QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Hi Everyone

Happy Wednesday!

I hope you have all had a good day.

Lots done at this end .. .. but sadly no "white card Wednesday" make. 

Time has got the better of me today .. .. and the house looks like a whirlwind has passed through it. Wedding work lined up in one room, magazine commission aftermath in another two, boxes stacked ready for sorting in another!!  Poor Mr Heart.  He must wonder what he is going to come home to at the end of each day! LOL!!

So as I have a few questions on my list that folks have asked me I thought I would get those crossed off my list and answered here.

Today I chose just to answer the ones relating to the stitching I do on my cards.

1.  How come my stitching always finishes exactly in a corner?

It doesn't always finish in a corner .. .. if it does it is more luck than judgement.  When it doesn't, then I simply lift the foot of my machine to release the pressure and move my card slightly, wind the needle back into my work by hand (so I still have chance to move it again if the needle isn't going where I want to) and all being well I am somewhere near the corner.  But if I'm not then it isn't the end of the world.

As my Mum always says "A blind man would be pleased to see it"!

2.  How do I manage to sew so straight?

There are marks on the feet of my sewing machine and I line the edge of my card with those "by eye".  A lot of it is practise though .. .. I have been machine stitching since I was around 8 years of age .. .. but on fabric .. .. not cards until the last five years or so.  No card seems right without some stitching on now.

Truth be told I wish I could sew "wonky".  I love the look where folks have two lines of stitching that wave around and cross over each other.

3.  Don't I worry about all the glue and sticky tape working its way into my machine?

No, because I don't have any glue or tape anywhere near where I am sewing.  I put a tiny bit of snail glue into the centre of the top layer of card and this holds everything in place whilst I sew around the edges.  

The very first time I stitched on a card I made the mistake of sticking my top layer down first with double sided tape .. .. never again.  It took ages to remove all the gunk from the needle and bobbin case.

4.  Has your bobbin ever ran out part way through a card?

LOL!!  Yes, many, many times.  I try to remember to check before I start every sewing session, but sometimes I just get carried away and end up with a line of holes with no thread in them.  It isn't the end of the world though.  I just fill my bobbin again, go back to where the stitching stopped and start again.  

I make sure I am starting in the last hole that has thread in, then wind the machine by hand and stitch with that, rather than using the foot pedal.  That way I can make sure the needle goes into each of the threadless holes I made the first time.  Once I have ran out of bare holes I then revert to the foot pedal.

5.  What do I do with all the threads as I finish?

I pull the threads to the back of my work and simply tape them down with sellotape.  I don't tie them off or stitch them in by hand (life's too short for that)!

6.  Could I do a video showing how I stitch on my cards?

That would be a "very unlikely"! 

I went to a seminar earlier this year on "Filming DIY Craft Videos" .. .. I just never knew how much time, effort and expense is involved if you want to do this .. .. even at a semi professional level. Major respect from me every time I watch one now!!

So there we go.

Some questions crossed off my list. Yay!!!

Hopefully I have covered everything everyone wanted to know about my stitching compulsion!!

Enjoy what is left of your evening and I will catch you again tomorrow .. .. hopefully.

Sorry about the lack of pictures!

Love Jules xx