Blog
Welcome to the DravonWorks sewing blog! Here you’ll find lots of sewing information. I’m one of the “technical” people, who likes to know the why’s of things. In my mind, once a Why is understood then the information can be applied in a myriad of different ways! You won’t find a whole lot of “make this item” tutorials, but you will find answers to questions like “why should I thread my machine like that versus like this?” or “do I REALLY have to do it this way?” Most of these posts are coming from questions asked by students in my classes, but if YOU have a question you’d like answered then please feel free to comment.
I know that understanding the technical stuff behind what is going on doesn’t work for everyone, but that’s why there are so many great sewing blogs out there! Find the teacher that speaks to you, and I’d love to be one of them. If you do like what you read here, be sure to share, subscribe and visit back often! Tell your friends about this sewing blog! Ask questions, share your projects or stories. Sewing is most fun when it’s a community of people sharing what inspires them. I really want to hear from you!
Art Quilt Gift Now Has Forests
The Art Quilt gift is coming along nicely. It features mountains in the distance with trees on them. I tried using my HV 6D embroidery software’s photostitch capability to embroider the trees. Since I wanted them to stand out, I did not want to embroider them directly to the quilt. While the concept ultimately worked out, this particular iteration was a complete failure. The forests looked more like heavy duty patches and they were ugly. I was disappointed and nearly ready to burst into tears when Jane gave me another suggestion. She...
read moreSample Board Teaching: Bias Tape versus non-Bias Tape
I teach a class called Sewing 101. In that class I spend 3 hours in an interactive lecture format giving students all the nitty gritty on the lingo of sewing. For example: What is bias, and why do I care? Clearly, there are a lot more things we talk about, but anatomy of fabric is a big one. I’ll admit this. I had been sewing for almost 15 years before I finally ran across a description of what the bias concept was in a way that I understood. From those who’ve taken my class, my personal experience is hardly unique. There are a...
read moreSample Board: Pre-Washing Example
Since I started teaching, I created a board which I’ve been adding all kinds of samples to so that when I’m talking about something in class I can immediately point to it. Many of the samples are visuals only, but some are meant to be hands-on. For this series of “Sample Board” posts, I’m going to go through a single sample and briefly talk about it. If it’s a hands on sample, I’ll probably make a little video for it. First up: is it really important to wash my fabric before I start sewing with...
read moreThe Good and the Bad of MEA (machine embroidered applique)
In my last post, I talked about my favorite scissors for use with machine embroidered applique and specifically why I liked them so much. As promised, I found a couple of examples to illustrate what I was talking about in terms of the importance of being able to trim really close to the tack-down line. It doesn’t take a particularly sharp eye to spot why this is my “Bad Example” picture. This is the OESD Haunted House, which was tons of fun and I really enjoyed making it, but I do wish I’d found those scissors prior to...
read moreMachine Embroidered Applique And The Scissors That Make It Easy
Anita Goodesign LOVES them some applique. In fact, I’d almost bet they have more applique designs than they have pure embroidery designs. Or not. What is machine applique? I get a lot of folks coming in who are surprised to learn that they can do applique using the embroidery side of their sewing machine. While the process is a bit different than doing it by hand or using the sewing side of a machine, it can certainly be done. A design which is nicely digitized will turn out gorgeous, but there is a trick to the end result. That trick...
read moreWorking with Wash Away Embroidery Stabilizer
Oh boy was THIS a busy weekend!! I got an entire 16th century German pant set blocked and patterned, incorporating our discussed ideas which have sat unused in my brain for the last 5+ years. The hubby tried it out and said they were the most comfortable pants he’s worn, plus he was able to do every single German Long Sword pose taken in the Meyer training manual … all without ripping open his pants. Every other pair of pants he’s had, he’s blown the crotch out because of the period sword work. Very excited to see how...
read moreSamples from the Workplace – various Embroidered things
There are times when I envy a man’s ability to focus on just one thing until that one thing is done. I certainly do not have it. Well, technically it’s definitely something I’m capable of but it does take a tremendous amount of energy. With that said, here’s the “I’m scattered enough to have 3 different work-intensive samples going on at the same time, and none of them are done…” story. Last week I just finished up the samples for our April Anita Goodesign Project Workshop. The Quillow is a...
read moreClassroom and Work Samples
Maybe it’s just me, but I actually stress about what I can post. I get frustrated because I don’t have much time to do work at home. A few days ago I’m thinking about this conundrum as I’m putting the finishing touches on an Anita Goodesign embroidered placemat for a May workshop when it suddenly hit me: I make all kinds of stuff for work. Who says I can’t post that? The classroom that I teach in at The Sewing Café had largely blank walls. The owner wanted to cover the walls with quilts, but we’re not a...
read moreArt Quilt Gift now underway!
I know this is a gift, but I wanted to post the status of it and how I’m going about it. That way I’ll have less to do or remember for the post mortem. Because this is a gift, I’m deliberately choosing just pieces of the whole quilt to show the process that I’m undertaking but I can’t exactly show what I’m doing in too much detail. The first step had been to create the artwork concept. From there, I had to scale it waaaaay up. I did the grid method and was originally trying to redraw it. Blah. Way too hard....
read moreStage Presence – a real thing!!
Today was a very busy day … just not at the sewing machine! I downloaded the video that I took at SewFest. Egad! I have never before been in front of camera, and it shows. Good to know. That is not something that I had thought of, obviously. Tonight, after experimenting with some more stitches, I set up the video camera and just practiced saying hello without getting all weird. By the end of just a couple of minutes, it was much better. The goal for tomorrow is to do some research and examine the stage presence of some of the...
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