffles. Previous blogs,  Don’t Get Ruffled, Get Ruffling: Gather Fabric Using a Serger, Specialty Sewing Machine Feet for Gathering Fabric, and How to Gather Fabric and Create...

Frame your quilt with a little extra pop of color with flange binding. Use two different fabrics for your binding, and create binding with a little peek of another fabric for your quilting project. This technique uses two fabric strips sewn together to make the binding strip. Look at some of the...

I love to dress my table for Halloween (well, all of the holidays, actually). I like placemats and matching Halloween napkins that reflect the holiday spirit. To coordinate with some placemats I was making, I purchased some black napkins to embroider a Halloween design in the corner. Then, I got...

I was in the Rocky Mountain Sewing and Vacuum Littleton store the other day and saw that Lynn, the manager, had stocked some Mylar. Yippee! Mylar is durable, doesn’t shrink or stretch, and is food safe, it has many uses. When used in specially-created Mylar embroidery designs, Mylar adds a...

Knock, Knock. Who’s there? Anita. Anita who? Anita Goodesign!   We all need good embroidery designs and designs from Anita Goodesign are simply fabulous. What better way to sample their designs than to attend Anita’s University?  We hope you will attend this two-day event at the...

Do you have a favorite photograph (or two) that you’d like to incorporate in a quilt? Do you want to embroider one of the Anita Goodesign collections that use printed fabric? If so, you could buy sheets of paper-backed printable fabric. or you can make your own with a fabric of your...

September Sew Fun We had some really great Sew Fun projects demonstrated last month. To see the projects made and shown by Tracey, and the beautiful creations shown by our customers in “show and tell”, check out our Facebook photos. Now, another month has come and gone, Fall is in...

Research and development into new hardware may take months or years from concept to market. Despite that, once a new piece of equipment is on the market, the manufacturer receives many suggestions for improvement from users.  Often the manufacturers can incorporate those improvements in a...

In my previous blog, In a Bind About Binding: Three Ways to Cut Fabric Binding Strips, I described three ways to cut fabric to create binding. Bias binding came out as the “binding champion” in terms of functionality (can be sewn on a curve) and durability (more threads on the fold...

You are dressed to go out. You are handing off the baby to the sitter, but want one last snuggle. Then, burp! Spit up all over your blouse! (The baby’s spit up, not yours!) Make a flannel burp cloth to keep handy, place it on your shoulder, and protect your clothes from baby’s little...

In a previous blog, Specialty Sewing Machine Feet for Gathering Fabric, I took some pictures and linked to a couple of videos of using special sewing machine feet to create gathers and ruffles.  In this blog, I will show you how to gather fabric using a serger. You’ve probably noticed that...

Shiny, sparkly, reflective and eye-catching, metallic thread evokes elegance. It is especially beautiful in Christmas embroidery designs like these from the Anita Goodesign “Christmas Classics” collection. Metallic thread also makes a great addition to other designs, either as a...

In my last blog, Pillow Talk: Cording and Invisible Zippers, I used a piece of linen that had been embroidered with reverse cutwork. I usually use cutwork to make linen tea towels, so I thought I’d show you how I make those. With the holidays coming up, you can decorate your kitchen or...