by GillyMac | May 5, 2021 | Doodles, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Doodle quilting is both a method of learning free motion designs and a way to stitch the patterns out. With doodle quilting, you will learn your designs with pen and paper first. Your brain learns the patterns by doodling them repeatedly. As a child in class, I would...
by GillyMac | Apr 28, 2021 | Beginners, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Start free-motion quilting by following my simple steps will make it easy. I have listened to many speakers who make it sound incredibly complicated. As a beginner, an essential activity for you to master is setting up and practising sewing regularly. The Foot To...
by GillyMac | Apr 21, 2021 | Beginners, blog, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Following on from last week’s blog, I am focusing on starting your quilting journey with your walking foot this week. Here is a list of my favourite beginner-friendly walking foot quilting designs for you to practise. The practice session aims to get you...
by GillyMac | Apr 13, 2021 | Beginners, blog, Sewing Made Simple
Quilting is just sewing through layers. Whilst there are buzz words and new sewing machine feet to use, it is essential to remember it is not new. So let’s discuss what you need to start quilting with your sewing machine. Start Quilting With Your Sewing Machine There...
by GillyMac | Apr 7, 2021 | Applique, blog, Sewing Made Simple
The following process is simple and accessible with any smartphone and a free app. What you will need is; photograph cropped to the specific area of interest smartphone with the MOLDIV free app paper large enough to trace the pattern. This could be A4 sheets joined...
by GillyMac | Mar 31, 2021 | blog, Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple, Temperature Quilt
A temperature quilt is a way of recording the temperature in a place or places over time in textile form. You can make it anything you want. It can have the maximum and minimum temperature in your location. It could have the temperature in your area and another place,...
by GillyMac | Mar 24, 2021 | Beginners, blog, Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
I am frequently asked ‘how much does it cost to start sewing?’. The amount of equipment and tools on the market is vast and can be confusing. In this post, I have boiled down what you need to just the bare essentials. There is always more to add, but let us start with...
by GillyMac | Mar 17, 2021 | Beginners, Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Breaking thread is super annoying. It happens for many reasons, none of which are any less irritating. Here are my top tips. Start from number one and work through them until it is solved. Get a cup of tea and settle down to fix the problem. When I am stressed, I can...
by GillyMac | Mar 10, 2021 | Beginners, blog, Sewing Made Simple
Sew a line of straight stitches and a line of zig-zag stitches to determine if your sewing machine tension is correct. The straight stitches should be even, and in alignment on both sides of the fabric. The zig-zag stitches should be perfect zig-zags and not look like...
by GillyMac | Mar 3, 2021 | Beginners, Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing Made Simple
Years ago I was once in a class with a teacher who pointed at my thread and said ‘throw it in the bin’. It seemed pretty extreme when looking back, it was insulting, but did the teacher have a point? I think not. Where possible, I will always try and use up old...
