EXCITING NEWS!!! JANOME CANADA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SEW4HOME

We are thrilled to announce that we will be working closely with our friends at Sew4Home.  Not heard of sew4Home before today? Mmmm…..then maybe you are new to Janome or Janome Life blog? We have had close ties with S4H in the past and have linked to various projects on the www.sew4home.com website many times over the years that we have been publishing posts on this janomelife blog. Sew4Home (S4H) offers top quality, extremely well designed projects , excellent information on sewing techniques and lots more. Their sewing is all done on Janome machines and sergers.  Their projects inspire us and make us want to run to our sewing machines. And this applies to everyone from beginers to advanced sewists – there is something for everyone. 

Pic courtesy of sew4home. Use your circular atatchment to embellish hot mats or mini oven or microwave mits

pic courtesy of sew4home

Starting this month, we will be offering you ongoing top notch content from Sew4Home right here on Janomelife and on our Janome Canada website. There will be Monthly Mini Sewing tips;  Featured project tutorials,  specialized content paired to Janome machines; exclusive Projects; custom embroidery designs and more.  Just wait till you see what we have lined up for you! Liz Johnson and her team at S4H have come up with fabulous content exclusively for Janome Canada.

If you have not already subscribed to Janome Life, then we strongly suggest you do so now so that you do not miss a single post that we have to offer you! ( Just type your email address in the FOLLOW box on the right of the screen). 

If you have not already seen this, there is a FREE embroidery design over on sew4home.com to download and embroider. But hurry as the free offer is only until 10th May.  It is a patch to embroider called Sewing Survival Machine Embroidery Patch. 

Today we offer you the first of our Monthly Mini Sewing tips:

Fussy Cutting with Sew4Home

Note how the motif is centered on the table runner as well as on the duffle bag opposite; the apron takes advantage of a large motif to create a trio of focal points across the front; the baskets, neck pillow, and oven mitt are all cut to feature specific accent designs.

Showcasing a fabric’s design brings out its depth and interest. It can turn a run-of-the-mill fabric and/or project into an eye-catching stunner.

There’s something about the word fussy that sounds negative. We assume it means someone or something is being difficult, like a toddler turning up her nose at broccoli. But in the world of sewing, fussy can be a compliment and a fussy cut is a beautiful thing.

When you spot something within a fabric’s motif and decide to cut it in a way that will precisely capture a specific section for a specific purpose, that’s called fussy cutting. This includes when you meticulously line up a fabric’s pattern so you don’t see a seam, maintain a fabric’s print around a shape, or cut and re-sew pieces of fabric to create a “new” print. This perfect placement is often what creates the “WOW” factor in a project.

One of the easiest ways to plan a fussy cut is to use a “window.” A gridded, see-through ruler can create a window.

You can also purchase ready-made fussy cutting templates in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Or make your own with template plastic. As shown below, blacking out the area around the window can help keep you from getting distracted by surrounding motifs.

Semi-transparent pattern paper or tissue paper is a good option when you want to trace a design for motif matching.

If you are centering a design within a specific pattern piece or shape, don’t forget to account for the seam allowances you may need on one or more sides.

For more information about fussy cutting in general as well as appliqué cutting in particular, check out the full Fussy Cutting tutorial at Sew4Home.

A finished fussy cut appliqué, such as the one shown above, can be added to a plain sweatshirt, an apron bib or a simple tote bag to add both interest and dimension.

This technique was used to add a feature floral to the front of the Sew4Home Maker’s Apron. The image below shows the motif being placed into position on the apron’s bib pocket and next to that, the full bib on the finished apron.

There is also a second full tutorial at Sew4Home on How To Perfectly Match a Pocket to a Background Panel.

Get ready to take your next project to the next level with fussy cutting!

By: Liz Johnson, Senior Editor, Sew4Home – a Janome Exclusive Studio