Thursday is a Biggie
March 17, 2011
Sit down, put your feet up, and grab a cup of coffee, because there's a lot to cover today!
IT'S SEW EASY
Thank you so much to everyone who has already signed up for It's Sew Easy! I've been fielding a lot of questions via e-mail and figured I should share some information here!
If you want to buy a sewing machine...
Bernina is my brand of choice. I think they're the best quality machines in the world! If you want an entry level un-computerized Bernina, I really love this one:
It's the Bernette 56, around $300, and it is the kind of machine you will have forever.
If you're looking for a super baragain machine, I have heard good things about the Janome Sew Mini, but have no experience actually using it. I found a very interesting blog article by Alma Stoller about how to hack the Janome Sew Mini so that it has free motion capabilities. And the Sew Mini only costs $40-60!
If you don't know how to sew at all...
No worries! Lesson one is all about getting to know your machine. We will start at the very beginning of sewing with a machine, just getting comfortable with how it all works and stitching in a straight line and so forth. And by week six you'll be able to do this:
If you already know how to sew...
If you already know how to use a sewing machine, will there be anything in the class for you? I sure hope so! Every single project has lots of painting, collaging, and other mixed media techniques as part of it. But I'll let you be the judge of it. Here's how it breaks down:
Week One: Straight Stitches
- Technique Tutorial: Supplies, Getting to Know Your Machine, How to Start & Stop
- Quick Tutorial: Fabric and Paper Banner
- Longer Tutorial: Paper and Fabric Tags
Week Two: Making the Straight Stitch Work for You
- Technique Tutorial: ¼” foot, following a drawn line, rotary cutting and measuring
- Quick Tutorial: Stuffed Heart Ornament
- Longer Tutorial: Patchwork Pillow Cover
Week Three: Zig to the Zag
- Technique Tutorial: Fancy Stitches – zig zag and other built-ins
- Quick Tutorial: Mixed Media Purse
- Longer Tutorial: Awesome Accordion Fold Book
Week Four: Starting Out with Free Motion
- Technique Tutorial: Free Motion Basics – getting comfortable, hand pressure, etc.
- Quick Tutorial: Free Motion ATCs
- Longer Tutorial: Canvas Zig Zag edge quilt with free motion design
Week Five: Binding a Quilt
- Technique Tutorial: basics of binding a quilt
- Quick Tutorial: Stitched Scrapbook Page
- Longer Tutorial: Painted and Stitched Mini Quilt
Week Six: Fancier Free Motion
- Technique Tutorial: taking the training wheels off, doing designs from your head, anything you can draw, you can stitch – practice!
- Quick Tutorial: Leaf Necklace
- Longer Tutorial: Fabric Collage Quilt
If you have other questions, please let me know! :)
It's time for another *free* Live with Prima class! This time I'll be sharing how to create this awesome frame:
You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can paint up a beautiful frame. And you don’t even have to know how to draw! Julie will show you just how easy it is to use Prima’s new Winter CHA products to create a beautiful one-of-a-kind artistic creation! We’ll be painting and sewing and making it totally unique!
Class is on Monday, March 21 at 8pm EST.
If you've never been to a Live with Prima broadcast...
- It's completely FREE and online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/primaflower
- During the live show you can chat with other students and ask me questions!
- You have the opportunity to win a prize pack of free Prima supplies if you attend the class!
- If you can't make it, you can watch the show at any time. They're all recorded.
Hope to see you there!
As I mentioned a little while ago I'm co-hosting a brand new TV show called Scrapbook Soup. It will be shown on PBS and on the BYU TV channel. Once the show starts airing you will be able to buy a DVD of the entire season, and instructions for all projects will be downloadable from the website for free!
And now here's the part that's all about YOU!
I'm looking for your awesome-tastic projects (scrapbook layouts, art journal pages, cards, wall hangings, canvases, etc.) to showcase on Scrapbook Soup TV that feature ONE of the following techniques:
- Packing Tape Transfer
- Stamping with Household Objects
- Using Tissue Paper Dress Patterns
- Stamping on Patterned Paper
- Using Fabrics instead of Patterned Paper
- Glue Resist
- Making a Book From a Single Sheet of Paper (lots of ways to do this, but it should be the one that makes an eight-page book as seen here)
- Using Security Envelopes
- Using Washi Tape
If your project is accepted:
- You will be responsible for mailing your project to the studio (must arrive by April 1).
- You will need to e-mail me step-by-step instructions for your project.
- Your project will be shown on air.
- Your name and hometown will be mentioned on air.
- If you wish, your blog address and photo will appear on the instructions so people can easily find you when they visit the website and download the instructions.
- I will host an interview with you and photos of your work on my blog!
- The show will air on PBS and BYU-TV for three years!
Exciting, right?
If you have a project to submit, please e-mail me the following:
- Your full name, mailing address, and e-mail
- A link to your blog, if you have one (you do not have to have a blog to submit)
- 2-3 photos of your project. (At least one should be a close-up.)
- A brief description of your project and which one of the 9 techniques listed above it features.
You may submit more than one project, but please submit only one project per e-mail. It's a tight shipping deadline (projects must arrive in Ohio by April 1) so the deadline is ASAP! I can only accept a few projects to show on air, so hurry up and submit! :)