Finding the Grainline and Why it Matters

I don't sew clothing, but I do make a lot of bags. I make bags for every purpose imaginable. If you sew clothes, curtains or bags, you need to know how important the grainline is. If you are using a woven fabric such as 100% cotton or a woven cotton blend, you need to pay attention to how you are laying your pattern pieces.

Woven fabrics are made up of lengthwise threads, and crosswise threads. It is important to know the difference when you are making something that needs to hang properly or where strength is needed. The best way to find the grainline is by looking at the selvage. The grainline always runs parallel to the selvage. But sometimes you may have a piece of fabric where the selvage has been cut away, or maybe the fabric is an odd shape. Finding the grainline is very simple and I’m going to show you how. You can use the images above for reference.

The crosswise grain has a slight amount of stretch. It’s strong (as far as holding its shape), but not nearly as strong as the grainline, or sometimes called the lengthwise grain.

The lengthwise grain has no stretch at all. This would be the grainline. Can you see why this would be stronger and holding its shape when you are making a purse where it will be holding weighted items? If you are making a purse for example, you'll want the lengthwise grain to be vertical. This way there would be no "give" in the fabric and it will hold its shape. If you are making a matching strap, you definitely want to cut the fabric along the grainline for the length of the strap.

The bias has a lot of stretch. This would be at a 45° angle from your grain lines. When you pull the fabric along the diagonal, you get a lot of stretch. That is why you would cut a bias tape in this direction. The stretch allows you to go around curves easily. 

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There's a free machine embroidery design in every issue (unless I'm running a sale). You'll also find links to free sewing tutorials and articles too. The newsletter goes out once a week.  

Cookie Sheets, Spatula, Oven Mitt - For the Sewing Room?

Some of my favorite sewing supplies are actually kitchen items, and I use them all the time. There are other odd things I've found around the house that I find helpful as well. Right now I'll discuss my three favorites.

Baking sheets: I bought the set that comes with three different sizes. These things are the most helpful for everything. I use them to separate fabric pieces for projects, to set on my lap while I'm watching a movie and doing some hand stitching or clipping jump threads from my embroidery projects. They are also great for organizing the various steps in smaller items like the gift card holders above. If you want to make those, there is a free tutorial right HERE on the blog. It's a great kids project. I made some that I hand stitched instead of gluing and painting.

Rubber spatula: I think of this one as my hand and finger saver. When I'm at the embroidery machine and I'm needing to hold something in place or move something out of the way, I use this instead of my fingers. As of this writing, I've never had a needle go through my fingers!

Super thick oven mitt: This item is invaluable for ironing in areas that can't be laid flat when pressing. I don't use this as much as the other items, but when I do need it, I'm happy to have it. 

And no, I don't use any of these items in the kitchen also. They are now my sewing supplies.

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There's a free machine embroidery design in every issue (unless I'm running a sale). You'll also find links to free sewing tutorials and articles too. The newsletter goes out once a week.  

Favorites - I Love These Machine Embroidery Supplies

Time for some more favorites! These are the four items that I use in my studio on a regular basis. 

Pre-wound bobbins are a massive time saver. I order a large box of white, and I also have them in several colors. The last thing I want to do when I need a bobbin is to stop and create some more. This way they are always on hand, and I don't have to stop what I'm doing.

Basting adhesive really makes stabilizing easy. I much prefer it over pins and tape. Sometimes, depending on what I'm stabilizing, I'll use it with pins. It makes such a difference when making things that require a layer of batting such as coasters, zipper bags, etc. I used to worry about it gumming up my needle, but after several years of use, it hasn't happened yet.

These snips make clipping threads neater. I don't use these for cutting away fabrics, but they are great when you need to clip that thread close to the stitching. They are so thin and lightweight. As for clipping away excess fabric for applique, I like to use my curved embroidery scissors.

Snag Nab-It Tool is probably the best thing ever invented for embroidery, sewing, and basic snag repair. It has a sharp point on one end, and a rough section on the other end. It's made to pull snags through to the back which turns a damaged sweater into like new. Have you ever finished a project, and everything looks beautiful except those one or two stiches in your silky satin stitches that the needle obviously missed? Of course you have! And it's not your fault. This tool is designed to make it look like it never happened. You just find the stitch that didn't stitch (or just sticking out in a weird way) and insert the pointed end right at that stitch on the top of the project. Then you gently push it completely through. The rough edges on the opposite end of the tool will catch that annoying thread and bring it right through to the backside. If you want you can put a tiny drop of Fray Check on the back where the stitch is but honestly, I've never worried about that. And you know these thread mishaps always happen at the end of your project after you've done all that work! TIP: Store it in the little plastic sleeve it came in and maybe put a dot of paint or nail polish on the plastic sleeve. This little thing is so easy to lose.

Sign up for Sher's Creative News so you don't miss anything!

There's a free machine embroidery design in every issue (unless I'm running a sale). You'll also find links to free sewing tutorials and articles too. The newsletter goes out once a week. 

Tutorial - Super Quick and Easy Cord Tamers

If you have an embroidery machine and make key fobs, I'm pretty sure you have a whole bunch of vinyl scraps and kamsnaps laying around. Here is a project that couldn't be any easier.

Cut your scraps into strips of various widths and lengths

Apply a set of kamsnaps to each one

Wrap around your cables and cords to keep them  neat and tidy.

That's it!

Sign up for Sher's Creative News

There's a free machine embroidery design in every issue (unless I'm running a sale). You'll also find links to free sewing tutorials and articles too. The newsletter goes out once a week. 

Applique Tips for the Regular Sewing Machine

There are two ways to think about machine applique. There is the applique that you do on an embroidery machine where the machine does all the stitching, and there is applique that you do on a regular sewing machine where you do the stitching. You can also choose different types of stitching around your appliques.

Since I'm hosting the monthly mug rug freebie here on the blog, I thought it would be a great time to reintroduce my two-part series of my favorite applique tips. These tips are for the applique that you do with the regular sewing machine. You can also do them by hand if you choose. Sometimes I prefer to applique by hand because I can kick back and watch a show or two while I stitch.

If you plan on doing a lot these mug rugs or applique in general, I can not stress enough what a difference your machine foot makes! I highly recommend using an "open toe foot" for your sewing machine (not embroidery machine). It gives you a clear view of every stitch you are making. I just checked on Amazon and you can still get them for under $10. So worth the price!

Below are the two articles that I wrote with favorite and most helpful tips for the applique process. 

Applique Tips - Part 1

Applique Tips - Part 2

If you want to join in on the fun by making the free mug rug of the month, you can click HERE.

Do you like free embroidery designs and tutorials?

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Quick Little Video on Machine Applique on Your Embroidery Machine

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/45Q2AeuKTmE