School is now in session... Sewing School 101!

It's back to school time so we thought we would put some lessons together to take the mystery out of sewing.  The first lesson is fathering your supplies for your sewing kit.  These are just some general items, but as you get more confident you will be surprised how fast it grows.

A basic sewing kit should include:

Shears. 
As you look at the wall of scissors, there are many to choose from.  Shears and scissors are two different things.  Shears have differently sized handles which make it easier to hold when cutting out your fabrics.  Also they have handles that are bent upwards so that fabrics can stay flat on the table during cutting.  Never use your fabric shears to cut paper as this will dull them. 

Tape measure.
Most tape measures come in 60" measurements.  Two styles, fabric or fiberglass, are avaliable.  It is a matter of preference as to which tape measure is better however over time the fabric tape measure can stretch slightly so you'll need to replace it every year or so.

Hand needles
Make it easy on yourself and buy an assortment pack of needles.  Most sewers find they latch onto one or two needles and stay with that one. 

Machine needles
Pick a universal needle to start.  This is the easiest selection and works on most fabrics.  When you see numbers on the needles they refer to the size of the needle.  For the most part, the top number is the European measurement while the bottom number is the American measurement.  The smaller the number the finer the needle.  Don't be fooled some needles have the European number on the bottom.  The best rule of thumb is the American scale goes from 8 to 19 whereas the European scale goes from 60 to 120.   

Seam ripper
Everyone makes mistakes now and then so the seam ripper becomes your best friend.  Find out that you think will be easy for you to handle and go with that.

Thread
Remember when picking a thread you want only the best.  Cotton wrapped polyester is the most common type of thread.  This works for most sewing projects.  When selecting thread look for a smooth finish if it is not smooth it may have weak spots and it will not be consistent when you stitich it out.

Fabric marking pens
This is for marking seam allowances, darts, or where you will place a pocket or applique.  Don't worry though these marking will wear or wash out so they won't be seen on your final product.

Straight pins
All purpose pins are made of stainless steel that is rust proof.  They come with different heads such as plastic, glass, flat or round.  Like the hand needles, this is merely a matter of preference.  For most sewers, they chose their straight pins based on the ones that they can see the best.

Rotary cutter
This tool is used to cut fabrics for quilts and crafts.  Several layers of material can be but at the same time making it easy to cut out a lot of the same designs quickly.  Most have retractable blades that can be locked to avoid injuries.  With a rotary cutter, make sure to also buy a clear ruler or square and a self healing mat.

Some sewers put these items all in a basket but we prefer a desktop organizer that is close to the machine.  Just have fun with the gathering process and it will feel like the first day of school. 

Tutorial Tuesday: Meet Sniffles

Tutorial Tuesday:  Meet Sniffles

Spend an hour to make Sniffles and enjoy getting a giggle out of people
when they ask you for a Kleenex.

What you need

Outer Fabric (1/4 yard)
Lining Fabric (1/4 yard)
Fabric Scraps for facial features (eyes, nose, mouth)
Wonder Under fusible interfacing
Thread
Sewing Machine
Iron
Cutting Mat
Ruler
Rotary cutter
Scissors
Pins
Pocket Tissue
(Walmart has really funny ones right now - ours says "We find this humerus" with a picture of arm bone)

Step 1
Cut outer (fabric A) and lining (fabric B) fabrics to 6" x 7 1/2" using the rotary cutter, cutting mat, and ruler.   Using pattern pieces in the .pdf cut out facial features out of corresponding fabrics.   

Step 2
Following directions on the package, apply wonder under to wrong side of one of the nose pieces.  With wrong sides together fuse both nose pieces together. 


 
 Step 3
Apply wonder under to wrong side of the eyes, pupils and mouth pieces. 



Step 4
Fold fabric A lengthwise into thirds.  Position mouth and eye pieces as shown in photo, peel away backing for wonder under and fuse onto material.  Using your sewing machine, machine stitch the eyes, mouth and pupils for added security.






Step 5
Pin nose piece to fabric A right sides together and baste.  The nose piece will cover the eyes. With right sides together pin fabric
A and B.  Stitch around the edge leaving an opening for turning.  Clip excess nose fabric and corners and then turn and press.




Step 6
Turn right sides together (with face facing inward) and fold into thirds.  It will overlap slightly.  It is easier to for the nose to on the inside of the fold.

Step 7
Turn right sides out and reveal Sniffles! 
sew if the nose is tucked into the holder.  Stitch ends with a 1/4" seam allowance (we back-stitched here for added security). 

Tutorial Tuesday: Looks just like homemade garlic toast

It's hard to believe that another summer of carefree barbeques, swimming and camping trips is almost history.  In fact, just yesterday, we saw a tree who leaves looked a lot more yellow than green. Here in sunny Denver, Colorado, fall is on the way.  This week's tutorial is a quick cooking idea to use up any extra hot dogs buns you may have lying around after a weekend barbeque or camping trip.
 

