Realize the Dream

Brother wins another award for innovative product design!

2010-06-25T21:45:00Z

Dear Friends,

It surely has been a long time since I have blogged but I did want to share the story of this very prestigious award that Brother has recently received....in the name of a wonderful sewing machine and it's very innovative features....

BROTHER INDUSTRIES, LTD. RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL DESIGN AWARD
Brother^® is Awarded the 2010 iF Communication Design Award for Sewing and Embroidery Machines

BRIDGEWATER, NJ - Brother Industries, Ltd., the parent company of Brother International Corporation, has been awarded the prestigious 2010 iF Communication Design Award for the Product Interface category. A reliable indicator of outstanding quality in design, the award acknowledges the graphic user-friendly interface of Brother^® Quattro^TM 6000D, a technologically advanced sewing, embroidery, quilting and crafting machine. With worldwide sales approaching $5 billion, Brother was started almost 100 years ago by sewing fanatics, so the company is honored to receive this accreditation.

By participating in the iF design awards, Brother has demonstrated the courage to compare themselves to others in competition. The iF Communication Design Award acknowledges the growing media options and the related challenges for the creative sector in a globally networked world. A total of 1,687 entries were submitted to this year's iF Communication Design Award. The international jury presented the coveted iF label 499 times to 480 entries (20 entries received an award in more than one category). The iF logo is trusted internationally and denotes proven design quality. As a winner of the award, Brother can use the logo as a visible symbol of their outstanding innovation.

The award-winning interface went through a rigorous research and development process before completion to ensure that the design was user-friendly and easy-to-navigate. From the high quality graphics, to where the control keys were placed, to the ability to alter the operation sound, Brother ensured it was of the best quality. The Innov-ís I interface is used on the Quattro^TM 6000D, one of the most high-tech, innovative sewing, embroidery, quilting and crafting machines in the extensive line of home sewing products. With this machine, Brother introduced technology that is like having a built-in camera above the needle of the machine. The InnovEye^TM Technology instantly magnifies an aerial view of the needle area on the LCD display. With the help of a unique adhesive backed positioning marker, the Snowman® Embroidery Positioning Marker, there is no need to worry about imperfect placement. When the Snowman® is placed on hooped fabric, the InnovEye^TM Technology automatically positions the needle, and therefore the embroidery design, above the marker for precise embroidery placement. If fabric is slightly mishooped, the InnovEye^TM detects this, and makes the correction by automatically rotating the embroidery design! All of this can be seen on the HD LCD display screen from Sharp Corporation so there is no guess work. Whether the user is sewing, embellishing with embroidery, quilting, or creating 3-D art, the advanced technology and performance make it easier and more enjoyable than ever before. The Quattro^TM 6000D is sold exclusively at Authorized Brother Innov-ís Dealers nationwide.

This is not the first iF Product Design Award that Brother has received--they have previously been awarded for the exterior appearance of their products. Brother is proud that their award-winning products that have been acknowledged for their appearance as well as their user-friendly functionality. The company will continue their commitment to improving their products in the future. For more information on the award-winning interface of the Quattro^TM 6000D, or to find a local Authorized Brother Innov-ís Dealer, visit home sewing pages of www.brother.com.

We have been so busy lately at Brother coming up with lots of great products and ideas. For those of you who may not realize it, Brother now also has an exclusive Laura Ashley sewing machine. The NX2000 is just about the best sewing machine that Brother has ever made. It has lots of great sewing stitches, it sews ever so quietly and accurately and participating Brother dealers offer it with the most beautiful sewing trolley that I have seen in a long time. It would be nice to show a pretty picture of the machine but I thought I would go one better and show you a shot of the machine and all of the wonderful accessories that come with it...lots of feet, an oversized extension table and the fun to use circular sewing bundle. I have to share with you that I have been invited to visit the US headquarters for Laura Ashley and when I go to South Carolina to visit, I want to stay and have tea! The Laura Ashley organization seems to align themselves with best brands and it sure is wonderful to be in their collection. Cranston Fabrics has a wonderful fabric collection as well.

Well as my dad used to say "It's time for Lily White's party." Have no idea where that saying came from but we knew it meant one thing...time for bed!

Take care!

June

Keeping an Eye on Things

2010-02-05T23:00:00Z

Anyone who reads the supermarket tabloids has been seeing all kinds of advice about the easy way to lose weight. I and a group of friends decided to follow one of the more popular diets. We formed teams, printed out the diet plan, communicated every day and were positive that we would lose the weight. Yes and no...Fortunately we can all laugh at our adventure. Some of us lost weight, others just feel better but the best thing is that we have all become better friends.

One thing we all admit that we learned is that we have to pay better attention to what we eat and where we put it. That lesson is true for many things in life. Certainly most of you have learned that you have to pay attention to the embroidery designs that you buy and where you store them. How many times have you shook your head after you swore you created a file for that special design that you have been looking high and low for and it is nowhere to be found. Sorry to say that I don't have a loss-proof suggestion but I can say that if you take the time to set up an area in your computer that can hold the designs it will be time well spent. I remember my friend Penny Muncaster Jewell telling all of us years ago to look at the My Document folder like a tree with branches. Don't be afraid to create a folder and then make lots of subfolders. It's okay to have Holidays>Month>Valentine's Day, President's, etc. if you do get into a pickle and you can't remember where you put a file, go back to the saving process and look at where the default setting wants to put the file. Chances are that is where you are going to find the file you have misplaced.

Above all don't panic! We didn't lose all the weight we hoped to in the first few weeks but we did benefit in many other ways. You may have misplaced your file but the learning process to find it will teach you a few things.

