NSC LIVE! August 2018

Hey everyone and welcome to this month's live event for National Sewing Circle. We're changing it up a little bit. We are. We're at Minnesota headquarters on a brand new set. We're excited to show it off. And so we are going do our live event from here, today. And we also have some other fun things, we just launched a new 10 pattern bundle set and we are going to highlight a portion of one of those patterns today and show you how to put that together. And if you click the link below, there's a banner right under this video and put in the code, ashley60 you can get 60% off that 10 pattern bundle. Which is perfect. Yeah. So the pattern that we're going to talk a little bit about is the reversible placemat pattern, and I'm gonna show just sort of one little section of it and kind of show you how that goes together. So, obviously when you get that pattern bundle and get that pattern, you will get pattern pieces and you'll need to cut them out. And this is sort of a fun crossover, sewing quilting kind of technique because we're using quilt and seam allowances which is not something that's generally used with sewing. You usually use half inch or five, eight so that's kind of fun. Getting in a new technique in there. Yes . And your pattern pieces are numbered and labeled. So they're numbered one through five and labeled with ABCD and that tells you what size you're gonna put together. So it's kinda like a puzzle, you're gonna take pieces one and two and match up sides A. So I'm going to match them up. And if you look at just your pattern pieces next to each other, they're not gonna look like they're gonna line up, but they will once you actually sew them and press them apart. So you're gonna take your pieces, still like with any other sewing, you're gonna line them, right sides together. So I have my pieces here, line them, right sides up. And what you're gonna find is that you have little tiny dog ears that stick out on either side. So it's not gonna line up perfectly. Which throws you off a little bit, I know. But you just need to center that piece on each other. I'm gonna go ahead and put pins in just because I don't want anything to move. I always put pins in. Do you? Yeah. Yeah. I'm a pinner. Otherwise I feel like I'm out of control . Exactly, I don't want it to shift. If it shifts, then you have to start over and you have to rip it out. So once it's stitch, you can go ahead and take it over to your machine and stitch it. We're going to stitch it on a quarter-inch seam allowance. So I have a quarter-inch foot on my machine because that makes it easier to line it up. If you don't have one you can adjust your needle position using your regular presser foot, to make sure that you're at a quarter inch removing my pins as I get to them so I don't sew over them. And then this fancy machine cuts the threads for me. Oh my God, to go. And then you get to press it, so- Oh my gosh, I'm the presser today. When you're pressing it it doesn't matter if you press your seams open, if you press them to one side, you can pick. What do you prefer? I would press towards maybe the floral side. So if you have a fabric that is a little bit darker than one of the other I would recommend pressing it to the darker side just so you don't see it. So these are our two A sides of piece one and two and they're coming together and she's a pro, she pressed from the back first, make sure that the seam allowance goes the direction you want it to, then go ahead and press it from the right side to make sure everything lays flat. All right. So now, once you have those two pieces together and see how they fit together and now the B side of your pieces one and two line up perfectly with the B side of piece number three. So again I said those pieces may not look like they're coming together right away when you're just looking at your pieces of paper templates but they do fit together. So now we would just do the same thing. You're gonna put your pieces one and two B side align with piece number three, B side and complete the puzzle. So we'll go ahead and just line this up. This time our dog ears are gonna be on the outside here and they're just going to overhang just slightly. So again, you're just sort of centering those pieces over one another, put some pins in and so. And so that is essentially how this pattern starts coming together. You're just following this pattern. So obviously, if anyone has questions about how this is coming together about the pattern bundle, about sewing in general- Or anything, yeah. Yes, we are ready. Start asking your questions. We have a few submitted so I'll read a few while we're still in that line down. Yeah. Our first question is from Diane, who asks, "Do you have any tips for using the machine blind stitch?" Sometimes when I hem, I find there are sections where the stitches did not catch the garment. So I end up hand stitching parts. Is there a technique I'm missing? I love your live events." Thank you, Diane. Well, thank you. I'm so glad that you like the live events. I'm just finishing up stitching here. I'm gonna clip the threads and hand it off to our master presser. And I do have tips for using that blind hem stitch. And that is to make sure that you are always using a blind hem foot when you're stitching that blind hem stitch. So your foot can look different depending on the brand and machine that you have. Generally, they will have some sort of fin down the middle of them. And you wanna make sure that that fin is always lined up with the fold of the fabric when you're stitching. So that we'll make sure that that little tiny stitch to the left will actually catch the fold of the fabric when you're stitching rather than missing it. So even if you get off just the tiniest a bit from that fin or guide on your foot, you're going to miss catching that. If you want to be on sort of the safe side with it and maybe take an extra large bite out of the fabric, when you're stitching that, make sure you have either a matching thread to whatever fabric you're using or invisible thread is awesome. So monochromatic is another word for it, it literally is invisible, it's clear. So it's gonna blend right into the fabric and we'll show up less on that stitching. So if you have to take even bigger stitches. Obviously you can go back and do a little hand stitch if you have to but it is kind of a bummer. Yeah, a little tedious. Yeah. All right, so we have our piece three. So now you can see, we had dog ears that stood out on either end, but as soon as you actually sew it and press it because the dog ears were coming out this way once we press this piece up, they line up perfectly. And so one little tip, I guess I'm putting this piece together is to have your puzzle laying out like all your pieces. is set up. Yeah, cause like right now you might look at this and think well, now I don't know where to go. 'Cause you have to have it like going in the right direction. So you know that this is now the C side and this is our PC. But it does all come together, it's pretty cool. Like a recipe, you should have everything read and written out and put out before a hem. Yes. Perfect. So I'm just gonna flip it around. So it's easier for me to put pins in. I'm gonna have you repress. Oh my gosh, I failed my second press. No, this is a really good tip, though. So one thing that can happen if you don't really pull apart that seam is you can have a little bit of an overlap. So if you can see right there, there's like a little bit where you could pull it apart further. Yeah. And press it. And so in some instances that wouldn't necessarily matter but with this, because you have such precisely cut pattern pieces that have to be at a certain size you have to make sure that you really pull it apart. But then I guess there is that fine line. Don't pull your fabric too much 'cause then you'll- Don't get aggressive. Don't manhandle the fabric. We're just pressing it, but perfect. All right, I'll do it over here on this side now. This is awesome. I think I should hire you to be- You just have a presser all the time. I need a presser at all times. If you have somebody that you can recruit to be your presser, I highly recommend that. Check that one out, how's it look? Awesome. A little better. Awesome, and now another thing too if you have to pull it apart further you can always finger press two before you actually press it with your iron. Okay, good, I'm gonna just