Happy New Year! A Look at the Past and a Glimpse of the Future
It’s hard to believe that a new year is here! With so much ‘behind the scenes’ tech work in December, we held off on releasing new content. This gave the team time to complete the necessary coding updates and ensure that the updates went smoothly. I’m happy to report that the updates were a success! One of the biggest differences is the mobile friendly features of the rebuild. In 2023, we will roll out new features and more helpful sewing content. As always, if you are struggling with a sewing dilemma, please feel free to contact us and suggest a tutorial.
Today, while I was reading the “Shibori Girl’s” blog, she had a beautiful and profound statement for 2023 and one specific line really resonated with me. In a way, it neatly and succinctly summarizes thoughts I’ve had over the last few months.
“Craft is an embellishment that has adorned my life.”
During the website updating process, I stepped back from writing and began organizing my studio and supplies. In a way, it was like taking a trip down memory lane. I discovered beautiful leftover fabric from commissioned costume jobs, piecework from wearable art design projects, old and vintage patterns, books, ornament supplies, and unique crystals that I bought but never knew how to set. This process has been in a way, a review of my life. It also was an inspiring way to create a road map for the future as I explore new and interesting sewing projects and techniques.
Regarding those unique crystals…. Thanks to a few recent discoveries, I now know what to do with them and I’ll be sharing my finds with you soon. One of the biggest hurdles I had was how to set the point back stones without using glue. I’ve used point back stones on costumes in the past by gluing them in place, but I hated the glue showing thru. It just wasn’t the super professional look I was hoping to achieve. Thankfully, those costumes had significant stonework, so the glue was not obvious from a distance.
A few months ago, I discovered metal settings often used by jewelry artists that would securely hold the stones and allow me to sew them in place.
These specific settings have holes in the bottom that allow you to sew them to a base (like fabric) or string them together to create jewelry designs and do not require glue. This creates a cleaner, more professional finish. In next week’s post, we will begin the process of using set stones in designs that will create a professional designer look with little effort.
For instance, the embroidery design below has sewn on gems. But, if a sew on gem isn’t available, it would be easy to substitute a set stone. I’m excited to explore this avenue and I hope you will join me! I have several exciting projects planned and I’ll also be discussing creative ways to use set stones.
Close-up of sewn on jewels
Happy New Year! May 2023 be a wonderful and productive year for you!
About Me
CHRISTINE WARREN
Sewing isn’t just my job, it’s my passion. I’ve enjoyed sewing and needle working since I was very young.
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Christine Warren
My name is Christine Warren and sewing isn’t just my job, it’s my passion. I’ve enjoyed sewing and needle-working since I was very young. As a child, I learned cross stitching, needle pointing, crewelwork, and other various forms of hand stitching (everything that didn’t require the use of a sewing machine). I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t thrilled. My dream was to use a real sewing machine—not a toy machine or something that was masquerading as a “sewing machine”. The day I learned to sew on my grandmother’s sewing machine, I knew I had found my calling. That first attempt at sewing was a disaster but it didn’t discourage me. If anything, it fueled my interest in sewing and encouraged me to try again.