Another thing you should keep an eye on is how your embroidery designs are placed on a garment. If you are lucky enough to own the Brother© Quattro™ embroidery machine then you have the InnovEye™ camera-like feature to help with placement. Other embroidery machine owners may not have realized the importance of using the plastic grids that come with Brother Embroidery machines or the template sheets

that come with most of the Brother Embroidery cards. If any of my readers own a Brother Entrepreneur 6-needle embroidery machine with the cap frame (remember that the cap frame is an optional accessory) you will know about the neat feature on that model as well. When you have the cap frame driver attached, the image to be embroidered is automatically turned upside down for you...no more mistakes.

This month I heard from an old friend Cookie Gaynor. You may know Cookie from her web site. Cookie has lots of things to buy on her site including some helpful tutorials. One of them is about how to embroider socks....Again placement is half the battle...her hint is to put a straight pin in the sock where the embroidery will be and be sure to have the head of the pin at the top of the embroidery. Simple, but smart!

I mention all of these little tips because at one time or another we have all sewed a pocket shut, embroidered something upside down, etc. So keep an eye on what you are doing!

Before I forget, don't forget that Brother is celebrating National Embroidery Month.

A visit to a participating dealer will help you find out special financing deals. If you are unsure of where to shop or what all the specials are for this month, use the dealer locator at the Brother website.

For my closing question...why is it that the supermarket magazines have at least two "call to action headlines on the cover of their magazine...one to lose weight and the other to try a fabulous chocolate cake?"

Regards,

June

PS. This month I finished a quilt that I began 5 years ago and one that I began 2 years ago and I started 2 new ones. The lesson in all of this...when you buy something, always make sure that it has all the pieces to make it....ask me how I know. Fortunately I was able to successfully contact the gal I bought the quilt kit from to get the missing fabric. She was so nice!

I know, I know...you want a blog!

2010-01-22T23:00:00Z

It sure has been a busy month....On December 10, I took the plunge and had toe surgery....I had two hammertoes that required a bit of slicing and dicing. That meant I hobbled around with "the big boot" for a few weeks and then I got to don the "little boot." I had to chuckle the other day when the doctor told me that I could start to rummage around my closet for a pair of shoes that might fit....ha, ha! I will be walking on an uneven plain for a while I am sure! One foot has the nice shoe and the other has "the little boot."

At any rate having my "big boot" did not stop me from going to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 5. I went for several reasons: to work in the Brother booth and do all kinds of media and secondly to take part in Mommy Tech. MT was about how to reach and teach the Mommies. At first I was nervous about this prospect. How could I feel comfortable on a panel with "mommies"? Then it dawned on me that I had plenty to offer. After all, did I not just finish my BA online and get my braces removed? So what if my "children" are really my "grandchildren"? According to one set of statistics shared "mommies could be 53 years old." I felt better, I could definitely find something to talk about and of course I did and so there I was with the bloggers and branders. My theme followed how easy it was to get into business with the Brother Entrepreneur PR-650. The audience loved my presentation and came up to me afterwards to get more insight from me about how the younger mommies want to get into business and to what degree they want to be in business. After all, they do have other responsibilites. A thing to note is that the Gen X generation does support each other in so many ways.

My DIL has her embroidery business on ETSY which is a site for crafters to sell there wares from and my niece bought her Dr. Seuss themed crib bedding on ETSY. There was so much happening at this show that it is hard to recap in a blog. Suffice it to say, if it is new in electronics, it is at CES and if you don't have a flat screen, what are you waiting for? Okay don't take that personally, we only have one at our house and it is the little drop down TV in my kitchen and trust me it does not qualify.

One interesting thing did happen in our booth, we had some processes filmed in 3-D. That is definitely an up and coming way of seeing things. It took forever for the cameramen to set up but it was interesting. We will get to see how theading the needles looks with 3D imaging in a few weeks.

How many of you are Facebook? It never ceases to amaze me at how many "friends" some people have on facebook. My DIL has about 200. It is an interesting way to keep up with folks, that is for sure. I followed the entire process of our niece creating her Dr. Seuss baby nursery on Facebook.

Apparently there are lots of ways to do that and one is thru the "fan" process. Just today, Brother opened up Facebook page under Brother Sews. Take a minute after you read my blog and click on the hyperlink and see what we have done.

Take a look at the page and become a fan!

Click here to open the Brother Sews Facebook Page

Since Christmas we have already celebrated 3 birthdays. Honest....my father in law turned 90 on Dec. 27 and my husband and our son had their days in January. Hard to believe that we had to mark our oldest son's birthday with a surprise party...do I have to say how old he was? Suffice it to say, he was born after the Summer of Love. At any rate it was fun to see so many old friends and recount the events of yester year. I gathered over 200 photos and put them in my digital photo frame for our son's birthday party. To add to the fun, I added captions to most of the photos so that people watching would have an idea of what the photo was about. It was so much fun to have everyone share the background of some of the photos as well. Who knew that when the boys woke up after camping in the red tent in our backyard that they rode their BMX bikes downtown to check out what was new. Boys....what can I say? I am sure there are a lot more stories that have not been told.

So before my next blog....become a fan of Brother Sews on facebook and watch the new season of Project Runway

Happy Sewing!

June

'Tis the season to help others

2009-12-18T21:00:00Z

As the holiday season heats up I decided to get my toes operated on. What was I thinking? This is time of year when everyone is running around. Not me. In the last few days I had to learn how to do my holiday shopping on line. My DIL helped me figure out how to get free shipping whenever I could so that was very helpful. Usually my husband and I would go out to dinner at this time of year and start making lists over a glass of wine, then we would head out to stores and shop til all hours and go back the next day to finish up. Instead, this year I have been looking over the advertisements in the New York Times and shopping on line. Now all I can do is hope that I will be getting the items that I purchased in time for me to wrap them up and put them under the Christmas tree. I am sure a few of you are thinking, "well why didn't she shop ahead of time if she knew she was getting her foot operated on." I did do some shopping but then the lazy side of me left the gifts in the basement waiting to be wrapped. I am surely going to need some help getting that stuff wrapped but I have to share with you my holiday coup. I happened to have bought our 5 grandchildren several outfits each at that store with target logo. Instead of worrying about gift boxes I simply bought 5 of their store brand reusable shopping bags. Since they are red with a little tree on them, I found them to be the perfect holiday gift holder and the child can use them to hold their toys after Christmas. Smart idea, don't you think?

