Fabric 101: prepare the selvage edge

Always prepare your fabric for sewing or crafting by removing the selvage edge.  

The selvage is discarded because it lacks print, but mostly because it will pucker once the fabric has gone through the laundry.  

The following method is intended for fabrics that should not be ironed.  

This guide is set up for right-handed instructions.  You can easily convert to left-handed instructions by flipping the photos upside down.  

Unfold your fabric so you can work with a single layer.

Begin by lining up the selvage on your cutting mat.

Don't worry about the  bottom side of the fabric, this will be uneven from the store cut and should not be used as a guide.  This can be fixed later.

Next; Line up your fabric ruler, with the selvage edge, making sure to cut beyond all of the selvage (the white and the printed portion).  

Hint: Line up your ruler with the selvage edge, as well as the lines on your cutting mat.

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Rotary Cutters, like this OLFA brand, 

are essential for precise cuts and really save time.

After you have made the cut, with your rotary cutter,  carefully peel back the fabric

without moving the ruler,

so you can ensure no portion remains uncut.

If you find some strands have not fully cut,

now is the time

to run your rotary cutter along the ruler again.

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Once you are certain you have a clean cut,

now you can remove the ruler.  

It might help to slice-off the hanging selvage,

before you slide the ruler up to continue cutting the remainder of selvage edge.

Continue sliding the ruler up the selvage,

repeat all the steps

until you have come to the end of the selvage.

Turn the fabric over

and repeat on the other selvage.

Now you can use these "selvage-free" sides as your guide to straighten out the other edges, or to line up patterns, etc.

Embroidery and Sewing Brother LB-6800

I just wanted to share some items I have created using my Brother LB-6800 Embroidery and Sewing Machine:

Added Snowflakes here-n-there ...

I sprinkled some 
mini-sized snowflakes
down across the front
to give a more three-dimensional look. 

Actually, for my first attempt, I started out simple
by trying out a one-color butterfly design
that comes already loaded onto the machine. 

So, I cut a pair of my son's outgrown pants 
and up-cycled one of the legs into this fun purse.

I used a macrame belt as the shoulder strap.  By sewing button holes on each side I ran the belt through each hole, then tied a knot to secure the strap.  This size would hold a water bottle nicely.

Next I tried a two-color design onto this pink sweatshirt.

I think it turned out nicely.

Twin Love Birds on Blue Hoodie Sweatshirt

After that, I got brave and tried another
two-color design.

Take a look at this "Floral Horse" tote bag.

This project was supposed to be a sweatshirt but I forgot to rotate the design

so the horse turned out running down the shirt, not across.

No worries!

I cut it up and turned it into a pocket on a tote bag.

For my next project;

I started to create a

Cherry Themed Kitchen Towel Set.

So far, I have only created 2 towels of the set:

I put the Cherry Towel set on hold so I could embroider, for my husband, six of his workshirts.

He runs up the recycle program at his employer and takes great pride in doing his part to save the planet:

Next photos are of a multi-color design. 

I shoved a pillow into the shirt
to puff it up for the photos.

This project started out as a
simple one-color design
but turned into a rather more complex design.

I started with the flower,
added the butterlies ...

and then added the small flower.

I wanted to experiment with the fonts,
which came included with the machine,
so I found these cute little tote bags.

Turns out these totes were too small

to work with on the embroidery loop,

and too small to use on the sewing arm,

unless I wanted to take these apart.

So instead, I used quilt binding tape

and embroidered right onto that tape.

Then I sewed the quilting tape directly on

to the little tote bags.

I sure hope the girls like their totes!