Quality Sewing

Today’s marketplace abounds with many embellished gifts and clothing, which have become very popular, but the embellishment adds quite a bit to the price. Many consumers are beating this by buying plain clothing and gifts and doing the embellishing on their own. At Quality Sewing and Vacuum, we have all of the tools and materials to get you started on any of the fun embellishment techniques: embellishing, couching, appliqué, felting, and embroidery.

Embellishment is the easiest method for adding a little pizzaz to your clothing. It involves adding buttons, sequins, ribbon, or crystals to add a little excitement to an otherwise plain garment. Most new sewing machines have a stitch to attach buttons.

No more endless hours with needle and thread, hand sewing replacement buttons on to clothes. Simply thread the machine and start adding buttons. Many craft and fabric stores carry a variety of decorative buttons to add flair to an old jacket or coat. A simple straight stitch can attach strings of sequins or rolls of ribbon to spice up any fabric. Crystals, a popular embellishment, can be added with a simple tool for under $40.00. You heat up the tool, pick up the crystal, set it where you like, and after ten seconds it is attached. Instant sparkle in any pattern you desire.

Couching is done using a sewing machine with the zigzag feature. Couching involves stitching decorative threads or yarns to an existing piece of fabric. Walk through any store with yarn and you can see the endless possibilities with the variety of color and textures available in today’s decorative thread and yarn market. Simply zigzag over the yarn or thread in any pattern and you have added a personal touch with a little texture. You can even add sparkle by zigzagging over a textured yarn with a shiny metallic thread.

Applique is the art of adding fabric to fabric. Walk through a fabric store and find a fabric you like, cut out a pleasing shape, and stitch it to an existing garment. Elaborate patterns can be made with multiple colors of fabric to really add zing to an existing garment. You can simply iron the fabric on with a fusible web backing, or you can sew it down for a variety of looks. If you sew a straight stitch with a wide seam allowance you can leave the edges raw, and they will curl up for texture when washed. For a more finished look, you can adjust your zigzag into a satin stitch and stitch around the outside edge, covering it so that it doesn’t fray. Of course for a great look, you can use all three appliqué methods on the same garment, and of course don’t forget to add a few crystals or shiny yarns for a little sparkle.

Felting combines two natural fabrics together with a needle punch. There is no messy glues or dangly threads, just a simple needle punch machine and fabric or yarn. The technique works best with natural fabrics with a weave like cotton, wool, and silk. Babylock has an incredible twelve-needle machine, which does all the hard work for you. You place the fabrics together the way you like, and then simply run the machine over them. Its twelve needles efficiently needle punch the fabric together in record time, and its protective needle guard keeps your fingers away from the pointy stuff. Combined with other embellishment techniques or on its own, felting has added a new twist to embellishing.

Finally, there is our personal favorite: machine embroidery. The new embroidery machines make embroidery a fun project for anyone. Pick a pattern you like, most machines come with a wide variety of built in patterns, hoop your fabric, and follow the machine prompt for thread color, and start embroidering. From simple monogrammed gifts to complex embroidered pictures, the possibilities are endless with the new embroidery machines. Quality Sewing and Vacuum carries four full lines of embroidery machines, Pfaff, Husqvarna Viking, Babylock, and Brother, and we have the professionals here to show you how to use them. Every machine purchased comes with basic usage classes, and our website shows a variety of project classes available every month. And if you are new to sewing, the good news is the majority of embroidery machines are also sewing machines, so you can try other embellishments and take advantage of the ease of machine embroidering.

Embellishing with any method adds a touch of flair to garments or gifts. At Quality Sewing and Vacuum we are focused on getting you started with this fun hobby, and we invite you to come in and see the variety of machines and tools we have to offer, and the samples we have to show the endless possibilities for creativity open to you with today’s new machines.