All of this means that I suddenly have to rely on the goodness of others to help me get my responsibilities taken care of by Christmas Eve. Fortunately for me I have found helping out is what a lot of folks like to do. My grandchildren have even stepped up to the plate. Little Tyler will be here Friday night to "grandma sit, " as he puts it. I am sure he won't mind decorating the tree one bit since he will have a leg up on hiding the pickle. Hiding the pickle is a tradition that we picked up a few years ago. Hanging a glass pickle ornament is the very last thing that is done to the Christmas tree. On Christmas day when everyone is gathered, a hunt for the pickle ensues. The person who finds the pickle gets a prize. I have to tell you that when this tradition was started in our family many years ago we had plenty of "Bah Humbug" types. All these years later it is funny to see them ask when we are going to hunt for the pickle. Little Tyler also loves to wash the dishes and vacuum, so when he gets into that mode on Friday nite I am going to have to remember that he only wants to help me.

I have also been watching the other parts of the Ann The Gran blogs and forums and I am so impressed at how helpful everyone is to each other. At the same time I have been able to share some of the issues that surface in the forums regarding Brother machines with the proper parties at Brother International which in turn enables people to connect with one another to enact changes when necessary.

I had to chuckle over LaRue's recent blog about projects gone wrong. It reminded me of one of my yearly trips to tape a PBS show for Martha Pullen's Sew Beautiful. Each year when we agree to be taped, we are sent a pattern that will be the common topic for that year's show. One year I got my pattern and dutifully made an outfit and I was really not happy with the end result. Most of us who head down to Tuscaloosa, Alabama each spring are finishing our projects in the hotel room the night before and this particular year was no different. I finished up the garment and groaned. Shortly thereafter I was heading to dinner with Martha and I just knew she was going to ask me about my project. All through dinner I tried to think of what I would tell her and then I had a stroke of genius. As we strolled out to the cars I pulled Martha aside and told her that my topic for the taping was going to be about what to do when a project does not come out as one might expect. I told her how I was going to show the audience how to take a garment apart and re-design it to suit. Thank heavens she thought that this was the best idea since she herself had had the same experiences over time. I, on the other hand, was proud of myself for taking control of the issue and making good from a bad experience. In the end I figured I had to be helping out hundreds of viewers just like me.

So during this busy season keep your eye out for ways to help others and I guarantee you will be glad you did.

Happy Holidays

June

People I meet and why they are hip to the possibilities of sewing…

2009-11-13T22:00:00Z

In today's office environment the more popular method of communication is email but when my phone rings I can almost guarantee that I will be hearing from someone who is completely enthralled by sewing and wants to tell more people about what is happening in the world of sewing in their neck of the woods. It is a good thing that so many people are thinking about lots of new ways to tell their friends about what some people think is a lost art. To think of sewing as a lost art all I can say is "bologna."

Recently I heard from Sophie Uliano. As an avid reader of the New York Times Book Review, I happened to know who she was because she has a best seller, "Gorgeously Green". Honest. Sophie has a web site called www.gorgeouslygreen.com and suffice it to say....she likes to think about the environment, doing yoga and being a parent.

Sophie had done her research and she wanted to let me know that she was going to feature the Brother CS6000i in her next book about ecofriendly crafts and tools to make them. It was a happy moment for me when Sophie told me that all the research that she had done pointed to this machine as a great model for people who want to get into or back to sewing. Having used this machine on an appearance on the Home Shopping Network, I couldn't agree more. Great machine, great value. If you would like to buy this machine for yourself or as a gift for someone this holiday season, you can buying it online when you visit the Brother product list.

Not long after I heard from Sophie, I was hearing about Wendy Berglass, owner of Sew Fun Parties. A friend from the thread industry happened by Wendy's store in the Charlotte, NC suburb of Matthews and then emailed me to show me this photo of a class full of Brother sewing machines. It is such a great photo that I just had to share it with you.

The next thing you know Wendy called me. Wendy is so excited about how popular her sewing parties are that she is coming to visit me at Thanksgiving to show me photos and tell me more about how she runs her shop and what projects the students make with the Brother CS6000i machine. It seems that Wendy has bought all of these machines from a popular on-line retailer and in turn many of her students have also bought the same machines. Another nice compliment for Brother and great sewing machine.

Adina Levin calls herself an "ideator."

Adina is the co-owner of a "idea loft" in New York City. In this unique spot folks and teachers are gathering to share new ideas for old items. Adina recently told my friend George about how she will be partnering the highly successful robotic team at Stuyvesant High School in NYC with adult students at her lab in the first part of 2010. An exercise in what most people would see as role reversal, the adult students were learning from the teenage teachers. To see more about her concept you can visit www.collab-orators.com. Adina gathers students of all ages who want to learn more about sewing and up cycling for fun workshops. For those of you who clicked on the hyperlink for Collab-orators you had to have noticed the intriguing look of the huge loft that holds this think tank in NYC. The wood was up cycled barn wood brought down from a farm in upstate New York. Adina is a social networker and all I can say is that her enthusiasm for sewing is exciting. Adina also particpates in webinars on www.thedailygreen.com. Adina and I will be meeting at her loft in the near future.

