My Friend Judy

I’ve known Judy for almost 20 years! Visiting her at Milwaukee Sewing Machine Company where she has worked for many decades.

What can I say about friends…. The best friends are the ones that you have shared common interests, laughed through fun times and the conversations you enjoy with them leave off and start, even if there is a year in between. Judy definitely falls into that friendship. When I first met her at Milwaukee Sewing quite a bit of time ago, I was looking for my first sewing machine. I really connected with her because of her kindness and ability to relate to your learning level of understanding. She has that ASMR voice that is so calming too which is a gift to be had. At that time we hadn’t established a friendship outside of the sewing store, until my friend Jane introduced me to Judy at a card making camp with Stampin’ Up! I want to say almost 10 years ago, I became apart of a local card making group that got together once a month and Judy was always there. What a small world right? That is kind of how my love for sewing never went away, even when I started stamping and card making. Having connections to talented friends like Judy, you learn great techniques of the trade. Two of those things I will share with you in this post and they were game changers for me with sewing!

I only use Topstitch Needles for sewing most things over a Universal Needle. I prefer size 90, but will use an 80 for lighter weight fabrics.

So the first tip I learned from Judy was when I was struggling to get a perfect looking stitch using canvas fabrics from IKEA. I used to make tote bags and pillows from their designer collection of fun prints. Using an old Pfaff 6122 Tipmatic mechanical machine, I found that my stitches looked crooked instead of aligned some of the time. I always used a Universal 90 back in those days and had this challenge every time I made a tote. At one of our card making groups I shared some of my projects and asked Judy if she had an idea to correct this. She said try a Topstitch needle. I had thought maybe my machine was out of alignment or the tension was off. But as it turns out, she was right! Topstitch needle gave me perfect sewn seams and topstitched lines. This was a huge game changer for me in my sewing world. No more thread breaks, skipped and crooked stitches. Whether it be on my Bernina’s, Pfaff’s or Viking machines, the results were consistently the same with this needled. I had a Bernina 630 that was finicky about thread types, but after going with a topstitch needled, I never had a quality issue with stitches on that machine either. Years later, I watched a YouTube video put out by Superior Threads talking about the reasons why sewers should always use Topstitch needles when sewing. Realized this was a professional tip too. I think we just go to Universal needles, cause that is what comes with our machines. But learning about what other types of needles can do, is so empowering! The only time I don’t use a Topstitch needle is when I do machine embroidery or sew with very unique fabrics (which isn’t very often). Give it a try and if it works, give Judy a huge thanks!

Cover Up topper tear away stabilizer is another game changer for embroidering terry towels and any fabric with a top texture.

The second tip I learned from Judy was in the world of machine embroidery. Machine embroider is fun, but just like quilting, there are many steps to get perfect results. One of those steps, is stabilizer. When embroidering towels that have a terry texture, the most common practice is to use a medium to light weight tear away under the towel and a water soluble topper to keep the terry threads from popping up through your embroidery. I mean, that sort of makes sense, but what if you want to wash the towel? The water soluble topper washes away too…lol. Then over time, the terry threads will pop up through your embroidery and the stitches loose their firm structure. It was maddening that no one had an alternate solution and I would get a blank stare from my dealers when I scratched my head at their solution. It just bothered me…LOL. Once again, I was talking to my friend Judy about 10 years ago when I was doing a big embroidery project with terry towels. She right away agreed with me and professionals use a vinyl topper that doesn’t wash away. She showed me this product called Cover Up that is carried at Milwaukee Sewing. (I haven’t been able to find it any where else). They have a website too. I was skeptical cause of the thickness going through two layers a stabilizer and a towel. But she recommended using a size 90 embroidery needle. If you look at the results above, you will see how perfect it is. I tried a thinner plastic topper from OESD, which I had to special order and it just doesn’t hold the stitches up as nicely as the product Cover Up. You want the lettering or your design to pop up a little to support the satin stitches. It creates a long lasting support structure so you can wash your towels like normal and the embroidery looks just as good as when it was stitched out. So if you do machine embroidery, you need to have this stabilizer topper in your collection. And yes, it tears away beautifully with no visible signs of stabilizer showing through.

On of the added benefits of using a tear away topper on terry cloth towels if you need to trim extra stitches or jump stitches. It’s so easy to get your thread snips under those threads with the topper as a barrier.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today and appreciate my friend Judy with me. We have had some fun times together at IKEA over the years as well as our card making group. I’ll share a few photos below. Hopefully her tips she shared with me with be a game changer for you as well!

Leave a comment below if someone in your life shared something that influenced the way you create.

Happy sewing and embroidering!

Make sure to give your friends a hug too.

Hugs,

Scott