Quick "Homemade" Garlic Toast
(See that embroidery!  We did that!  Embroidery services start as low as $5!) 

Looks Just like Homemade Garlic Toast
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp. garlic powder
leftover hot dog buns
about 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
cooking spray

 

Time:  30 minutes

1.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.   Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray.
3.  Separate the hot dog buns at the seam making two breadstick shaped pieces of bread.
4.   In a small mixing bowl, add butter.  If you use stick butter, make sure it is softened.  Add garlic powder and whip with a spoon until fully mixed.
5.  Spread garlic butter mixture liberally on the top of the buns.
6.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Place as close to the coils as possible. Even if that means raising your oven shelf.
7.  Remove from oven.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and return to oven for 7-10 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
8.  Allow to cool and enjoy!

Tutorial Tuesday: Sweet Potato S'mores Bars

In honor of National S'mores Day on August 10, we created this interesting take on a s'more with an unusual ingredient, sweet potatoes.  S'mores go hand and hand with summer campfires and childhood memories.  Legend states that Alec Barnum, an entrepreneur, is first credited with creating the traditional dessert of a melted marshmallow sandwiched between a slice of chocolate and graham crackers (1).  In 1927, the first official recipe for S'mores was included in the Girl Scout's Cookbook.  Since then, variations of this recipe have been included in American camping vacations for generations.   

Sweet Potato S'mores Bars

Time required:  45 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1 bag mini marshmallows
Large sweet potato
2 Hershey chocolate bars (I used one king size and regular sized)
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
4 cups golden grahams







1.   Peel and chop the sweet potato into squares.  Cook the sweet potato in boiling water about 10 minutes in a medium sized sauce pan until tender.
2.  Drain potatoes and return to saucepan or add to stand mixer.  Add pieces of the chocolate bar, brown sugar and milk.  Mix with a potato masher, back of fork or the stand mixer.  Set aside.
3.  Melt the butter and mini marshmallows in a medium sized sauce pan.  Once melted, remove from heat.
4.  Add the sweet potato mixture to the butter and mini marshmallow mixture.
4.  Add the cereal and mix to coat.  Using a buttered spatula transfer the cereal mixture to into a 9 x 13"-inch pan coated with cooking spray. 



Why the sweet potato? Sweet potato is an excellent source of Vitamin A, which works as an antioxidant, is essential to sight, and matures cells into specialized workhorses. 

Newer research suggests that like Vitamin E and C, Vitamin A also works as a powerful antioxidant (2).   Antioxidants protect against the natural process of oxidation.  Oxidation is when oxygen intermingles with the environment such as when an apple turns brown or a copper penny turns green (3).   In the body, oxidation produces substances called free radicals.  Because free radicals contain only a single electron, they are extremely unstable and want to react with everything they come in contact with trying to "steal" an electron.  "When the "attacked" molecule loses its electron, it becomes a free radical itself, beginning a chain reaction. Once the process is started, it can cascade, finally resulting in the disruption of a living cell" (4). 



The human body's ability to distinguish the subtle color changes in a marvelous sunrise, see in dim light and recover after bright flashes of all light are all thanks to Vitamin A.   When we ingest foods high in beta-carotene like sweet potatoes, it is converted into three forms of Vitamin A: retinol, retinal, and retinoic acid.  Retinol and retinal are responsible for vision, sexual reproduction, bone health and immune function.  Retinal combines with a protein, opsin, to make a substance called rhodopsin.  This compound is required for the eye to communicate with the brain.  When light hits the rod and cone cells of the retina, rhodopsin breaks apart making retinal and opsin again but also sends messages to the brain noting very subtle changes in the environment.  Retinal does get recycled and used again however some of the retinal is lost with every reaction.  The body then pulls more retinal from the bloodstream (2). 

Finally, Vitamin A helps determine whether an immature cell will become an intestinal cells versus a corneal cell of the eye or even more importantly a specialized immune system cells to fight off infections.  According to Janice Thompson, author of Nutrition: An Applied Approach, "when vitamin A levels are insufficient, these cells fail to differentiate appropriately, and we lose these functions" (2).  If your immune system function is low, this can lead to infections of the lungs, respiratory tract, vagina and eyes. 

Bibliography
1.  S'mores. 2013. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%27more
2.  Thompson, Janice and Melinda Manore. Nutrition: An Applied Approach . San Francisco : Pearson Education , 2012.

3.  "What is Oxidation? ." 2003 . WiseGeek. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-oxidation.htm>.

 

4.  "Understanding Free Radicals and Antioxidants ." 2011. Health Check Systems. http://www.healthchecksystems.com/antioxid.htm.