Next week I will be headed to St. Louis, Missouri to work with Allyce King of DIY-Style. I can't wait to see how this recent fashion school grad is teaching other people how much fun it can be to sew.

Just had to share this photo of Halloween at our son's home in Aurora, Co. A week later the other son visited with his family and they were wearing shorts in 80 degree weather.

By for now!

June

No Matter Where I Go People Like to Talk About Sewing!

2009-10-30T18:00:00Z

People who know me know that I love to ask questions that generally lead to "six degrees of separation." Asking those questions usually leads to a discussion of sewing, and you know how much I love that. Recently I was asked to attend St. Louis Fashion week. Shouldn't need to tell you that it was in Missouri but I do not want to forget to tell you that it was great! This event was really organized and full of surprises. Night one was hosted by Jillian Lewis of Project Runway fame. The event began with some very ordinary looking models strolling (not strutting) down the runway. That seemed odd and we quickly learned why....it was actually the intro for an episode of "What Not to Wear" Out came Stacy London and Clinton Kelly and they quickly got busy finding their next fashion failure and plucked her from the audience and made the offer to "do her over" from head to toe. It was fun and I really can't wait to see how the girl looks without her furry boots and acrylic hair extensions. After that it was on with the show. The designers in the first event participated in Project Design, a contest sponsored by Brother International Corporation and hosted by Jillian Lewis of Project Runway fame. It was another exciting moment when I spoke and made the presentation of the Brother Project Runway LB6770 Sewing and Embroidery machine. The winner was Jelek and one of her winning garments is shown below. It was fantastic! Jelek was most deserving of the award!

The event was filled with lots of other fun experiences as well. The vendor area had the usual jewelry designers, clothing creators, make up artists, etc. By far one of the most unique was a couple who created custom bustiers for dress wear or underwear! They were cool!

On Friday the Divas from DIY-Style gave their first fashion show and it was another well prepared for event. The four young ladies who participated gave attendees a wonderful presentation of outfits to commemorate their support of *** cancer research, swim and resort wear, terrific silk cocktail dresses and of course a wedding dress. The model who was lucky enough to model this great gown was caught completely off guard when her fiancé popped the big question from the audience. She accepted his proposal and the wedding plans are underway! DIY-Style is based out of St. Louis and the designers that we met hasd just graduated from a local design school this year. Apparently the newly appointed Dean of their college was so impressed that she is going to host a repeat of this fabulous fashion show at the college in December. She was very proud of her students and wants to use their success to attract new students! On November 20 I will be visiting DIY-STYLE to tape a vod cast so keep posted for that story! If you know any young sewers they will love becoming a free subscriber to their vodcasts. Visit www.diystyle.net to see how much fun the Divas have.

There were plenty of cocktail events as well and trust me, everyone wanted to talk about sewing at those events too! The St. Louis Brother dealer was on hand too. Brother would not have had the great appearance that we did in the vendor area with out the support of Heyde Sewing. Karen and Jim Warren were great!

A few days after I returned home I headed to Panama to meet more people who wanted to talk about sewing. In this country Brother has a wonderful following and lots of people have bought the PR-650 so they can start a business. I got to meet a young gal of 18 who's dad decided that since she has a degree in graphic arts then she should open a business for screenprinting and embroidery. The perfect machine for her was the PR-650 and not long after opening day she had an order to embroider shirts for employees of her dad's spice factory. She will do great I am sure. The following day we met several hundred people who are involved in selling Brother printers but they were totally blown away by our embroidery machines and you could honestly see visitors to our booth think about how they could start their own business with an embroidery machine. They especially liked our Photostitch samples!

Well folks that's is about it for this week. Have a great day!

June

Life's a Beach

2009-10-02T18:00:00Z

Well since the last time I wrote I have celebrated my birthday in style and had a nice vacation to boot! My husband worked so hard to give a me a "Surprise Birthday" party and he really succeeded. It was a surprise party with a beach theme at a seashore restaurant. One of my brothers even sponsored having one of our son's come from Colorado to New York with his family to surprise me. I hear from so many of my friends how we are all so busy that we just never have a chance to get together....that is surely the truth. I am glad that I had the birthday so everyone could get together.

As I said, my husband and I also took a week's vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina recently. It was the perfect place to go in the "off season." We got to sightsee and hang out on the beach in beautiful weather. One of the things that impressed me in all of the souvenir shops was the monogrammed mugs and towels of course. It was very popular to get one of those mugs from the craft store that you can take apart and insert your favorite picture in. The creative folks inserted a striking piece of fabric like black with white polka dots and then put a hot pink monogram in the center. It was fun and a great gift. The collection also included key rings and luggage tags with an embroidered initial.

I am still keeping up with Project Runway and I have to be honest I now have a Facebook friendship with one of the contestants, Christopher Straub. He is so nice and I do love his creations. I just had to ask him how he made ruffles on his paper evening gown last week and he quickly shot me a link to his Facebook page so that I could have a closer look. He sure does have my curiosity each week for what he is going to create. During my recent trip to the Rachael Ray show, Chris was one of the featured Project Runway participants who got to show his creativity when it came to making a garment out of things found in the kitchen. What he did with a head of cabbage and Chinese food “to go” boxes was just so much fun. At that point Chris did not need to use the Brother machines that were on the show but he did jump right in and help the other gals who were sewing on tin foil and paper napkins to make cute little dresses. Each of the contestants were totally impressed at how easy it is to use the Brother NS-40. The show will have already been broadcast when you read this blog. I was sworn to secrecy and could not tell anyone what was going to happen on Oct. 1. Sorry...! ...Okay the show has now aired and I can tell you that he won the Racheal Ray challenge. Lucky guy!