line these up like so, and I'll put some pins in- Those pins. And stitch it. Okay, while it is complicated looking and putting it together, it is fairly forgiving too. So if you put it all together it should come out to, I forgot, I'd have to measure it, but it's a square, it comes out to a square. So if you have to trim it up afterwards, you can do that. All right. I'm gonna ask another question in here. Our question is from Theresa, who asks, "Do you have any tips on making stand-up colors?" Lots of stiff interfacing? I don't know what type exactly you're talking about but in order to make your color stand up you definitely wanna be using some sort of medium weight to have your weight fusible interfacing and that will help it stand up. When you are putting that in a collar, make sure that you are always clipping your corners or making sure that you fuse your interfacing within that seam allowance. So you don't have standup colors that have like a really bulky edges around with the seam allowances 'cause then it's not gonna look as good but definitely using that interfacing is going to help a lot. All right. Perfect. Get this one in place. It is a fancy sewing machine. It is a fancy sewing machine. Might be the fanciest one I've ever used, I don't know. Me too, I still want my grandma's really old like 60s, 70s, Kenmore sewing machines from Sears. That's perfect- So it definitely does not cut the thread for me. Mine doesn't either. Well, it does still have the thread cutter on the side that a lot of them have, but I mean, this has a lot of features that I may never actually even learn how to use but it's one of those ones where I used the manual before I even like tried it on. Try and use all of the little accoutrements of, yeah. Yep, okay, so I'm just gonna show a tip on finger pressing. So this is something that is more done in quilting, I suppose, than it is in sewing. But if you have a cotton that takes well two finger pressing, you can just take and press it with your fingers, first, always starting from the center and working out that way. If you try to go from one side and bring it in- Yeah, it is angles. Yeah, so finger pressing is always a good thing to try first if you need it to make sure it's extra pressed right along that seam line. Should I press it this way towards the dark fabric? No, that would be- Lemmi match it this way- Match it that way, yep. Can I break, can I bring hands right there and show you, is this pretty cool? So it's kinda kinda tell you which direction it wants to be pressed. Because this one's already going that way it would be kind of hard to try and press the extra block that way. So I kind of let the fabric decide sometimes which way it wants to go. Good thing I asked a little tip in there. Mmh, perfect. And while I press this, I'll ask another question and Naomi asks, "How do you sew French seams at corner points by inseam pockets?" Okay. That sounds complicated . If you're doing a French seam you're normally gonna be starting with your fabric wrong sides together and then sewing it at your three-inch seam allowance trimming it down, then flipping it so they're right sides together and sewing again at your eighth inch seam allowance or quarter-inch seam allowance to get whatever your overall seam allowance was. So that's how you sew your French seams. I'd have to actually think about the corner points. So you still be doing it the exact same way. You're still starting with your wrong size together, sewing it and then as you come around the corner you're still just going to trim your seam allowance and then clip that corner and then flip your fabric so it's right sides together. Go ahead and press that flap and then still just stitch your next seam allowance. So just clipping the corner, I think is the main thing so that way you don't have that extra bulk in the corner when you go to flip it. Now we have our last piece, piece D you can see that that lines up a little bit better now. So you will have this sort of, I call them dog ears. I'm not sure if there's a technical term for them that's what I've always called them. I the dog ears term. Yeah. So it's like a little triangle. If you want to take your scissors or pear rotor cutter or something, and just snip that off, you can do that or you can just leave it and it will press just fine. So as I've been laying these pieces on I've been removing the piece that's underneath and that's because in the pattern, you actually are making two of these little square sections to be on each side of the placemat. And if you cut your fabric when it's either right size together or wrong size together you're gonna get mirror images of each other. So you'll get the reverse. So you'll have one on one side and one looks the other way on their side. So that sort of a fun little way to do it. Yeah. If you're using fabric like my yellow or this color though it's- It's the same on both sides. So there is no real right or wrong side. It looks the same. Okay, I'll throw another question in here. Alright? Our question is from Georgina saying, "I'm learning and need to know how to alter blouses and tops. Jeans are too wide, thank you." So do you have any tips on altering clothing in general? Yes. So don't be afraid to take things apart. I think that the most nerve wracking thing when you're trying to do some sort of altering is that you have this like perfectly pre-made garment and you have to cut it apart 'cause there's only so much that you can either say, take in on the side and be able to do while keeping the garment intact. So I'm taking it apart. I don't know exactly what specific alterations you want to make. We do have a class on pattern alterations on the site and quite a few just videos on different areas. So whether you need a full bus adjustment, small bus adjustment, taking in the sides of a shirt I think even taking in sleeves we have videos and classes for all of that on the site. Some blogs about hemming jeans, cool, all sorts of stuff. And I think even in hemming jeans and how to keep the original hem, that kind of thing, all sorts of fun stuff. It seems you're gonna be know how to sew just a little bit there's several people in your life who wants you to have a pair of jeans for them. Yes. Or at least that's my experience. Yes, and even if you don't know you don't even know the person that you're hemming the genes for them, it's like hey, this person I know needs their jeans hemmed. So that's one thing that, I'm hemming jeans. If you're going to do that, real quick, I'm gonna finger press and then you'll get to press, like so I'm going to give it. A lot of people like to hem jeans and then keep the original hem just 'cause I know a lot of jeans, they come with sort of that worn look already on the bottom. Yeah, . Yeah, and so there is, I think we even, like I said I have a blog post maybe on that on how to keep the original hem which is something that I know a lot of people like to do. I don't personally like to do it. No, cause it has a tendency to, unless you're adding extra top stitching to it it kind of flares up a little bit. So it either needs lots of pressing, which I don't, we talked about this, I don't iron my clothes. See how I'm pressing . So I don't like to have to press that down. So I don't necessarily like to keep that original hand. But if you do that means you're sewing through even extra layers of denim. So you wanna make sure that you are using a heavyweight needle a GM's needle, you're using a heavier thread used to make sure that your machine's set up for doing that heavier stitching. I don't know how well this press was- Perfect, yes. And that's okay . It looks perfect. And so this is what one side is gonna look like. And then I mentioned if you have cut your fabric so that you have mirror images you can have one that looks like this or actually those are the same I just had it flipped around. But you'll have one that looks the exact opposite 'cause these pieces will be mirror images. And then you put your, we were calling these sort of a crazy piece sections. Yeah, you'll put two of them together on one side, frame hem out. You have two on the other side that are also framed out and then you make it into your reversible placemat. So you can make different colors on one side, different colors on the other side, that way you can change up if you need to, for your decor reasons. If you're feeling indecisive. Yes, so. I have a few questions