I love a good hint or hack that speeds up or makes my sewing easier or tidies my space to make it more user friendly.
I love the way many of the items I am going to share with you were produced for a totally different use.
Hack 1: Freezer paper. When did freezer paper come out of the kitchen and into our craft rooms? It has two great uses when it comes to patchwork and quilting. It is great for applique templates and for foundation piecing, my favourite method of patchwork. Freezer paper is readily available through ebay.
Hack 2: File organiser. Designed for office desks to keeps files tidy and organised but perfect for keeping cutting boards and rulers close at hand and ready for use. Officeworks has one at a very reasonable price.
Hack 3: Masking tape. So many uses but my favourite two are as a straight line guide when machine quilting and to mark my quilting ruler when trimming half-square-triangle block, see Karen Brown’s, Just Get It Done, YouTube. You stick 3 strips of masking tape along the 45 degree line of your ruler creating a channel that sits snuggly against you H-S-T seam. Presto a non-slip ruler. Masking tape, in various widths, is available at hardware stores.
Hack 4: Non-slip matting. This one we are going to use for exactly what it was designed for, to stop things from slipping. Place it under your sewing machine and peddle to stop them from slipping when you are sewing. For $2.80 you can get a roll from Daiso stores.
Hack 5: Hair ties help keep our hair tidy but can also help keep our bobbins tidy.
Hack 6: Small mirrors x 2. Another of Karen Brown’s hacks. A cheap and quick way to make a “fussy cutting mirror”. The real deal cost around $23 but I bought two mirrors from a Daiso store for $5.60 total, grab some masking tape and tape them together along an edge.
Hack 7: Pencil case. Going away for a couple of days quilting, lucky you, or meeting up with the girls for some sewing? Keep your rotary cutters safe in a pencil case, they will not cut you when you reach into your bag and the blades won’t accidently get nicks in them.
Hack 8: Very small artist easel. When I am sewing one block at a time, so I don’t get confused, I lay out my block on a piece of flannelette, over a board, and place it near my sewing machine, on a very small easel, so I can grab each piece as I need it. Again a $2.80 purchase from Daiso.