In the middle of October I will be heading to Fashion Week in St. Louis and I really can't wait to see what that is going to be like. I am supposed to be meeting up with the DIY-Style Chicks. I have known one of the young ladies since she is about 10 years old and now she has her own cool web cast. You can see all that they have at www.diystyle.net The gals love to use the Brother PE-900D on the show as well. It's such a cool little machine I can't blame them. Check out the cool sewing projects on their site as well.

Before I close, I wanted to share a photo that I took at a quilt show recently. As it happened, Brother sponsored a class and that meant that the consumers all used our machines in the Brother classrooms. I was so impressed by one gal who whipped out her handy dandy cutting mat that fit perfectly on the extension table for the Brother QC-1000. All she had to do was slide her fabric over to the mat for quick rotary cutting and measuring. I just thought that was so cool. At lunch today we were saying how impressive the QC-1000 is at quilting and sewing. The oversized extension table makes this machine have one of the largest sewing areas in the industry and when the over-sized thread spool stand is attached...you are ready to quilt for hours. This machine will be featured in the classrooms at the International Quilt Show from Oct. 10-18 in Houston, Texas. There will be a handy Brother drop-in room at the show if you want to sit down and give this machine a test drive!

Take Care folks,

June Mellinger

Threads are not all the same and neither are the methods to embroider towels

2009-09-11T17:00:00Z

Threads for Thought: Two New Lines for Your Next Project

Experienced decorators know that quality lies stitch deep. With so many thread options to choose from, embroiderers can customize the look and feel of every project they produce. Further expanding its line of quality threads, Brother International Corporation has introduced the addition of two new thread lines, Country Yarn and Metallic, to its already extensive family. Both threads add new innovative options for embroiderers looking to add a unique touch to their next project, while maintaining a quality fiber developed to withstand high-speed sewing and embroidery machines.

Brother's traditional thread line-up consists of 100% polyester. The Country Yarn thread line is constructed using a polyester core wrapped with cotton. This design gives decorators the benefits of a strong polyester core paired with a softer, matte finish. "Polyester thread tends to give off a slight sheen, or shiny appearance," says June Mellinger, director of education for Brother. "The cotton-wrapped polyester yarn adds a unique country aesthetic that lends itself well to certain projects like quilting."

Brother's line of metallic threads also taps into current trends in the embroidery world. "If you look at ready-to-wear pieces, home décor and other crafts, metallic threads are becoming popular again as a way to add touches of color that make embroidery pop," says Mellinger. For a hip multimedia effect on a budget, consider utilizing both the metallic and country yarn threads on your next apparel project.

I was busy looking around the AnnTheGran site....I know "there's a concept!" and I discovered that you can buy an item that I think is an absolute "must have!" for anyone who embroiders. It the Peggy's Stitch eraser . I want to be honest...I bought one of these about 15 years ago and it has rested in the drawer of my cutting table without being used (not that I havn't unsewn anything over the years) but none the less I just forgot to use it. I was recently at a trade show and being bored I decided to embroider my shirts. Shirt #1 was great, Shirt #2 was not. The motif was crooked....had to be fixed. Honestly I was ready to dump the shirt in the trash but a co-worker looked at me like I was crazy and quickly reminded me that a Peggy's Stitch Eraser would make it easy to unsew the crooked motif and start anew. I took the shirt home and opened the drawer, took out the tool and the results were amazing. Stitches were quickly erased and I was able to embroider the motif in the correct spot. Shirt saved, lesson learned! If you want to see how this nifty little lifesaver works there is even a video to view.

This morning I got a phone call from my friend in Brother National Service...the guys who repair the machines at Brother...he wanted to ask me if I thought it was possible that people still did not know how to embroider a terry cloth towel....I chuckled and quickly responded, "are you kidding, of course!" To help my reader's out I have attached a quick project for embroidering on towels with a nap, and the project has a few other tips for successful embroidery as well.

One of the big issues that my caller had was that a customer was trying to embroider a towel and the embroidery foot kept getting caught on the topper.

That happened to me last week when I was making this cute litte burp cloth.....the heel of the embroidery foot got caught on the topper as I was embroidering the frame.....bad moment. If I had not been in a rush and took the time to tack down the topper I would not have that moment. Lesson learned, disaster almost!

Well gang....Project Runway is over and Qristyl Frazier, the Plus Size Designer did not make the cut....She seemed to have a death wish between last week and this week. Her garments just didn't seem to make it as far as the judges were concerned. Oh well.

This week we all need to remember "9-11" and I have to say that I think it is good idea to consider how we can volunteer our services to help others as a show of recognition of this memorable day in history. I am going to make a committment to help a "cause" this year. Are you?

Have a great week!

June

Sewing in the kitchen with NS40 Project Runway machine!

2009-09-04T16:30:00Z

You just never know who is going to be on the other end of the phone line when you get a call these days! Just the other day my phone rang at 4 pm on a Friday and it was the "Rachael Ray" show calling. Honest! An associate producer of the show was wondering if I had 4 NS40 Project Runway machines in my office and could I loan them to her for a show taping 4 days later. These are the kind of last minute calls I get all the time so nothing surprises me. Of course I wanted to know the "what, when and where" about the show. I can not tell you every thing but suffice it to say...Rachael is going to have a fun show on or about Oct. 1 featuring this machine and what you can achieve with it if you are creative! I will be at the taping being done this week in New York City so I will have the real skinny on what happens so as they say in TV-land "stay tuned."

If you have not had a chance to give either of the NS models a test drive, I would highly recommend visiting a Brother sewing machine dealer at their store or at one of the many consumer sewing shows that are coming up this fall. The NS model is good looking, sews like a dream and easy to tote from your home to anywhere you may be headed to sew or quilt! One of my young friends tells me that when she brings her NS40 to sewing club, everyone begs to try it out. She even told me a funny story about when her sewing club comes to her small apartment. Apparently her apartment is so small that there is only room for the person and their machine when they meet, so if they want to try out her extra Brother machine they have to actually put the extra machine in the hallway of her apartment. I can remember those small apartment days myself!

