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New Colors of Bohin Pins

Teal Bohin Murano Glass Pins

Do you have some nice pins to use when you sew?  Sewing is more satisfying when you have the right tools and it's even better when your tools also look great.

These pretty pins from Bohin are excellent all-purpose pins with sharp shanks and heads that won't melt. If you make a lot of straps or sew things where it can help to pin them to your ironing board (or a wool mat), these are helpful for keeping melted plastic off your iron and ironing board.

Pea Green Bohin Murano Glass Pins

I started stocking in a few colors when Dritz's glass head pins were out of stock (they still are hard to find). Once I started using these, they quickly became one of favorite pins. 

They are mostly 1.25" long and even though they are "fine" pins, they are pretty sturdy.

Baby Pink Bohin Murano Glass Pins

When it was time to order more, to my delight I found some new colors available and had to have them too.

Besides sewing, these pins are also awesome for using on bulletin boards or to mark places you've been on a map.

I have a huge bulletin board and these pins are excellent for pinning things to the board, or like with the Box Bottom Gauges, I punch a hole in them and then hang them on a pin so the gauges don't get lost.

If you are interested in having some lovely pins that aren't purely decorative, check out these Bohin pins at the links above.

You can also find these pins in this section of my etsy shop. 

The Blues

Ki-Mama Sevenberry Fabric

Essex Cotton/Linen Stripe in Chambray

 

Bohin Murano Glass Head Pins

FAQ - What kind of snaps do you use?

 

Two Pocket Wallet ~ Floral Fabric ~ Blue Fabric

Someone asked me which snaps I use, which is a pretty common question, and if anyone else is wondering the same thing, here is the answer:

Snap Source Size 24

The cap is 5/8" and they come in a few colors, plus a few other finishes. I adore these snaps and even though I have quite a collection of other snaps, these are the ones I like best!

Using a Sewing Gauge to Make Circles

The other day I had a "learned something new today" moment because I wasn't aware a sewing gauge can be used like a compass to mark circles and scallops.  But, yes, it most certainly can! 

All you need to do is anchor it with a pin through the hole in the slider, insert the tip of a fabric pen in the hole at the end of the gauge, and then rotate the gauge to trace the circle or scallop. 

The two things to pay attention to are:

1. If you need an exact diameter for a circle or specific height for a scallop, the hole at the end isn't actually at the very end and you'll need to accommodate for the one or two millimeter difference.  
2. Make sure nothing is in the way of the gauge rotating around!  It's easy to knock stuff around or onto the floor and end up with a wobbly looking circle if there is something in the path of the gauge while it's rotating.

A sewing gauge is one of those sewing tools that is just super useful and while you can sew without one, they are inexpensive and so very useful that it makes sense to have at least one in your sewing tool kit. Mine gets used almost daily for something (often a Grocery Bag or Basket Bag) and I have several of them since they are easy to bury under fabric or misplace in other ways.  

Favorite Notions - Diagonal Seam Tape

Please Note: This post contains affiliate links.

The quilt top for this so very pink quilt is done and while making the binding I wanted to show you Cluck Cluck Sew's Diagonal Seam Tape just in case you haven't come across it yet.  

You may have noticed this tape because it's pretty popular for good reason--it's brilliant stuff!  But unless you make a lot of quilts, the point of it might not be so obvious. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but after looking around I see one of the ways it can be used is for sewing short, straight lines without needing to mark the stitching line on the fabric first. 

These are the types of lines quilters sew over and over and over again and combined with some of the other repetitive tasks of quilting, it can get tiresome marking these lines out.     

In the photo at the top, you can see the tape at the bottom of the picture and underneath the fabric the tape extends up to the markings on the machine plate.  As the two pieces are sewn together, all that's needed to maintain a straight stitch line is to keep the bottom intersection of the two binding pieces lined up with the red line at the center of the tape.  

If you'd like to try this tape, you can purchase it directly from Cluck Cluck Sew, or here are some etsy shops that carry this magical tape.  

Bohin Glass Head Pins

These beautiful Bohin pins with Murano glass heads are available here or here. They are really pretty and it's inspiring to have some lovely sewing notions. Take good care of them and they'll last for years and years. 

As a bonus, or maybe it's a needed feature for you, the glass heads won't melt if you touch them with your iron.  I have a collection of melted plastic pins that tell me I do this more than I realize.