we can answer quick in here. Our first one is from Sarah who asks, "Where can we get the pattern again?" And it's in the little banner below the video. And also if you put in the code, ashley60, you can get 60% off those 10 patterns. So make sure to click it. And our next question is from Elizabeth, who asks "Do you recommend pressing with steam or not?" I love steam, and I know some people don't. I am a steam person. I have to say, I know you may not have been able to hear it on this iron. Some irons, they automatically, if you get to a certain heat setting the steam automatically comes on and you can't turn the steam on or off. You have no control over it. Usually there's a little of- That's the thing. Oh, that's the water one. I don't know if you see, my body here but if you press the button and we'll get steam. I use steam a lot. You do? I do, yep. I think it gives you a nice crisp folds a nice crisp press. Obviously there are fabrics where you can't use steam when you shouldn't use steam. So know sort of what fabric you're using. What kind of fabrics do you not steam? Something that you can't use a really hot iron on or like a really- The velvet, I'm trying to think of like fuzzy ones. Yep, 'cause it'll ruin the nap of the fabric. So things like minky and stuff too you can't press, or you steam. Sometimes if you try and use a steam on a safe you're making like a formal dress or something like that like that will leave water or steam marks on that fabric, which I feel like a dry cleaner might not know how to get that out but you don't know how to get those marks out. I don't know how to get that either . If you're working with cotton fabric, you steam, I love steam. You steam, that's a recommendation. Yeah, perfect. All right. We're waiting for some more questions. Yes. So keep answering them in the chat below. Yes. Do you have any more tips on the pattern here? I do, okay. So when you are putting this together I mentioned that it is, I should measure it and see, it should come out to a square or rectangle. I think we are, all right, that's square. Yeah. Okay. So when you are putting this together if you are off just a little bit. So even when we were doing our pressing we had our little dog ears that I mentioned you could trim off, when you're done sewing. So I'm gonna bring this side in just to show right here, this one lines up absolutely perfect. Right? This one we're off just a tiny bit, but it's extra. So you can always turn that off. Yeah. The other thing that you can do is when you are aligning this with the piece that goes next to it is you can sort of like cheat the seam allowance a little bit. And so by that, I mean, we're just gonna pretend that these two pieces would get lined up right sides together. I can just line them up and sort of grade in that seamounts a little bit, so the seam allowance it will be a little shorter right there but it won't actually matter 'cause that won't be seen on the right side. Exactly. Yeah. So you have sort of your choice but just be consistent. So if you trim one down you need to trim them all down to the same size or if you're gonna leave them just kind of cheat that in a little bit. Do you like to trim with scissors or a rotary cutter? So I grew up I'll pick you on. I thought she had never used a rotary cutter. I should've had her use a rotary cutter. And I learned how to sew, my mom taught me to sew and it was garments and home decor and we always use scissors 'cause we were cutting out pattern pieces. And it wasn't until I started quilting that I got a mat and a ruler and a rotary cutter. the rotary cutter. Yes, but now I use it for everything. Oh! So I like- You're convert now. Mmh. So I definitely like to trim, especially something like this with a rotary cutter and a ruler, 'cause it's just really easy. I even liked to cut out pattern pieces using a rotary cutter. So as long as the pattern piece is big enough or I guess just to say small enough to fit on my mat to where I don't have to move it a lot I will use a rotary cutter and I'll use a smaller, so like an 18 or 28 millimeter. So the smaller the rotary cutter, the easier it is to do curves. Maneuver around, yeah. So wouldn't recommend they make like a 61 that's really big which is awesome for cutting through- If you're cutting a big stuff or like really thick things, yeah. But I wouldn't try and do a curve with, unless it's like a really big curve with a big one. Maybe. All right, we have some more questions coming in. Yeah. So this one is from Nana, who says "I'm back to sewing after many years and I have a problem with needles getting stuck in my fabric while I'm sewing. I did regular maintenance on my machine and change needles. It's sometimes sounds like the needle is hitting the metal guide under the needle. I've adjusted the tensions and it's a fairly new machine. Do you have any advice?" It's if actually hitting, there's gonna be a couple of things. So I don't know what you mean by guides, but if it hits the foot, you have the wrong foot for the stitch you're trying to do. If you take the foot off, you can see under here you have a throat plate, there are different openings on the throat plate. So this one is meant for zigzag stitching, buttonholes sort of an all purpose one. They do make a straight stitch through a plate. So rather than having that opening, it is gonna have this teeny tiny, a little hole right there on the throat point. And so if you try to use a different stitch or maybe even if you've adjusted your stitch position even just slightly to the right or left, it could be touching that. Those two things you can fix, you can change out your throat plate. You can move your needle position if it's actually hitting something underneath, which means if you actually take the throat plate off your machine, which I'm not about to try on this machine . Oh, this is a very fancy machine. So, but if you take this off, you have a bob and casing underneath. So you have a bobbin that fits in the bob and casing and it's what moves when you're sewing. And if it touching that, that is a timing issue and that means it needs to be like professionally fixed. I am not even sure how to fix timing on a machine. So that's- I don't either. I've never experienced that. I haven't either. So that's something where timing can get thrown off if you . So that would be a pin or a needle, or sometimes maybe you're sewing with like hemming jeans, like I mentioned and you're trying to go across a couple of layers and you just hit it hard and then just kind of like- Adjust the machine. Yep, and that throws your attention off. Another thing that could be is if your needle is getting stuck while you are sewing something heavy, so I'm gonna use my jeans example again. Well, sometimes it seems in there too are super thick. Yes, and if you're using a needle that is too lightweight or too small, it doesn't make a big enough hole for it and the thread to go through and then it does kind of get stuck and it really has to work to pull it out. So make sure you're using the correct needle for your fabric too. So try changing your needle and fabric combo first check your throat plate, check your presser foot. If all those fail, it might need a professional. All right. Well, we got three tips to go to before- Yes, hopefully one of those works. Our next question is from Sheila who asks, "What's the best thread to use for hand embroidery?" Hand embroidery thread. There are a lots of... If you ever are unsure about the type of thread to use you can go and they are- Pretty much labeled. Yes, so there's hand quilting, there's quilting, there's embroidery there's hand sewing thread obviously just all purpose sewing thread. So for hand embroidery, I'm gonna assume you want something that you wanna see. So you want really bright colors, like maybe that little to it. Violent. Yeah, so a rayon thread has a little bit of a shine to it, which looks really pretty. It also tends to not knot up like when you're sewing as much as it doesn't tangle as much. So I really like a rayon thread. I probably would avoid just all purpose cotton 'cause it's just not just as pretty. It's not, it doesn't have that shine . I like the rayon thread. And it usually says hand embroidery like a rayon or little spot, it's perfect. Well, there you go. Labeled well. All right, our next question is from Trisha who asks "What tools do you need to cut and make leather garments?" Tricky- Yes. So my favorite tool when I'm sewing a leather is I use things that don't usually have in my sewing room. So because you can't press leather or vinyl I mean sometimes if it is a 100% real leather sure, you can press it. Yeah. It's gonna smell weird. I don't know, I don't like it. It feels weird even before you press it. So I like to finger press with leather. You're gonna fold it over and then I actually, have my rolling pin. Oh! Down in my sewing room. Oh, that's a good idea. 