The kids are just about all back to school and I am already hearing about Halloween costume ideas. Two of my grandchildren are going to be BamBam and Fancy Nancy. That means that not only do they have to let the little boys hair grow longer so he looks like his character but my DIL will be getting busy making the appropriate costumes. The Fancy Nancy costume is going to mean working with lots of slippery fabric but she knows that if she uses the right accessories with her Brother machine she will have no trouble creating a cute and orginial costume. For that sheer fabriic she is going to need a straight stitch foot and plate to keep the fabric from getting caught in the feed dogs and she also wants to use the Brother ruffler foot for those cute little ruffles on the dress and the matching socks. The BamBam costume needs a caveman garment made out of leather-like fabric and to keep that fabric feeding like it should she is going to put the teflon foot on the machine for perfect and reliable feeding.

It may seem redundant to mention things like using the right sewing accessory foot for the job but honestly it makes all the difference. Halloween costumes and wedding ensembles seem to be the real challenges for anyone who sews but many issues can be resolved with a small investment. Take a few moments and re-read the instruction manual that came with your machine to learn how to use the feet that came with the machine and note the settings that give you the best results.

To prove my comments, note that last evening one of the contestants on season six Project Runwa made the dress below. Ramon's surf-garment was a creation that he felt represented a mode; emerging from the sea. Clearly he had the challenge of working with very sheer fabric. He understood the need to sew at the right speed, with the right thread and so forth. Great look and good results. His second garment was constructed from neo-prene fabric and again he had to make the right sewing choices to put the garment together.

Well I have to run home to see "Sam the Tile Man" about a project in my front hallway! BFN!

June

You won't want to miss this...

2009-08-20T03:16:00Z

Tomorrow nite, Thursday, August 20, Lifetime televison you will be able to resume the fun of watching Project Runway. The show that people of all ages love to watch week after week as the next designer heads to the finish line. Tim and Heidi have moved it to Lifetime Televison. Personally I am very curious to watch this season from the first episode since I was most fortunate to attend Fashion week at the "tents" in Bryant Park in New York City this past spring. Having attended previous Project Runway events in NYC I was curious as to how this one would be presented since "season 6" had not even been on TV yet. The presentation was like previous Project Runway events except for one thing...none of the designer finalists were presented to the attendees. The audience only saw the collections from the finalists. We did get to see Tim Gunn as he was presented as a judge since J. Lo (Jennifer Lopez for those of you who are wondering about that nickname) had fallen and hurt her ankle the day before. Heidi was also there but did not have to finish the event saying "Auf Wiedersehen" since there were no finalists to recognize (but I am sure they were in the audience)!

Tomorrow nite's show will be different for other reasons...there will be 2 other shows prior to PR Season 6 that feature former contestants....and models!

Lest I forget....Brother continues to be the exclusive sewing machine sponsor for Project Runway and boy has that been a neat experience. We have been able to be part of Jillian Lewis' journey to success in the fashion world. Last spring I had an action packed March with Jillian. I got to attend her Fall 2009 Collection showing at a very fashionable salon in the trendy "meatpacking district" of New York City and the next day as part of the introduction of Fashion Week in New York City, I was invited to help her ring the closing bell at NASDAQ . I have to tell you that when we took our grandchildren to see Lion King a few months before, we stood at theatre window gazing across the street from NASDAQ and I never imagined being part of this very exciting experience. A few hours later I was home in Metuchen dining out at a local restaurant and I chuckled to myself as my husband said, "I'll bet no one in this restaurant would believe that you helped "ring the closing bell at NASDAQ" today. I am sure he was right about that!

Brother has also had a great opportunity to have "Daniel and Wesley" of last season fame help our dealer in Peoria host a publicity event for FCCLA....Family, Career, Community Leaders of America if you are wondering....

These fellows did a super job of hosting the finals for a Project Runway competition at this convention...from what I am told, they stayed for hours gving interviews and signing autographs. If you want to learn more about this event, click here. You will not believe how much money the winner invested in her garment and how she made it!

In case you have not heard Brother has a full line of Project Runway sewing and embroidery machines. So if you are feeling like the next designer or you know a young person with big dreams, now is the time to check out these well priced machines! To learn more about the complete line up and special offers please click here.

Well it's time for me to get my beauty sleep so I can be ready to watch Season 6 tomorrow nite! I hope you will too!

June

It's HOT!!!

2009-08-13T02:53:00Z

It's HOT!!! Here in NJ it has finally passed the 90 degree mark...now it's summer for real.

It's HOT!!! Remember that I promised that there would be great new machines introduced at the annual Brother convention? When our dealers convened in Memphis last week they couldn't help be wowed by the new PR650 Entrepreneur 6 needle embroidery machine. Imagine combining the many of the features of the Quattro embroidery machine with what many folks think is the best stand alone embroidery machine in the business. It is really cool! Brother educators will be demonstrating this terrific machine all of the country in the coming weeks. Call your local dealer today to learn more!

It's HOT!!! Last week we got our monthly magazine from Acura and there was a tiny little article about a gal who stumbled upon a warehouse full of unused automobile upholstery. A sewer since a young age, Kim White (www.kimwhitehandbags.com) found a niche market by creating really cool handbags with her find. Imagine this handbag gracing a 1975 AMC Gremlin.

I love the fact that when you buy a handbag she includes the history of the fabric. I even found a story on the Chicago Tribune web site that you might enjoy. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/green/sns-vintage-car-purses,0,4888047.story Kim recently add vintage furniture fabrics to her line of handbags as well. Cool stuff!

