If you’re a lucky owner of a Continental M7, MC15000 or MC9450, there is now a Janome Workbook for all THREE models. Each book explores tips, tricks, plus step-by-step instructions and projects to get the most out of your machine.
When you focus on one thing, you get pretty darn good at it. One summer during childhood, my pal, Marilyn and I spent every day going around in…
Hearing about new sewing machines is always exciting, but when you hear about a model that has been specifically designed with the comfort and needs of the power…
A blind hem is exactly what it sounds like: a hem with stitches you can barely see. It's perfect for window coverings, the hem at the bottom of a garment, or anywhere you want a clean finished edge. When I first started sewing, attaining a perfect blind hem was like finding the Holy Grail. And
The new AcuFeed™ Flex Professional Grade Foot (HP2) and its matching Professional Grade Needle Plate from Janome have been gaining quite a reputation for their precision stitching. Well alrighty then… it’s time we took the set for a little test drive. Follow along to see how we put this specialty set through its paces, testing
A straight line. It seems like the most basic thing you can do when sewing. But we’re amazed by the number of comments and questions we get from S4H visitors who want to know how to do it better, easier, and more consistently. We don’t have any magical powers to make our seams and topstitching
Definitely a Sewing Survival Skill! With the right presser feet and accessories, an understanding of seam grading, and the patience to go slowly and carefully, you can sew like a pro through thick and thin.
Buttons are the perfect finishing accent to so many projects. Not to mention the fact they are also a very functional closure. But if you have to sew on a lot of buttons by hand, you might think twice about using them. I personally find sewing buttons by hand tedious, time-consuming, and I can sometimes
A skosh, a wee bit, just a hair... sometimes, the distances we want to work with when sewing aren't quite as precise as the engraved inch and millimeter markings on our machines. Wouldn't it be great if there was a foot you could manually adjust to perfectly align with the exact distance you wanted? There
Life can get a little sticky. In sewing, it’s the surfaces of specialty fabrics, like laminates that love to drag across your presser foot and/or needle plate, causing stitching to bunch or break. Janome Ultra Glide to the rescue.
Going in circles doesn’t have to be a bad thing! In fact, when it comes to pretty stitching embellishments, the circle is always a winner. But… how on earth can you stitch in a truly perfect circle?! Even following a drawn line can lead to bumbles and bobbles. Our secret: the Janome Circular Sewing Attachment.
Narrow tucks, called pintucks when they are super narrow, are often used in heirloom sewing, but they can add a lovely detail to many projects. Did you know you can create the look quickly and easily with your Quarter Inch foot?
Sergers. For some, the word alone can send them screaming into the darkest corners of their sewing rooms. “The threading… not the threading… make it stop!” Well, perhaps that’s a wee bit dramatic, but the fear of threading the loopers on a serger, “Sergiothreadaphobia” as it is known in medical circles, keeps many a sewer
There's always a certain amount of hemming and hawing about having to hem. Just about every project you do includes some sort of a hem, and there are so many techniques from which to choose. There is the simple double-turn hem, blind hem, faced hem, covered hem, taped hem, curved hem, single hem, narrow hem,
A cover hem is a professional-style "serged" hem that traditionally has two to three lines of parallel stitching on the right side and a looper stitch which covers the raw edge of the fabric on the back side. It's the type of hem commonly found on most ready-to-wear knit garments (and many woven RTW items
We like webbing… not necessarily like the monster from the black lagoon’s hands, but the cool cotton kind for bags and such. However, it can be hard to find in other than the most basic colors of white, natural, navy, and black. Bust out your decorative stitches and some colorful thread! This fast and easy
Left: Faux Leather Shopper, Right: Trendy Faux Leather Handbag Back in the 1970s, I wanted my mom to buy me a real leather jacket. Unfortunately, she was only prepared to spend for one made of synthetic leather. As much as I wanted to believe it looked genuine, it just looked fake. Today's fake – excuse
When does 1+1 = 1? When you’re basting two layers together! Lear: how to determine if your sewing machine has a basting stitch, when to use the stitch in sewing projects, and why hand basting is sometimes best.
Today’s machines can zip along at up to 1000 stitches per minute; you can see how a little length goes a long way. The shorter the stitches, the tighter the seam. The longer the stitches, the looser the seam.
This is one article we like to bring back often because it's so important to be nice to your trusty sewing machine. Do you know the number one thing you can do to keep your sewing machine running smoothly? Clean out the lint! It's an unavoidable by-product of sewing. The more you sew, the more
Sewing is an art. But it does rely on science and technology as well. And then there's math with all those fractions and geometry. But most importantly... there's your machine! A good machine makes the difference – not only in the sewing experience but in the professional look of the finished project. Janome America is the
New project – new needle! It’s an important part of the process because a good needle in your sewing room is like a good knife in your kitchen. Learn the basics about sizes, styles, types, even the anatomy of a needle.
One of things we are asked about on a regular basis is sergers. For many people, even seasoned sewers, they are equal parts tantalizing and terrifying. They can do so many cool things at once: seam, trim, and finish – all at lightning speed. But to make it happen, there are a lot of threads
The technique is just as the name implies: the vast majority of the project, both sewing and embroidery, is done within an embroidery hoop. The elegant result is similar in rich color and complexity to a fine Jacquard ribbon.
Sewing requires some specialized tools, the biggest one being the sewing machine itself. If you're new to sewing, you might be tempted to get a machine as cheaply as possible. However, this is one of those cases where saving a few bucks now can end up causing you hours of frustration later. Purchasing a machine
We've made it to the finish of our seam finishes! In this final installment of the series, we venture into the world of the Hong Kong Finish and the Bound Seam finish. If you're not a 'finishing aficionado' (don't feel bad... few people claim that title), you may have been under the impression these techniques
We are not yet finished with our series of finishes! If you've been following along, you know we are working through the ways to make the inside of your projects look as great as the outside. Today, we're moving into a couple more unique options: the mock (or false) French seam and the French wrapped
A number of years ago, we had a French intern working with us... the daughter of a friend of a friend - you know how those things go. She was a sweet girl with a lovely accent, and we had fun asking her for the translation of things we tag as "French": a French braid
In sewing, there's a difference between stitches you use for construction and ones you use for finishing. When you’re first learning to sew, your immediate focus is getting all those pieces to fit together correctly. From the moment you cut the fabric, you’re concerned with maintaining the shape of the pattern pieces. You tediously concentrate