'Cause I don't beg, it goes in my sewing room. It was for leather. Yes. So you need to just apply pressure. So they do make specialty tools for working with leather that are rollers or there is something that you can put on there and you have to pound it out and that works. So those are sort of the oddball things. Aside from that you're gonna need a leather needle specifically. Yeah, probably something very heavy duty. And so the heavy duty needle is sort of shaped the exact same way that a all purpose needle is but a leather one is more of like this wedge. And so it makes sure that it really is making a big enough hole in your fabric that that thread can go through too. It can actually go in and out. And so you don't, Amelle adjust your machine. Exactly, throw off our attention. Yes, so you're gonna need that leather needle. You would probably want some thicker thread to some heavier threads. So either a heavier weight thread or just switch to top stitching thread which is already have your weight thread. And then in terms of when you're actually sewing it you want to adjust your stitch length. So general stitch length is a 2.5 millimeter. I would put that up to a three or a 3.5 just because you want it to look nicer too on whether you're generally doing some top stitching so that makes the stitching look really nice. Plus like you're making like perforations like little, teeny, tiny holes in the leather which don't come out by the way. And you can see it much more clearly in leather. It leaves a wide open hole. Yeah, and if you don't space them out a little more you can essentially like perforate it too much and it's gonna start falling apart. So you want to lengthen that stitch length. So those are the basic things to get you into leather. All right, good luck with your leather. Yes. Our next question is from Brittany who asks "How difficult is it to sew a zipper for a leather purse?" Another leather-related question. Which shouldn't be any more difficult than sewing any other leather project, because rather than having to sew, say two pieces of leather together you're sewing a zipper tape into leather . So the hard parts are gonna be the ends. So at the beginning and end so I definitely recommend putting in zipper tabs. So what that is gonna be is two little squares of leather at the end of the zippers. So that way that can get stitched to say the front and back or whatever you're sewing. And we have plenty of videos on the site on how to do zipper tabs. Also zipper tabs are shown in a video specifically on how to lengthen or shorten the zipper which is a really good one. So definitely a zipper tab. But other than that, it should be fairly straightforward. Use a heavy duty or needle. Yes. Yep. All right . "Hi, I'm loving the show tips for turning a pair of jeans into a skirt." Ooh. Ooh. So I know I've seen this a lot on Pinterest, so I know you - I know the vibe, I can see it in my head. So the main thing I think you really just have to take out the inseam of jeans. You're can take out both of the inseams and you're gonna press that as flat as possible. And then you can essentially sew those back together and that turns into a skirt it's gonna be kind of a- Probably a fin or like, is that an A line skirt? Yep, it's not gonna be like too much. So if you do need to add an insert you can sort of make a panel skirt which we have a video for that too. I had to make a panel skirt. And if you don't want the look of how it's gonna come across, from like the crap seam down, so that's gonna cause the angle. If you don't want that look you can sort of just cut from right below the zipper out and then insert another panel of denim or if you want some sort of insert. Maybe floral. But really just the taking up the inseams and then sewing it back together. Like we said before don't be afraid to take apart your clothes. I mean, if you know how to sew even if you aren't like super advanced in sewing if you take something apart you can put it pretty much right back together. So don't be afraid. Yeah. All right. Our next question is from Natasha, who asks "How can I make a proper buttonhole?" Well, that depends on the type of buttonholed that you're making. So if you have say a fancier machine a lot of times they just kind of do them for you. So there is- Oh my gosh. I don't even know how many this one has. Usually they have between six and eight different automatic button holes on the machine. And so- So then does it just like you put it in and it just does it for you. Yes, there's actually- I can imagine that this isn't very new to me. On some of the machines, there'll be a foot where you can actually clip your button into. So that's how it knows what size of buttonhole to make. And then you hit go and it's going to stitch the one side of a buttonhole, then it consist of the bartek at the bottom go up the other side and bartek at the top. So if you don't have a machine that will do that you can still manually stitch a button hole which I'm pretty sure for the first 10 years of sewing is the only way I knew that you could stick to a button hole. So you're just going to measure your button give yourself about an eighth of an inch wiggle room on the top and bottom in terms of height. Go ahead and just draw your line on your fabric . There's a zigzag stitch. So a satin stitch down one side, you're going to keep the stitch length very narrow, but move the stitch with the part to go ahead and stitch the bottom, put it back and then go up and then go across the top and then just cut it apart. So even if your machine can't do the buttonhole- Automatically. Yeah, yeah. One random little note about buttonholes is that button hole shapes different depending on the type of fabric you're sewing on. So if you're doing say a men's shirt, right? So they are just standard rectangular, boring button holes. Not very exciting . But they do make different shapes. So if you're sewing, maybe a lightweight like lace blouse or something, they make teardrop size buttonholes or ones that are a little oval at the bottom that will culminate smaller buttons or shank buttons or things like that. So I'm sure if we don't have one and maybe I'll put one together for something for the site where if you're using this fabric you wanna make this type of buttonhole 'cause there are so many and you might look at your manual and see that there's eight to 12 different buttonholes. How do you know which one to use? Exactly, yeah, yep, perfect. All right. All about buttonholes. Our next question is from Debbie who asks "What brand of sewing machine are you using?" This is a Pfaff. So it's a brand new Pfaff performance icon, it is probably the fanciest machine I've ever like, just even been close enough to. It is very nice. So definitely has a lot of features lots of fun features to use, but I just wanted to point out you don't have to have top of the line machines. Obviously they are amazing. And any time you get the chance to use them do but you can do buttonholes, sewing with leather all those kinds of things with just your basic machine as well. I do feel like getting a fall off. They are pretty impressive. It plays a little song when you turn it on. Yeah it does, it seems to, who doesn't love that? All right, our next question is a bit more of a quilting question but this is sort of in the quilting family. So we'll throw it out there. Sandra asks, "When choosing fabrics for a log cabin echos quilt block, I think it's called or she says, she thinks it's called that. It's my first time starting a quilt. One half of the block is light colors and the other half is dark colors. Are they supposed to graduate out towards darker or does it matter?" That is personal preference. So if you're not familiar with a log cabin block we're gonna pretend. So obviously it's a block, it's a square and we're gonna start with a little square in the middle and then you do a little strip on one side and around and around and around. And you keep