I have been doing a series of pillows this year. While I am proud of the ones that I have created, I have learned a lot. In an effort to take things a step further, I did a little research. I found a few videos that are so informative that I wanted to share them with you.
First the “One Step Piping Application” video. This one is so amazing. Peg Baker is showing us how to make piping and apply it to a pillow all with one seam. AND she does it with no pins. It is just a sight to behold.
Next is an impressive series on how to lay out a pillow that features both piping and a zipper. I have made these before with some success, but each time I think “there must be an easier way”. In this set, Ms. Baker would certainly make you believe there IS an easier way! She makes it look like a breeze!
(I am not sure what kind of turbo drive iron this woman has, but I would swear that it irons the shirts AND washes the dishes at her house! My WORD! She holds her iron over the fabric and hits her shot of steam, and the iron almost has a recoil on it! It’s that powerful!)
Part 1
There is some great stuff in this one, including the notches that she adds. Those would be very helpful.
Part 2
Are you kidding me? In this installment Ms. Baker just inserts the zipper without any pins. Just lickity split “start here,” “use a zipper foot” and BOOM your zipper is in! That is some of the most impressive sewing I have ever watched.
Part 3
Here we watch the master finish off the corners to perfection.
I am excited to try some of these tricks and see how much easier my project becomes!
I have been doing a lot of research this past year. I teach sewing at the middle school. The kids are so EAGER, but they also have a broad range of skill, from just above pre-school level to adult level. Their fine motor skills are one piece of the puzzle. Another piece is their patience and their ability to follow a set of steps. The last piece is their own attention to detail. These tutorials taught me so much personally, but ironically, very few of the tips and tricks here will be applicable to working with kids. The girls have some trouble cutting and controlling the scissors, so notching the fabric could prove to be lethal. We will have to stick to chalk and disappearing ink. And setting a zipper with no pins is not going to work for a 10 year old. It’s interesting to reflect on the skills in this way.
© 2005 – 2015 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
Susi, I remember you were doing some embroidery with your class at one point. I just finished a short class on a technique which I bet they would love. We screen printed a design onto our fabric, and then embroidered sections of it. I’m going to post a picture of it for next week’s Iron Craft. If your school art department has silk screen equipment, this would be a really fun project to work on. If you do small designs, you could make several – which would be perfect for special Christmas cards, because each one only needs a small amount of stitching to embellish the printed design.