It's HOT!!! I spent 30 minutes yesterday afternoon catching up with my old friend Mary Ann from Clearwater, FL. Every so often Mary Ann gives me a call to ask my opinion about a new Brother product that she is interested in buying. Mary Ann and her sister have been using PC8500's for many years. Mary Ann is proud to say she has every Brother memory card ever made as well as PE-Design. What a fan! This week Mary Ann got a brochure for the Quattro NV6000D and she instantly fell in love with it. The price was a stumbling block for a retired person but when I shared with her the new features of a NV2800D, Mary Ann felt like she could tap her savings account and move up to a larger embroidery field. Turns out that Mary Ann has been saving a black denim jacket to add embroidery to the jacket back. The 10 x 6" hoop will let her do that! She can also get a border frame to add embellishment to the tablecloths she loves to make for her friends!

It's HOT!! More new machine news! The NV2800D....a cool new combo machine with popular features today's embroider's love....connection marks for easy linking of embroidered designs, pivot function for quilters, and more. The PE780D---- a cool little stand alone embroidery machine with more Disney designs, 5 x7" embroidery and a handy USB connection. An NV1250D sewing and embroidery machine for 5 x 7" and now with Disney designs too....I personally love how cool this machine looks, it has a cute little Disney border that streams along the cover of the machine.

A few weeks ago, we did a photo shoot for all of these machines and I couldn't believe how neat they all were.

Dealers at our convention were able to order these machines for August delivery so if you are interested like my friend Mary Ann is, call your local Brother dealer today. If you are looking for a Brother dealer use the dealer locator at www.brothersews.com.

Its HOT!!!

Well friends that's all for ths week. Take care and find a way to stay cool!

June Mellinger

What's growing in your garden?

2009-07-24T15:45:00Z

On a beautiful sunny afternoon last weekend I got to take a garden walk with my mom (red dress) . As I am sure you can imagine, it was a pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon. We were with my mom's fellow Garden Club members and in and amongst the ladies was my high school algebra teacher. I couldn't decide if that was funny or depressing. I decided not to consider how many things had happened to me since she was my algebra teacher. Instead I remembered how she broke her leg the day she started school and because of the nature of the fracture she had to stay home and we had a substitute teacher for about 6 mos. I always blamed that experience on why I do not like algebra. When I went back to school a few years ago to complete my degree, I cringed when they would not take my college algebra credits and I had to do it all over again....and to boot, this time I had to use the math function in my computer to post the probem. If you have never done something like that take a word from the wise, "Don't!" I think I aged 10 years trying to learn how to use that function in my computer.

I have some great photos of my husband and grandaughter that show the Photostitch function in PE-Design.

As you can see by the photo above flowers have a great potential in PE-Design as well. I wanted to share these ideas with you so that all of you that have a version of PE-Design that has the Photostitch function built-in to it will take the time to learn how to use this fun feature. It really is not that hard and the new versions of PE-Design have a handy "wizard feature" that does all the work for you! So the next time you have your digital camera out don't be afraid to take some photos of flowers and import them into PE-Design and create an original work of art! If you have an old photo that you would like to experiment with simply scan the photo (many of today's printers have a scanning function or take the photo to photo retailer for scanning) and then import the digital form of the photo into PE-Design. www.brothersews.com

Remember you can use PE-Design with any embroidery machine manufactured by Brother, including you PR-600 machines! So have fun!

Well readers, it is time for me to get back to my job and this week it entails getting everything ready to take to a photoshoot tomorrow and then continuing another big project with excel sheets that have 20,000 line items. I am sure that none of you want to know about how to have that much fun!

Take care and have a great day!

June

Girl Friend Get Togethers

2009-07-10T15:00:00Z

As it happens I have 2 daughter in laws who are quite entrepreneurial! This week Kendal was invited to bring her Pampered Chef product to an event that had 50 attendees who also got to look at other wares that included aprons. As it happens a local gal has begun a business making aprons, this got me to thinking….this apron thing is an opportunity for a whole new business. Kendall already took her PC apron and glitzed it up with sewer's jewels so why not start making all kinds of cute aprons and sell them. The photo shown is not the one I wanted to share with you but it will do! It's for our friend Jared's deli!

The one I really wanted to share was my son Greg wearing his apron that exclaimend "Stinky's Barbeque", its fun and he wears it to his neighborhood grill outs. I happen to have an apron that has plenty of stories attached to it. A friend who worked for Simplicity at the time made a pretty quilted apron for a Holiday auction and I bought it. I still wear the apron despite the fact that it is thread bare and does not fit quite the way it used to. That doesn't matter, what does matter is what I was thinking about or doing all the times that I was wearing it. So my idea would be to take a thought from the scrapbooking business and make aprons that have pockets in them to hold your memories! Have to share that idea with my other DIL.

For those of you that loved to sew you will love the new Circular Sewing Tool from Brother. It is so cool. Attach it to your Brother Sewing machine and use those decorative stitches to sew in endless circles or create perfect layers of fabric that can be turned right side out to make easy and perfect flounces. To learn more about this cool new tool visit http://www.brothersews.com and search for SACIRC1 or just click here.

Last month I was reading a copy of Fons and Porters' Love of Quilting and saw a quilt dedicated to a Beatles fan. I recenty recalled this story to my friend Jean Nolte who is the editor of this magazine:

Dear Jean

I read your May/June issue and when I saw the “Beatles” quilt. I immediately started to look for a photo of a quilt that we saw on a trip to London a few years ago. Imagine being singled out of a crowd to go down to the vault at the Hard Rock Café in London! My husband and I had just finished our dinner and we were invited to do just that. What really blew my mind was to see a very important guitar belonging to Eric Clapton resting against a beautiful quilt. I found it to be amazing to see a quilt among the rock memorabilia.