building your log cabin block as you go around. As you're doing it, this half over here is going to be dark and dark, and then you have light and light. So it doesn't matter if you want it to start with very light and go out in tone, you can do that or you can go with the opposite or people make scrappy log cabin. There's so many varieties of log cabin quilt. I've seen so many. Yeah, it's kind of one of those blocks that have been around forever. So you can kind of do what you want. One little tip that I actually saw from a friend of mine is if you really do want to make sure that in terms of color and tone, that you are going from light to dark, rather than looking at the colors, 'cause they can be deceiving. They can be it's true. Take a picture of it in black and white and make sure that your tones go from like white out to darker, no matter what the color is. But be able to see it much better in working with. Yeah, so fun little tip there. That's a good idea. Using the black- On that same, have you ever seen those quilting glasses where it makes everything red? Yes, same kind of a thing. Yeah. But if you can get those online I know you can, but yeah, sort of the same thing. It lets you evaluate the tone of- See it more clearly without being deceived by the color. Mhh, yes. All right, our next question is from Michelle who asks, "How can I prevent wavy borders?" Pressing. Pressing. Yes. Making sure- Make yourself a professional pressure. I don't know if I would consider myself a professional presser. She's a professional presser in training. I like it, okay. Definitely in terms of, if pressings, make sure also your borders making sure that they are cut to the exact length that you need them to. So I know a lot of times if you are following a pattern and we're gonna pretend this is our finished quilts and it is, what is that? Almost nine inches. Sure. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, eight and three quarters. So we'll say our block finished at eight and three quarters and it was supposed to be nine. And the pattern tells us to cut a border that is nine or vice versa. If this was supposed to finish at eight and a half and the pattern says cut eight and a half and we try to make it fit onto the block, that's gonna make it either too big or too little and so it's gonna be wavy. Even if we can ease it in when we're pinning and stitching it can still be wavy at the end. So I recommend always re-evaluating how long you cut your borders. Yeah. So this is your finished quilts. Before you cut your border, you're gonna measure across your quilt, whichever side you're putting your border on and cut it accordingly. So, I think we have a video for that. I'm sure we do. It's on the sister site, national culture circles. Oh yeah. And it's on how to measure and attach your borders. And it does show how to adjust your border size for whatever size you're finished quilt turned out to be. All right. We have a question from Nicole who just came in late and ask what you had been working on. So you want to reiterate what we were doing here before. Yeah, so this is a portion of the pattern that is the reversible placemat. So this is just one small section of it. And that pattern is part of the new 10 pattern bundles that we just released. She's gonna tell you more about it. Yes, and there's a little banner right below this video. If you click on it it'll take you to where you can get the bundle. And if you put in the code ashley60, you'll get 60% off on the 10 patterns. Yes. So I'll be sure to check that out. Yes. All right, our next question is from Francis, who asks "When you tear your fabric and find a straight grain do you cut it afterwards to get rid of all the loose threads? If so, how much do you cut it?" So this is gonna be another one of those personal preference things 'cause I don't know that I've ever really torn the fabric. And for that reason specifically, when you're gonna tear your fabric, you're going to make a little snip in the fabric and then you're just gonna tear it. So inevitably there'll be those threads. You can, we'll just say that we tore this. And you see all these little threads right here. You could just take your ruler, lay it right along here and just trim off just these tiny little threads. Or if you're not worried about getting rid of some of the extra fabric, you could come back in an eighth of an inch or so, and do that. One way to do it, I think it takes a little bit longer to actually find the fabric green, but you can sort of pick at the threads until you find just one thread that's woven through your fabric and then you can just pull it off. Ooh really? And that just gives you a straight line. Wasn't even a cut, you'll see that one thread is missing and then you can just cut across that line. So if you're gonna have to cut anyway, but definitely I think ripping might be faster but then you do have to sort of clean up those edges. Hmm, I've never ripped fabric. I haven't either, I know. We had a previous instructor on our quilting site. She used to rip fabric all the time. And just the sound of it, I don't know, it just- It kind of gives you the goosebumps maybe- I just feel like I'm ripping it apart. Yeah. I know I'm gonna put it back together but I don't like to rip it out. Yeah, a lot of cultures who make like art quilts and things they rip it for like the texture to it. Then if you want a texture quilt you don't even have to trim the little threads off just put it in it's artsy. Artsy, I like it. All right, our next question is from Barb who asks, "How do I put in an invisible zipper?" Okay, that's gonna be very hard to show without an invisible zipper but we have a video. We do. It's my favorite part. It's good to say we have a video. Nikila foil, there's an amazing demonstration both as a standalone video and also in an intermediate sewing skills class where she shows start to finish how to do an invisible zipper. So the one thing I will say about that is the most important step. I think when you're inserting that zipper is that you have to press the zipper first. So the invisible zipper kind of rolls up on itself. And if you don't press it first you're just not gonna be able to get as close to the zipper teeth when you're sewing which is gonna make it less invisible. So definitely check out that video for the full step-by-step on how to do it but that's my tip. All right. While you're doing it. Okay, we just talked about embroidery a little earlier on about using a kind of thread, but Hannah asks, "What size needles do you use for embroidery?" So there are embroidery needles. So just like- Everything's labeled. It is, it is so awesome. Everything is labeled these days. So you go to the needles section of the fabric store and you're gonna see universal all purpose jeans leather, and there will be embroidery needles. So the only, I don't want to say only, the biggest difference between an embroidery needle and a standard sewing needle is gonna be the eye of the needle. So I'm just gonna point to the general direction because it's gonna be really hard to see. But the eye of the needle is very, very small. lightweight fabrics, it's even smaller. When it comes to embroidery, it's gonna be a lot bigger. It's actually like taller this way. And that's because embroidery is a lot of multi-directional stitches, very, very fast. And if you don't have that larger eye you're essentially creating so much friction on that thread that you're gonna break your threads. So that's the main difference with embroidery needles is the size of the eye. And then they do, like I said, they're clearly labeled and you can just go and get the one that says embroidering. Embroidery needles. All right. Our next question is from Cheryl who asks, "I need an easy way to extend the waistline of a pair of pants, help." Okay, extend up or as in make wider? Let me see. I'm thinking make wider but I'm not entirely sure if you can answer to both- Okay, we'll start with how to make wider 'cause I just actually saw a fun tutorial for this when I was going through Pinterest on the plane on the way here. And it was a way to make the white waistband a little bit wider. And so at the side seams of your jeans you're going to make a cut like a V and you can actually cut your seam apart and then you're just going to put in a little insert and this person put in an insert of actually stretchy fabric. So essentially you're making it wider obviously