October 2023 Newsletter

Marie's Sewing Center

October 2023 Newsletter

Monday October 2 to Tuesday October 31

Join us for some scavenger hunt fun! In store or online you can follow the clues and get a prize!

Online: Starting 10/3/23 look for "Start our Scavenger Hunt here" in red towards the top of our website(mariessewingcenter.com) for clue 1). Follow the clues at the bottom of various item descriptions in RED. The last one will have your digital prize.

In store: Come to our Hamburg or Lockport store anytime we are open. Find the first clue at the register. Follow the clues around the store until you it brings you back to the register to pick up your prize.

Demo Days in Hamburg

Saturday 10/7/23 from 11-2pm join Marie at our Hamburg location for a demo of our QAYG Lap Quilt Kit. Marie will show you how to make this great beginner project and answer any questions you might have. Kits will be available for purchase so you can give it a try at home.

Friday 10/13/23 at 11:30 am join Maryann for a demo on how to make a place mat using a Border Stripe. Yardage of border prints, backing and interfacing will be available to purchase.

Wednesday 10/18/23 @1:30pm Deb will demo a pillowcase using French seams and using a serger. Pillowcase Kits will be available for purchase so you can make a set at home.

Thursday 10/26/23 @ 11am Join Kristen in Hamburg for a demo of Prepping T-shirts for making a t-shirt quilt. Kristen is our repair tech but she also is a great resource for making t-shirt quilts!

Saturday 10/28 @ 1pm join Linda for a demo on how to do Reverse Applique on a t-shirt. Fabric Panels will be available for purchase so you can give it a try at home.

These demos are all free and require no sign up!

At our Hamburg Store

141 Buffalo Street

Stitched Up Stories

Stitched Up Stories features a different designer each month in a one-hour Zoom session. We will get to know their humble beginnings, creative processes, and current obsessions.

Additionally, designers will share some of their own projects during Show & Tell time! There will be opportunity for Q&A, along with other fun surprises for those who join Stitched Up Stories!

Can’t make it to the Live Event? No worries! The recordings will be available to registered participants for seven days.

Debbie Maddy - Tiori Designs

Debbie’s first love has always been fiber of all sorts. She has been and still is an avid garment seamstress as well as quilter. She has enjoyed most of the crafts using a needle and thread of some sort to include embroidery, appliqué, needlepoint, pulled thread and drawn thread work. Debbie has been quilting over 35 years, pattern designing for 15 years and teaching/lecturing for 20 years. She has been featured on national television as well as online classes. Debbie’s most recent endeavors have been in the world of fabric and fiber dyeing of all kinds but most specifically Shibori and Indigo dyeing. She is thrilled and honored to be a part of the Moda Fabrics designer family.

Sunday October 29th @4pm

Vanessa Christenson -

V and Co

As she tells it, Vanessa is a busy mom living “the middle of nowhere, Iowa” with her husband and four kids. She likes to quilt, sew, decorate, run her mouth, hang out with friends and “fake organize” anything and everything. And she gets rid of things when she can’t find a place to put it. Known for her spectacular use of bold, modern color and pattern, Vanessa’s signature Ombres for Moda Fabrics have helped quilters explore the use of color and solids. In addition to teaching and publishing patterns as V & Co., Vanessa is the author of Make It Sew Modern and six Simply Color books.

Sunday November 12th @4pm

Open Sew in Hamburg

Open Sew is every Wednesday in Hamburg from 10:00 - 3:00. Bring a project you're working on, your sewing machine and supplies. Meet others who share your love of sewing! Have a question? We're here all day to help out! It's only $10 cash or $12 credit card for each Wednesday! You MUST sign up or call ahead.

Need Needles?

Don't forget to put in a new needle with each new project!

It’s the easiest way to improve stitch quality.

Damaged or worn needles result in:

• Broken or shredded threads

• Skipped or uneven stitches

• Puckered or damaged fabrics

• Popping sounds made by sewing machine

From schmetzneedles.com:

Choosing a Needle

SCHMETZ makes a variety of needles created especially to do particular sewing jobs very well. What many sewers don’t know is how to choose the correct type and size of needle for the work that they are doing. It is crucial to choose the correct needle to complement your thread choice and the kind of sewing work that you are doing.

Many just continue to use the needle that came in their machine until it breaks. Sewing machine needles are not indestructible … they will not last forever. The points get dull from repeated use and the shaft may get bent from hitting pins in the fabric. A general rule of thumb is to replace the needle after eight (8) hours of use and at the beginning of each project. Each time you buy thread or fabric you should be asking yourself what kind of needle will work best with the project you have in mind.

Here’s What You Need to Know.

Choose your needle size based on the type and weight of thread that is being used as well as the fabric that is being sewn. The goal is to have the needle slide easily through the fabric without damaging the fibers or creating too large of a hole, and to carry the thread smoothly without damaging it when sewing.

Each package of SCHMETZ needles has European and U.S. size equivalents written at the very bottom of the front of the plastic case. Typically they range from 60/8 (the finest) to 120/19 (the largest). This number, indicating the size, will help determine the suitability of the needles to the fabric, thread size and the kind of sewing being done. In general, the finer the thread and the finer the fabric that is being sewn, the finer the needle should be.

Each package has the name of the needle it contains. These names can help you choose the right type of needle for the work you are about to do (i.e., “Universal,” “Quilting,” “Sharp,” “Metallic,” “Topstitch,” “Embroidery,” etc.). Each type of needle is made for a particular job and should be chosen according to the type of fabric and thread used.

Cheaper carded needles do exist in the market and many of them would like you to believe that they are just as good as SCHMETZ Needles. No other needle manufacturer can match the amount of detail and quality of material that goes into each needle before it leaves the SCHMETZ factory. Remember, not all needles are created equal. Insist on high quality SCHMETZ Needles for all of your sewing projects!

Purchase needles here

Fat Quarter Fun with Bev

Join Bev at our Hamburg store to make this Sewing Caddy to use with your sewing machine. Bring your sewing machine, materials can be purchased at the store and attendees get 15% off their class supplies! This a beginner level class. Price of class includes book, It Takes Two ($19.99 value).

More info here

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