How to Print on Fabric

by Nia Kelley-Jester

Materials Needed:

• Freezer Paper
• Laser or Ink Jet Printer – For this example, I used a Brother Laser printer and white muslin. Personally, I haven’t tried this process with an ink jet printer since I don’t own one, but it is reported to work. Disclaimer: Please test your materials.… Read the rest

Bali #3 Foreword

Markita loved to travel and to share her experiences. Even though she is no longer with us we wanted to share this post that she wrote for us.

Bali #3

by Markita Hall-Gumble

To recap, in July 2023 I visited Bali Indonesia for textiles.  This post is about a side trip organized as part of the Wacky Jacky Bali class. … Read the rest

Double Ikat Bali

by Markita Hall-Gumble

The last stop in Bali is the ancient village of Tenganan on the east side of the island of Bali.  The villagers are called Bali Aga or original Balinese.  To visit the village, you take a car to the outside gate of the village.  There is an entrance fee, which provides you with a local villager as a guide. … Read the rest

The World of Sewing Literature

The Dress Diary of Mrs. Anne Sykes

by Melanie Kindrachuk, Librarian & Sewist

If you are interested in history, clothing, textiles, and material culture, you’ll love this one. The author was given an unusual scrapbook, which was full of snippets of fabrics from across the lifetime of Mrs. Anne Sykes, stretching from her wedding day in 1838 onwards.… Read the rest

Quilted Jacket Class

by Sally-Ann Flak

What are some of the hottest fashion trends that we as sewists can readily join in?  One fashion staple that has been gaining popularity for the last few years has been quilted garments, in particular, quilted coats and jackets.  Many of the most popular Indie designers and even the big 5 pattern companies have been showcasing patterns that are available and appropriate for the creation of quilted coats. … Read the rest

Boott Cotton Mill Museum

by Markita Hall-Gumble

In June 2023, PatternReview.com held their in person event in Lowell Massachusetts.  Besides getting together with the sewing tribe, we visited the Boott Cotton Mill Museum and the New England Quilt Museum.

The Boott Museum is part of the National Park Service and is so worth a visit, as it documents an important part of textile history in America.… Read the rest

Santa Embroidery on Velvet

by Jane Dempsey

I saw this Santa Design on Facebook and fell in love.  I have never embroidered on velvet, and it has 83,000 stitches.  But the design went on sale, so I bought it.

Prep Work

  1. As with all Embroidery Library designs, it is very dense, so I used my embroidery software to reduce the density. 
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State Fair Contests – What is the Competition?

Last August, I covered the ASG members’ winning entries at the State Fair. This month, I thought that you might like to see other entries that won ribbons in the same categories, as well as some entries in other sewing-related contests.

Marie Barrese and I made a trip to the Fair to take pictures of items in the cases at the Creative Arts building.… Read the rest

Textiles and Travel – Kogin

by Markita Hall-Gumble

Welcome to my mini blog on my travels
which almost always include textiles
in some way.  I am Markita and I love
traveling the world while learning about
and collecting textiles.  This will be a
fairly regular blog although not in any
specific order of time or textile type.

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What Sewing Machine Should I Buy?

Debbie Ramseyer told me that she belongs to a facebook group for sewists and a newbie asked the question, “What Sewing Machine should I buy?” Debbie responded with the following list of questions:

Look at this the same way you would if buying a car.

1. First, and most importantly, what is your budget?

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Learning Batik in Bali

by Markita Hall-Gumble

I spent almost 4 weeks in Bali.  I had so many textile experiences while there, including 3 different batik classes. First, what is batik?  In a simple answer, batik is a form of printing on fabric using wax as a resist.  Batik has a rich history and it’s origins are over 2000 years old. 

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