easier to get on and it has a little better stretch. like making maternity jeans. Yeah, exactly. But rather than having to have the front part all, Yeah. stretchy fabric you do just like a little triangle insert on the sides. And so that would be how to make it bigger. If you're gonna make it taller, I mean, unless you have fabric that matches it perfectly you're not really gonna be able to do that. You would have to essentially cut your waistband off add fabric underneath and then reattach. And that would also mean redoing a zipper and making your zipper longer. So I'm hoping you mean the first way and I think you should put in those triangle inserts on the sides and that should work pretty good. All right. What is your favorite kind of stretchy fabric to use for adding in there? I don't know if I have a favorite. Do you have any? I don't know but I like stretchy fabric. Just sort of a jersey knit fabric. So a lot of times I know there's a lots of different types of jersey knit and double knit there's all these things and that can be kind of using as to what is what so I like to just feel everything. Yeah, just feel your fabric. Yeah, and just kind of go by how stretchy you want it and sort of pick one based on that. But now I have to say, if I have my ranking of fabrics- It's not up there. It's not up there. Okay. Our next question is from Sheila, who asks "I'm having trouble when adding a color to stand to a minster. Any tips for completing without thousands of pins?" Color to stand? To making a stiff color, I assume. Well, if you go back to that interfacing that we're talking about but usually on a men's shirt. So you're gonna have the part that stands up is the under color and then you have a color that goes on top of it. If you are following a commercial pattern there should be lots of marks. And it's a little dots and little squares that you need to match up and I'd recommend starting putting your pins there and then working your way into the center and that should hopefully help you make sure that everything aligns up properly. And then again, back to the interfacing part, you know you want to have that medium weight interfacing to make it stand up and be stiff but if you're having trouble pinning it 'cause once you put that interfacing on you sort of lose the ability to ease that in. So don't interface into the seam allowance cut that shorter, and that will help with that problem too, hopefully. Do you put interfacing on the cuffs as well to make those little stiffer? Yes, so cuffs in colors, there's an article on- There is . Specifically for men's shirts. Yes, I'll think of another one. Have you sewn a lot of men's shirts? I kind of have. You really have? Yeah. I still have a lot of, some people in college. I spent a couple for my husband. I made his cert for the wedding his groomsman's shirt. Was that stressful sewing for your wedding? It was more stressful on my mom because I made everybody else's stuff and nobody else lived where we were except for me and my husband everybody's out of town. And I kind of was just waiting for the last minute to start on my wedding dress and so it was like the month before and she's like, "Aren't you getting married?" I switched, she started on this. I feel like it was more stressful on everybody else but, yeah. You had it under control. I think I did, yep . All right. Our next question is from Linda, who asks "Ashley, organization is not my strong suit." Me neither. Oh Linda, sorry. "I've always been pretty messy. Do you have any fun tips on keeping your sewing room organized?" Okay, so I'm gonna say firsthand to anybody who's seen my sewing room knows that it's not organized. Currently, it's empty 'cause the room flooded and I'm redoing it. So I have to organize. But so yeah, I would say just keeping it organized in a functional way so I mean, you can buy all of the cube storage you want and all these containers and put everything in and that makes it super nice but then as soon as you want something and you use it- You're sort like dig through it. Exactly. Yeah, make sure that's organized in a functional way. So keep whatever you're using most maybe just in little baskets, that's easier to get in and out, but yeah, just make sure that it's usable or that organization is going to go away the first time you actually sew something. But as I put my sewing room back together, I'll let you know if I come up with any other- Any other tips? Do like shelve your thread and people put little nails and like line up their bob in to match the color? I think we'll need some clips on this. Maybe it's miles or something and I have several different ways that you can keep your bobs in and your threads matching- Matching together. But you can so I have thread spool racks. I have actually about eight of them and they're all full have tons of thread. You can have too much threads you need to match all kinds of fabrics. Yeah, and you never know what color you need. Yeah. But they also make smaller versions of those for bobbins specifically. So we can take one of those in the wall too and put it right next to it and keep it. Or you could just like keep them in a pile like me and- And just dig through . Perfect. All right. Our next question is from Anne, who asks "I would love some advice on sewing in circular motions. I'm great at sewing along a straight line but anytime there's a curve in the pattern I seem to not be able to sew it easily." Okay. Slowing down your how fast you're switching is definitely one thing. Also making sure that you are stopping me, you need to readjust and then pivoting. So I didn't really bring a curve. We're gonna pretend that there's a curve on this and I'm just g going to start sewing here. So one thing that I recommend always having done when you're sewing a curve is that your machine is in the needle down. So I stopped sewing, my needle is down. You can change it to where when you stop, your needle is up but then you can't move it unless you raise your presser foot and then as soon as you do, then it moves too much. So always stopping with your needle down and then sewing a couple stitches and then stopping and making whatever adjustment you need. So just doing a tiny little bit like this, rather than trying to force the curve while the presser foot is putting pressure on the machine. If you just make small adjustments, when you can stop I think that makes it much easier. So even just two or three stitches and then you can adjust and finish your cut. That would be my main tips of slowing down and needle down so you can make adjustments. While the machine's not moving, make those adjustments. Yeah. I always sew stockings at Christmas time and down that straight and just like, and then immediately getting to the curve. So, and that's one thing I'm sure this machine hasn't I'm not sure which button it is to push on here but some machines, you can only regulate your speed by how much you floor the foot pedal. Yeah, that's how . Or some have a little slider bar. So my other machine that I use most of the time does have a slider bar and it's sort of a turtle and a rabbit kind of speed and so you can adjust it that way. That way you can put it all the way down to that turtle and you can still floor that foot puddle and it will only go so fast. so that kind of makes you slow down. You don't have to adjust the pressure. Yeah, exactly. A little bit easier. Otherwise I have to like make sure I'm sewing without a shoe on or anything. Otherwise I can't really feel how hard I'm pressing down. Perfect. All right. Our next question is from Maria who asks, "What kind of fabric is best for machine embroidery and where can I get a free pattern for embroidery?" A lot of embroidery questions? I know, so I don't know whether we have any embroidery patterns on the site. I think it's even just in embroiderydesigns.com or you can search for embroidery designs. Or Pinterest, that's probably a great resource too. Yes, absolutely. And sometimes they have categories of free ones. So that would be where you can get that. In terms of what you're embroidering, You can really embroider on anything different fabrics require different stabilizer and sort of different fabric prep. So if you're just wanting to play around with some fun designs I love 100% cotton fabric. Yeah. Comes in pretty much any color you can think of- Wide variety. Stands up well to embroidery. Definitely even still if you're gonna use the