It is probably fortuitous not to have found the picture until now anyway since this weekend my husband I got to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Looking at the vast collection of rock star costumes I was surprised to see how quilted fabrics were often part of a coat or hat. Interesting. Jimi Hendrix had a jacket made of velvet squares quilted together. I guess us quilters were meant to be swingers!

So all you closet rockers get out your crazy fabrics and start quilting or sewing! Have a great week!

June

PS my vacation was great....hot and sunny!

Cool things to make your life easier

2009-06-19T18:00:00Z

I travel a lot and after a while people-watching gets old so I turn to reading. I have been in a book club with 6 friends for 10 years and every month there is a new book to read...that adds up to a lot of books. About a year ago with the green initiative in full force I decided to invest in a Kindle from Amazon. With my new Kindle I could eliminate buying books every month and save a few trees. It turned out that I loved only having to carry one book and of course I loved how cool I looked sitting on the beach or in an airport reading my Kindle. It didn't take long for folks to ask me about it and soon after Christmas I began to see more and more folks reading from a Kindle on a plane! I might add that I am seeing more and more folks knitting with bamboo needles, on planes these days as well, but that's another story. Back to my Kindle....it should not be surprising to you that I was a prime candidate to upgrade to the next version the second that it came out in February. I did and I love it even more. I can sit at book club and with the wireless connection turned on I can download the next month's book instantly at a lower price than the big box stores. If a friend mentions a neat book, I can even download a preview to see if I agree with her taste before I buy the book. I have over 200,000 titles at my finger tips and I can load up my Kindle with more books and music then I could ever listen to but who cares its like fabric or thread...you can never have enough. So if you want to learn more go to www.brothersews.com for the latest info on what machines come with the limited time offer! Trust me once you try one of these handy little devices there is no turning back. It's like having a GPS....you can't figure out how you lived without it. A Quatro and Kindle....whew I am too cool for words!

The next cool thing that I would love to tell you about is how much fun you can have with the Photostitch feature found on PE-Design. Brother has had this exciting feature for several years but honestly it just keeps on getting easier and easier to use! Who doesn't have a digital camera these days? When you are out in the garden this summer...and by the way that would be a challenge in the northeast because I think it has been raining for a zillion days now! When I do get out into the garden I can grab a photo of one of the fabulous flowers that I planted and after I have saved the picture into my computer I can import into PE-Design and the Photostitch wizard will magically turn my pixels into stitches. I can tweak the run pitch and so forth but honestly there is not much to worry about. Below you can see the before and after....The bag on the left is the photo image printed on fabric and on the right we applied the fun Photostitch method. I just love how we made a border with floral fabric and then appliqued the photo stitched fabric to the floral fabric and then appliqued it all on to a tote. Doesn't it look cool? I'll let you in on a secret....we covered up some advertising on the bag with the applique...gotta keep the green initiative going! Recycle! I have done this to several bags myself!

Well folks despite the fact that it is raining cats and dogs here I am ready to pack up my Kindle, bathing suit and dominoes and head off on vacation. Take care and enjoy the summer!

PS....do you think I will have time to make 6 cute pillowcases for my grandchildren to use on vacation....I only need to add 2 more hours to this day to get that job done! TTFN....(who knew in 1969 we were ahead of the texting curve with our initials for things like "ta ta for now"!)

June Brides...Old and New!

2009-05-29T15:30:00Z

Did you hear me laughing this morning?

I was reading an email from Quilter's World magazine and they were recommending that you re-purpose a wedding dress into a christening gown. Not a bad idea, but for me that would never have worked because I had a mini-length wedding dress! I remember that it took me a long time to "come out" and share this fact with friends because all of their wedding portraits in traditional gowns. Heck, my bridesmaid even bought a full length gown and cut it to mini-length! After about 20 years I finally gave up the ghost and hung our wedding portrait for all to see and I was amazed to find out that I was not the only style conscious bride at the time. There were lots of gals who had worn those minn-length gowns.

Always wanting to create traditions and memories for my husband and sons I did find a way to re-purpose that mini-wedding dress a few years ago. I made a ringbearer pillow for our third son's wedding. As you can see I used the lace for the trim, the skirt for the pillow and I added some embroidery and a memory was made. I have to admit though that I did walk around the house for several hours before I put a scissor to a dress that had sat unpreserved in a box for 36 years. I even called my mom for permission to cut. As I am sitting here, I am thinking that I should take the dress that now has a big hole cut in it, out of the drawer and fashion a little gift from it to give my husband on our 40th anniversary next month. I can use my new Quattro to embroider a pretty new image and the edge sewing feature to add perfect top stitching along the edges of a new pillow.

Here is another re-purposing idea....in speaking to a friend who is going to a Crazy Quilt convention this summer, she told me that she has to bring a prom gown to "share" with others. One of the evening functions is to lay out the gowns on tables and everyone will have the chance to take pieces of fabrics and trims for their next Crazy Quilt. That sounds like a lot of fun to me.

This past week I was filming with Martha Pullen for the next season of Sew with Martha on PBS. We had lots of fun and it reminded me that that is what sewing is all about, making new friends and seeing the old ones. During the taping process, people are coming and going each day so you have a chance to see lots of friends and share the new ideas and ask questions about the old ideas. This year my project featured a pretty white blouse with panels the front that had been finished with a narrow hem and bridged with pretty decorative bridging stitches from the Quattro.

I loved using my narrow hemmer foot and managed my bridging with the adjustable blind hem foot. I have to admit that I had a lot of fun sewing my blouse last weekend. I even used my narrow hemmer to finish all of the inner seams of the blouse. It looked so professional when I was done! The tough part of doing this show, is that whatever you make for the show, you must leave it behind for books that they write!

Hope that you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend and don't forget those who have served our country and those that are serving us as you read this!