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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.  

Sewing Notions

Did you know there are a number of new and restocked notions in the sewing notions section of my etsy shop? 

 

Since getting to the store is not possible/practical/recommended these days, many of these are selling pretty quickly.  Which is both lovely (thank you, I appreciate your business!) and also makes it challenging to keep up with tracking inventory in both my etsy shop and my website, so for now most are only on etsy.  

There are a few different colors of thread.  More off-white Gutermann thread is also coming later in the week.  A number of different Schmetz chrome machine needles are also available.  I've only started using these chrome needles myself and the Microtex ones are amazingly sharp.  

This is the second style of awl I'm carrying now.  This tapered one is awesome for opening packages!  At least that's mostly what I've been using mine for so far.  Surely I'll find other ways to use it eventually. 

What's New

I've been sewing some things and working on a pattern, but have waited too long between blog posts and don't quite remember all of it!  But here are some things that are new or newish:

• One scrap bag is available here. There is also a bag of the "tiny scraps" here. That reminds me I did make some fabric beads last week, but don't have photos. Not quite sure where I'm going with these yet, so maybe it was just a sewing lark. If you are interested in making fabric beads check out this tutorial.
• Another pincushion cuff is done and available here.  If you post your cuff on IG use the hashtag #rosepincushioncuff.  I'm trying to add hashtag suggestions to the pattern descriptions, but only have a few updated so far.
• More Wonder Tape is posted here.  This blog post talks about this tape.  I also have more awls, which is another tool I've found a lot of different uses for in sewing and around the house.  For a while my cat needed extra potassium, and the pills had to be ground into powder to put in her food.  Well they are SO hard and it took forever to get one broken down.  The awl turned out to be just the trick for breaking them in half before grinding them. Anyway, it's a handy dandy tool to have around for all sorts of odd jobs, so get one when you can.

 

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Some New Things

Awl - Don't let this scare you, because awls are very, very useful sewing tools, but Thomas Braille lost his sight due to an awl accident.  I wasn't sure I wanted to know the gory details, but I looked anyway. The good news is he eventually used an awl to create the Braille system.

Iron Off - When I share pics of the gunk that comes off my iron on IG--which I like to share because it's amazing how disgustingly dirty the iron gets!--it's surprising how many people don't realize they need to clean their iron, or that iron cleaner exists.  You don't know, until you know. 

Anyway, you need Iron Off, or some sort of iron cleaner, if you are going to sew. I've tried cleaning it without iron cleaner (because I was out of it) and it's horrible and doesn't work.  Get some iron cleaner...

Scrap Bags - A couple new scraps bags are available in my etsy shop (here and here and here).

Behold the Joy of the Clear Ruler

Where has this clear ruler been all my sewing life???  At least it's here now.

This is an 18" See-Through Drafting Ruler from Dritz.  It's sort of floppy and bendy, which makes it lightweight and easy to use. 

If you don't have a clear ruler, here is why you might consider getting one at some point:

1. It's very helpful when lining things up.  Combine it with a grid surface, like my beloved Dritz Superboard, or another surface with a grid, and it is very helpful for getting things straight and making accurate marks.  

Here I wanted to mark 0.75" from the top of this piece, so I lined up the fabric with one of the gridlines on my cutting board, and then matched the 0.25" mark on the clear ruler to the bottom of the 1" blue gridline.  Now the top of the ruler is perfectly showing where 0.75" is located.

2. You can use it as compass to make circles and arcs.  There are guide holes every 0.5" down the middle and it's great for drawing perfect circles!

In this picture I have a pin in the center to hold it down, but you really want to use another pen or an awl (I'll talk about this handy sewing tool another day) in the center pivot hole.  The pin doesn't fill in the hole completely so the ruler isn't firmly in held in place, and it can get wobbly as you draw the circle.

I haven't had this very long, so these two benefits are only what I've noticed so far.  Maybe other great uses will turn up as I get more familiar with it.  If you have one, please leave a comment letting us know what you like about yours.

It's very possible the ruler, cutting board, and awl are available at your local fabric store.  If not, they are available several places online.  The links in this post will take you directly to where they can be ordered to on Amazon (disclosure: I'm an Amazon affiliate). 

Anyway, I'm very happy with the clear ruler and wanted to share my experience with this tool. 

Best stitches,

Michelle

Sewing Machine Oil in Syringe Applicator

Yesterday afternoon I took the "DIY Sewing Machine Maintenance" class at PDX Seamsters and they had these handy syringe style machine oil applicators.  On my way out the door I bought two of them--one for me and one for my mom. 

They work great!  The needle applicator is perfect for getting the oil in just the right spot, without using too much.  You just squeeze the bottom and a drop comes right out.  I'm pretty sure the other class attendees bought them too.  We all oohed and aahed over them and vowed we must have one. 

The class was very good.  I learned some things I didn't know, and we took our machines apart and oiled places I didn't know existed. 

I'm not having much luck finding these things online, so link finders do your magic.  If you can find these for sale online, please post a link in the comments.