cotton fabric be sure to put some sort of a stabilizer under that fabric before you're doing your embroidery. But yeah, if I had my choice I think I'd make everything from cotton. Everything from cotton? Yeah. All right, our next question is from Kira who asks "Is there a simple way to sew in sleeves?" Yes, and that is to not sew in the sleeve. So there's two different types of doing sleeves and one is a set in sleeve and one is where you are sewing the sleeve at the same time that you're sewing the front and back together. And that is the easiest way to do it. So with a certain sleeve, you have your front and your back sewn together at the side and at the shoulder and you have just your arm hole opening and you're trying to fit a circle in a circle which is just always kind of part. Obviously there's not that difficult. So if you can avoid that, do that by you're going to sew your front and your back together at the shoulder seam and you're gonna lay it flat. So instead it's just gonna be like a half circle. And you're gonna, yep. And then you're going to sew your sleeve to your front and your back all the way around that half circle and then fold it right down together. And so from the compost all the way up and then all the way down. So you're pulling that together. So it makes it easier 'cause it's laying flat a little bit easier to pin. Definitely, if you are doing any kind of seam finishes so like a flat felled seam on that shirt you definitely want to do that method it makes finishing that sleeve seam way easier than trying to get like up in the sleeve to try and do it. Complicatedly if you're going around the circle there. Yep, so don't don't set it in just lay it flat and then do I mean it's one long, easy seam to stretch. A good tip there. All right, our next question is from Patricia who asks, "How much elastic would I need to make a dust ruffle to fit around a queen size mattress?" I wish I knew that off the top of my head. You're very specific. I know. So I'm gonna say it is going to depend on, you're gonna have to measure your mattress. Also, again on Pinterest I had a lot of time when I was at the airport, coming here. Yeah, there you go. So there are ways that you don't have to actually use elastic all the way around. So the dust ruffle is just the part that goes around, right? So you can use just a standard fabric and then just gather the fabric that is the ruffle part that hangs down and stitch it to the fabric that goes underneath the mattress and then you wouldn't even actually need any elastic. So I'm pretty sure the desk ruffle that's on my machine or on my bed does not have elastic. I don't think. So, I'm sure there's a resource out there. You could maybe Google that and it would give you an exact one. Sometimes when you type that in. I'm gonna say, even if you can't find that you can just have your flat piece of fabric that goes underneath your mattress gather your fabric to however ruffled you want it sew it to that and then you don't even have to have any elastic at all. There you go, it might be simpler to do it though. I know, it will require more fabric, though. Give or take whatever you want to do. Yeah. All right. Our next question is from Bridget, who asks "I have a pattern that stays under stitch facing as far as possible." Do you know how to do under, I think that's what it's asking. Yes, it's gonna be a little hard. I don't have anything to demonstrate on right now, but actually we have a video that's coming up on the site. ZJ, one of our instructors just did a video on how to make professional necklines and how to sew necklines and so she does demonstrate under stitching but that's essentially when you're facing and you're pushing it to the wrong side and you're doing some under stitching to hold that facing to the seam allowance. So you're not actually gonna see that on the right side but it's gonna make sure that it doesn't like pop up or like come out anyway. So under stitching is holding it down, but yeah there's a complete tutorial on that. All right. While we are in a little bit of a break here, I'm gonna remind you guys to ask questions in the discussion below so that we can answer as many as possible before we run out of time. And also the little banner below this video is a 10 pattern bundle that you can get 60% offline if you put the code in ashley60. So make sure you hit that up while we're here. Yes, and just a reminder, if you're just tuning in that this is a section of one of the patterns that is in that 10 pattern bundle the reversible placemats. And this was our fun little piece section that goes into it and you make four of them. I'm using pattern pieces that look like they don't all fit together when you blend them out- But they do. But they do, exactly. All right, our next question is from Elena who asks, "Ashley, what have you been working on in your sewing room personally?" Well, currently as I mentioned, my sewing room is this empty, mess of, 'cause it's flooded. So I haven't been to anything but in my office, my makeshift sewing room I have been prepping a bunch of videos for coming here. So we actually have filming some new classes. We just did yesterday, some sewing and quilting classes. I'm working on trying out a lot of the fun patterns that are part of the bundle and some of the additional ones that are coming soon later. So lots of home decor projects. I have been doing a lot of quilting and I think there's like four coworkers of my husband who are having babies. So I have baby quilts plans. All baby projects. Lots of baby projects coming up in the near future. What's your favorite thing to sew for a baby shower? I have to admit that I'd never been to a baby shower. I've been invited to so many baby showers. Well, our friends have older kids. So in earlier on when they were having babies but I definitely love quilts. I also like when they make something really cute out of like you put the bundles of diapers and stuff together, make it look like cakes and stuff. So I probably make some like that. I once tried for a baby shower to sew. I'm a bit of a novice sewer and this was a little out of my range. And I sewed like a baby swaddler like where it has velcro on it to like wrap the baby up. It was a bit of a disaster but I think they appreciated anyway and it got the job done. It just didn't really line up. Yeah, I'd have to say I think I would just say blankets or quilts. I mean I know when we had our son I think I ended up with 700 probably a give or take. My grandma always crocheted blankets for baby showers and stuff too. Yeah, that was a good one. Just throw that out there, I love baby projects. All right, Kara asks, "How do you sew inside pockets on men's garments?" That's another one. It's hard to explain these things when you don't actually- Have like a men's garment. So I'm going to have to refer you to maybe searching for another tutorial online. I don't know that we actually have one and maybe I'll do one. I know we do have the cuffs, the colors all types of buttons. I can probably do. So pockets, it's essentially similar to the same kind of pocket that you would be putting in. Even if you wanted to add sort of it's called like a pocket pouch or something and you're just sort of adding it into the side seam of the pants when you're sewing it. We have a tutorial about that for putting it in a purse but I don't know about in pants. Okay, well, you'd have to use your imagination versus you pretend to press a pair of pants, but essentially you have the side seam that you're putting into these pants and you're going to add this little pocket pouch in it. So I think the main thing with that is that you wanna make sure that your pocket is down in a little bit, if that makes sense. So that way you never see the lining of the pocket, like poking out your mixture. So that's kind of where that under stitching comes into. So watch that video on under stitching and get some tips for that as well. All right. Our next question is from Natalie, who asks, "How do I finish a neckline on a T-shirt after the bias is sewn onto the T-shirt?" After the bias? After the bias. So I'm assuming that the bias strip is getting sewn onto the neckline and the T-shirt is actually what's finishing T-shirts. So I'm thinking that if you sew that on you're gonna sew it right sides together on the front, fold it up and over to the back and then you're either gonna fold under that little raw edge of the rest