Episode Twenty: Sewing Machine Maintenance For Beginners

Host Deborah Moebes guides you through THREE chapters covering everything you want and need to know about bias tape.  Chapter One: What Is It, and Why?  Chapter Two: What to make with bias tape.  Chapter Three: Continuous bias tape, step by step.   Read more here: https://whip-stitch.com/?s=bias+tape

Have you ever heard of a SEWING tournament?  You've heard of a basketball tournament, and a bowling tournament, but a SEWING tournament?  The League of Dressmakers, Whipstitch's subscription garment club for sewing better clothing, has an Annual Sewing Tournament, the only one of its kind.  The next round starts the first week of March 2024, and you can be part of the fun! Listen to Whipstitch founder Deborah Moebes share the inspiration and concept behind the sewing tournament, the challenges involved, and the unexpected outcomes for members who play along. Want to take part?  Join The League: https://leagueofdressmakers.com

Host Deborah Moebes shares the story of sewing a men's sport coat from a Vogue sewing pattern, only to have it fail miserably--and what that reveals about her own (accidental) pursuit of perfectionism in her sewing. Read the original blog post here: https://whip-stitch.com/mens-sport-coat-reveal/

This year is the NINTH year of the Murder Mystery Quilt, and we're headed to GREECE!  Hear Deborah Moebes share the colors and design of the quilt, the mystery we'll be solving, and how you can also join Murder At Yellowstone for a limited time.   Learn more: MurderMysteryQuilt.com  

In this episode, Deborah shares a visit to Manzanar, an American internment camp for citizens of Japanese ancestry during World War II.  The ways in which sewing formed community, relationships, and identity for those Americans during this tumultuous time should be honored and remembered.  These are Great Women In Sewing. Read a full transcript, complete with links & more posts in the Great Women In Sewing blog series, here: https://whip-stitch.com/great-women-in-sewing-the-seamstresses-of-manzanar/

Deborah discusses the near-death of her beloved sewing machine, her relationship with her local sewing machine repair shop, and how to maintain our sewing machines so that we don't need repairs as often--and at lower cost. Atlanta locals, the repair shop Deborah uses is the Atlanta Sewing Center, which has two locations: https://www.atlantasewing.com/ Read Deborah's original blog post with these details and show notes here: https://whip-stitch.com/tag/sewing-machine-maintenance/ Deborah's post about the "Three Most Common Sewing Mistakes--and How To Fix Them" is here: https://whip-stitch.com/answers-to-the-three-most-frequent-sewing-machine-questions/ Deborah's bulk sewing machine needle purchase link is here (this is an affiliate link): https://amzn.to/3XvtCre The sewing machine cover Deborah mentions, which is both in her book Stitch Savvy and a part of the How To Sew video series, you can see here: https://whip-stitch.com/quilted-sewing-machine-cover/ For more information about the How To Sew video series, see the League of Dressmakers blog post: https://leagueofdressmakers.com/how-to-sew-video-series-master-your-sewing/ For more about rubbing alcohol to clean your tension discs, see this post from the National Quilters Circle The sewing machine oil with a telescoping spout is here: https://amzn.to/3CNd7NS Need a new sewing machine instruction manual, especially for a vintage model?  Try this archive: https://archive.org/details/manuals?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22sewing+machine%22&sort=-publicdate The post where Deborah looks at images of sewing thread under the microscope is here: https://whip-stitch.com/your-thread-has-a-shelf-life/    

Deborah shares FOUR questions that will help you narrow down your sewing machine options, whether you're buying a first sewing machine or buying a replacement sewing machine.  Then, she shares the SIX non-negotiable features that every sewing machine ought to have--along with where and how to buy a great machine for less money!   Read a transcript of this episode here: https://whip-stitch.com/how-to-choose-a-sewing-machine

Deborah talks about how to get UNSTUCK when you don't know how to get started sewing--whether sewing is brand-new to you, or whether you're feeling stalled out and need new ideas. Read an abridged transcript of this episode on the Whipstitch blog: https://whip-stitch.com/how-to-get-back-into-sewing/ Learn more about the Murder Mystery Quilt mentioned in this episode here: http://murdermysteryquilt.com/about Learn more about the League of Dressmakers mentioned in the episode here: https://leagueofdressmakers.com/about/  

Listen as Deborah Moebes shares the history of the Murder Mystery Quilt, her subscription clue where quilters join Clue Crews to read an original detective story while sewing a quilt they've never seen, so they can sew the quilt to solve the crime!     Registration for the 2023 Murder Mystery Quilt is now open: https://murdermysteryquilt.com/join-2023

Almost exactly one year ago, Deborah set a goal to sew FIVE quilts as a Christmas gift for 2022.  But they aren't any old quilt--they're the Project Of Doom, a notoriously challenging foundation paper pieced Harry Potter-themed bookcase quilt.  This episode, she updates us on her progress, even though it's only October, and discusses how she sews Christmas pajamas every year for the whole family by starting far soon in the calendar than she really likes. Along the way, join in this thought-provoking discussion of how handmade is a part of YOUR holiday, how ambitious plans can be handled with some self-compassion, and how we can evaluate our progress on sewing projects by viewing it through the lens of how much joy it brings us IN THE PROCESS. Read more about the Whipstitch Project of Doom here: https://whip-stitch.com/the-quilt-of-doom-harry-potter-quilts-for-five/