The first item I am going to show you this time is this pair of scissors by Elan. I love them as they have about a 2" blade length but the scissors themselves are around 6 1/2" long. The blades have a fine serrate edge that grips the fabric as you cut it so you can be very accurate with cutting and they have wonderful big finger holes. My hands do not get cramped using these scissors.
Next are a pair of scissors by Havel I use at the machine. They are small being a little under 3" long. I wrote about them here on this blog post. Love them, love them, love them! 
I really like having the small pair of hemostats to use for sewing also. I can grab a piece of thread and they lock to really hold it. I have also been known to take them to the bathroom mirror to grab one of those pesky hairs that want to grow on my chiny chin, chin too. They work better than any tweezers as they lock on the the hair, er..thread, so it can be pulled out.
Before I had this brass stiletto I used the point of a seam ripper for the same jobs. I can hold the fabric and guide it under the presser foot with the stiletto and still see where I am stitching. I use it to hold down things that I am pressing to avoid getting burned fingers too.
The next item I have used quite a bit lately is this Dritz Ezy-Hem Guage. I just estimated where 1/4" was and pressed the ends over this to make them nice and straight when I was making the luggage tags. There are markings on one side to press creases starting at 1/2" up to 4". It is a thin piece of metal and works pretty slick to get sharp, straight pressed fabric. I have had this tool since I was first married, back when I sewed clothing where it came in handy to press in hems. I was surprised it was still being sold when I found it online.
I have used the 1/4" foot especially made for stitching 1/4" seams and it works OK but my favorite foot to use is the #20 foot. This is an open toed applique foot I got to go on the 150 and kept it to use on this machine. There is an open toed applique foot that is made for the 730 but the space is too wide since this machine can do 9 mm wide stitches and I don't feel it holds down the fabric as well as this one, especially when I stitch miniatures. I use this #20 foot to piece with and to do invisible machine stitching on applique and buttonhole stitching. I can see really well doing foundation piecing with this foot too.
When stitching seams together I move the needle to the right a couple of clicks to make the perfect 1/4" seam. Got so used to using it on the 150 I have to force myself to use the regular 1/4" foot on this machine for seaming blocks together. You can read more about this foot on this blog entry.
Come back again for another installment of my favorite things. Have added a couple things to my list of sewing things I want to look for in Paducah - thanks for leaving the messages.
Happy Quilting,
Lynn
1 comment:
Some of my favorite things are the heavy duty thread stand next to my machine. I also have a Madiera spool holder that sits over the stand that fits spools perfectly on it so they don't slide.
Also, my Dovo scissors, my Janome 6600 table and of course my Viking Topaz machine.
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