of that bias strip and you can either hand stitch that in place if you don't want to see it, or you can fold it under a pinot, and then you're going to machine stitch but you'll wanna make sure since it is a T-shirt you want to use a stretch stitch or a zigzag stitch, use a jersey or a stretch needle and you use all of the stretch stitch things you need to do for your machine. If I'm reading that question right. But that's what's finishing the neckline. All right. Our next question is from Pat who asks "How do I reduce the shoulder and sleeve cap on an older large shoulder pair of jeans?" Okay. So we have, I feel like a broken record record or something. So we do have a video, Jill Case does the video and it is specifically on how to reduce sleeve cap and some of that ease. She explains how to measure out how much you need to reduce whether it's a half inch or an inch, and then how to take that down on the pattern and then how to sorta regrade that pattern in. So you don't lose the overall shape of the sleeve, but it's just no longer puffy. Yeah. So watch that video for the complete instruction. All right, our next question is from Mary, who asks, "Is there an easy way to sew on knits?" So on them as sew them together? I don't know. So here's some of our knit tips. I know Nick and I talk about these all the time. I know she is more into garment sewing usually than I am. And so a lot with more knits, I'm definitely making sure that you're using all of the proper stitches and needles when it comes to sewing stretch and knits. So again, that's that jersey stretch or ballpoint needle, stretch stitch or a zigzag stitch. And then I know one of the main things that people have problems with is the knit fabric will tend to get really wavy. 'Cause it'll kind of get stuck on your machine and you try to pull it and then as soon as you pull it and stick it- It's just like a leather. Exactly. Yeah. Perfect. Actually that's a thing, you can create a lettuce edge. Yah, I know that was very 90s like lettuce in crop tops. Okay, so you're not trying to create the lettuce edge you can sandwich that between tissue paper or use some sort of knit stay tape, just sort of use anything that's going to help stabilize that fabric. And again, another Pinterest reference someone was using plastic bag. They just had an old plastic bags. You can search through them anything to sort of help stabilize that fabric will make stitching on nets much easier. Hmm, speaking of Pinterest National Sewing Circle is on Pinterest. So feel free to look us up and follow us. All of our videos and articles are posted on there. So if you ever want to save a pattern or a project you can just pin it. Perfect. All right, our next question is from Gina, who asks "How can we find the green line on stretch fabric?" so much stretch fabric happening today? I know. I think as I mentioned, I didn't like it . So that is one where I believe you will have to find the one little thread and pull it. I'm not as familiar with how to do that on a stretch fabric. So I don't know if we have editorial we have a whole entire class knits one-on-one sewing with stretchy fabrics that might be covered in that one. If not, maybe I'll have to put something together for that 'cause I'm not as familiar with how to do that on a mesh fabric. All right. I'm gonna have to brush up on my knit. Yeah. What would you sew with knits- If I had to? If you were in bad practice, yeah? I would honestly probably just practice with scraps sewing them together and making sure that I got my seam lines correct. And that things weren't getting wavy and then probably just a basic T-shirt or something. That's a good recommendation. I didn't think about that. Like if you're unfamiliar with the fabric just sew scraps together and see how it feels at least. 'Cause it would be a bummer to like buy this amazing fabric and this awesome T-shirt pattern and then you make it and then all of your seams are wavy and it just doesn't work. It looks a little funky. Yeah, so definitely practice watches. I like to do practice watches with everything whether that's to test out the fabric maybe to test out. If you've got a new machine, yes there should come out of the box and be, 100% ready to sell but you may have to make tension adjustments change that tension depending on if you're sewing on really thick fabric, really thin fabric. So always testing. Getting used to your machine too. Yah, yep. Testing, practice, practice- Practicing testing, yeah. All right, our next question is from Wanda, who asks "I have a problem coordinating fabric for my quilts, any suggestions?" I also have that problem which is why I attend I am a solid color person- You don't like a few patterns going on. No, I like the monochromatic, all that kind of thing. So one tip that I like is to sort of start with a fabric bundle or maybe have a collection that you like. And so if you buy a collection of fabric or you see a designer's collection there's gonna be say 10 to 12 different fabrics. Don't use every single one 'cause then that's gonna be like too busy but- Super busy. Yeah, pick one or two from that collection that you like and then find maybe a tone on tone or just a solid color that matches with those and then put that together. So that's where I would start if I was trying to plan one out if you want more tips on colors and things specifically regarding them- There's so much color content at national culture circle actually our sister website. So be sure just go type in color in the search bar there and there will be tons of them. Many, many classes, and a lot of them done by Heather Thomas who was like a color expert. So she knows all about color, how to put it together and she'll explain the difference between tones and tints and shades and hues and you'll know everything you need to know about color and picking your fabric for your next spot you'll be an expert. You'll get to know everything about color. All right, and this might be time for our last question from Carol who asks, "I still have thread with wooden spools. It seems okay, but does thread ever age to the point where it shouldn't be used anymore?" I'm pretty sure it can. And that would really depend on how it's been stored. So if you say found this at a garage sale or an old ventures market, and you don't know how it's been stored, I would try sort of pulling out a little bit. If it breaks immediately, just use it as decoration. If it a still has, it doesn't break right away you can get something called sewers aid and it's a thread conditioner and you can run that on the thread and it sort of brings new life back into the thread- To just to run that along the outside. Yeah, so you have like your spool thread, and I need this here. And you're just gonna kind of hold it like this and it comes in a little like eyedropper kind of bottle and you're just gonna go right along here and then as you're using it and it's unspooling it's kind of getting on all of those threads. That's what I was gonna say. Do you have to reapply a note- No, it should silk in a little bit I mean, after if you silk a lot and you've taken quite a few threads out of here then you might want to reapply but that'll sort of bring new life back into your thread. But if you are like the sew owner and you know that it's been stored out of direct sunlight not in human environment, it should be fine. So thread should last, quite along. Fairly long amount of time. Yep. All right, before we go to one more, we'll talk about what we were working on earlier in case anybody missed it or joined a little later. Yeah, so we showed how to put together the five fun pattern pieces here that are part of the reversible placemats, which is part of the 10 pattern bundle that is on the site. Yup, and if you click the little banner below you can be taken to the page where you can get the 10 pound bundle and if you put in the code ashley60, you'll get 60% off those patterns. Yeah, so definitely get those and try them out. All right, well, thanks for joining us and be sure to tune in next time for our National Sewing Circle live event. It was great talking with you, Ashley- Thank you. And seeing the very fancy new machine. Machine and new pattern and everything. Just seeing and close to it was really nice. It's rubbing off on her. She's learning about sewing from it. All right. Perfect, thank you all. Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time. Bye. Bye.