Lizzsews

 This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews .   Jump stitches can be annoying, they're little threads in your design that are hard to cut, and you need to cut really close to the design! There are two options for when to cut the jump stitches, you can either wait till the very end of the embroidery and cut the stitches after you take the design out of the hoop or you can cut the stitches as the machine does them.  Landscape patch embroidery design from above Let me explain more,      1. You let the design stitch out as normal then once it’s done, take the material out of the hoop. Use small, sharp scissors and cut each thread from the starting part of the jump to the ending part of the jump. The hard part about this method is that often the jump stitches get stitched over from other stitches. This can either, a: hide the jump stitches and now you no longer need to cut them, or, b: stitch over the jump stitches in sections so that your one stitch is now two or more different sect

 This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews . For my other shop, Howes It Sewing , I was looking into how to create branding labels. I did not know how to create tags and I was surprised to see that there were no tutorials on how to make the type of labels I was interested in.   So, I will guide you through how to make branding labels to add to your handmade products to add a more professional look. Recommended read: Selling handmade products online Recommended read: How to sew quick and easy coasters To learn how to make these, with the look that I was going for, took quite a bit of trial and error. But, I’m happy to say that in the end, I was able to make some awesome-looking, and professional, tags! I have made these tags numerous times now and I add them to anything that I make that can have a sew-in tag. And now that I have learned how to make these, I’m going to share what I learned with all of you! What I used: Satin ribbon with a woven edge (1/2" tall) Cricut Easypress mi

This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews When I got my first machine, it was actually a sewing machine. I had an older machine because I wanted to see if I would like it or not. I instantly fell in love!  Baby Yoda embroidery design from above I had the same sewing machine for about three years before I  started to sew more and realized that I couldn’t do everything that I wanted to do on that sewing machine because of its age. I started to do some research on sewing machines. At this time, I also had started hand embroidering and loved the results, but not the amount of time that it took! Once I heard about embroidery machines, I knew that was what I wanted.  I researched sewing machines and embroidery machines, and that’s when I found the brother se600! I continued to look into the machine, and the more I looked into it, the more I loved it. I just knew that I would love machine embroidery and it was a huge sewing upgrade. But the best thing about the machine for me at the time w

 This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews . To slice my 3D prints I use a software application on my laptop. I will buy/download STL files online from other designers or create my own, and to slice them I use Cura. What is Cura you may ask?  -Cura is an open-source slicing application for 3D printers- Recommended read: What is slicing in the 3D printing world? So basically, you import your STL file to Cura, look at the basic settings, change them a little (you don’t even have to know how to do this, you just look at the description of the design you downloaded and the designer will tell you the settings to use) and you get your GCODE file. Put that GCODE file onto your SD card, eject it from your laptop, put it into the 3D printer and click start on your 3D print. And I mean, I would say watch the magic happen, but let’s just say it takes a little bit of time… Recommended read: About my 3D printer Recommended read: How I made: Mythosaur 3D print Leave a comment below and let me kno

This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews . What is slicing in the 3D printing world? In the 3D printing world, slicing is when you literally 'slice' a 3D model into sequential horizontal lines. You are creating a 'recipe' for the 3D printer to follow, as 3D printers print layer by layer. Recommended read: What I use to slice my 3D printing files When you download models from Cults3d or create models in Tinkercad, you will be given an STL or an OBJ file format.  This is like the flour to your recipe, you import this STL file into your slicing software, and after slicing, you will receive your cookie, a GCODE file format. The GCODE file is the tool path. This file format is then compatible with your 3D printer.  Recommended read: About my 3D printer The print settings that you can adjust:    - Quality    - Walls    - Top/bottom    - Infill    - Material    - Speed    - Travel    - Cooling    - Supports    - Build plate adhesion Recommended read:  What is PLA Recommende

This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews .   PUL stands for: polyurethane laminated fabric. It’s a type of specialty utility fabric.   Pul is often used in wet bags and diapers due to its waterproofing properties.  It’s flexible and easy to sew with as well as lightweight and breathable. It is also durable enough to withstand use and machine washing/drying.    Many people will also use laminated cotton for this purpose as it has a layer of polyurethane film attached to one side.  When checked to be food safe, pul fabric can be used to create reusable snack bags.  It’s important to make sure that if the fabric is going to be in contact with food, that you make sure it’s food safe. Once you know that it’s food safe, you’ll want to know which side of the fabric should be in contact with the food. Recommended read: How to sew snack bags The side of the fabric that is smooth and has the most colour to it/ has the design, is the side that does not touch the food. The side that is not smoo

This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews .   What are feed dogs? How can that be on my sewing machine? Why am I feeding dogs?? No no no! You’ve got it all wrong! Feed dogs are on your sewing machine, and they are not actually dogs!  You don’t feed them, they feed your fabric through the machine! -The feed dogs are the short thin metal bars that have ridges like teeth. They are placed underneath your fabric and used to guide the fabric through your machine. - Now feed dogs, believe it or not, are actually optional, you can lower them, meaning that they are underneath the needle plate and they will not move your fabric at all.  They are very useful in sewing, for without them you would just be sewing in the exact same spot over and over... Which would create a huge knot... which you would have to then try to cut... ahhh I’m getting nightmares already.  But, and that’s a big but, there are times in sewing when you want to lower the feed dogs, this is for when you want to free motion qu

 This article is brought to you by  Lizzsews . No matter what, when you do machine embroidery, you’ll have to use a bobbin. You have two different options, you can either wind your own bobbins or you can purchase pre-wound bobbins.  But which way is better for convenience, cost and not having problems? Convenience Most of the time pre-wound bobbins are more convenient. But if you go and wind a whole bunch of bobbins and put them in a little container, both are now very convenient! But you still have that added work of having to wind all the bobbins yourself.  Cost For winding your own bobbins, there are two things you need to purchase, the thread and the bobbins.  For pre-wound bobbins, all you have to buy are the pre-wound bobbins themselves. But once you have purchased so many pre-wound bobbins you have too many leftover empty bobbins. Not using these empty bobbins is essentially a waste of money and bad for the earth.  Problems that might occur Often times pre-wound bobbins come ver