Decorative Stitches and Needle Effects.
France was wonderful. I was only away for three days, if I count the total travel, but it is always such a great happy feeling and energy to get to see new places, as well as the people and my friends in the sales company.
And a big WOW for me was when managed to travel on my own with train and bus from Avignon to Marseille Airport. The first thing that happened on this trip was that the lady in the ticket office said this to me: - I do not understand any English. I simply had to use my poor French and managed to get the person to understand what I wanted. (I certainly need to practise my French a bit more, it’s such a beautiful language.)
This week I am going to prepare for my next trip and that will be to Drammen in Norway, near Oslo. There I will have workshops and a presentation of the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery System for the Norweigan dealers. I will make some more samples before I go, so I will need to start to sew the embroideries now. I have forget to tell you about the videos in the 5D Learning Center. They explain many of the features of the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery System.
The dresscode for the Nordic sales company meetings are going to be sewn clothes in a color code of: Black, white and red. However we can sew anything we like, which is good! I have decided to create a jacket and a new dress. I hope I will get them both done by next week. (Remember always shoot for the Stars – and you will always get at least to the moon.)
The jacket is going to be embellished with decorative stitches sewn with a twin needle. I thought it could be a good idea to let you see what you can do by using different kinds of sewing machine needles. (There are many more needles to choose from in your store!) Here are some of the different possibilities:
• Inspira Wingneedle.
Wing needle is great for decorative hem stitching on tightly woven natural fiber fabrics. The “wing” creates small holes by separating the fibers, when used with hemstitches, like the entredeux stitch.
• Inspira Top Stitch Needle.
Can be used in the same way as the Wing needle, and it will create holes that is slightly smaller than created by the Wing needle.
It’s great when you want to hem a pair of jeans using a heavier jeans thread or cotton thread.
Note: You need to have a stabiliser underneath the fabric when you use any of those two needles.
• Inspira Twin Needle.
I have taken pictures of my test piece of different stitches using the twin needle, and a detail of a blouse we made for the HUSQVARNA VIKING® H|CLASS E10.
My sample is showing how I will decorate my jacket on the edges and sleeves. 
I also use the Stretch Twin needle for hemming sweatshirts and t-shirts in knitted fabrics. It gives the final touch to a garment.
There are many different sizes of twin needles to choose from. From Twin 1.6/70 up to Twin 6.0/100. Select size depending on the weight of your fabric, and wanted look. (Choose a Stretch Twin Needle for knitted fabrics.)
Note: Make sure you select Twin Needle Safety on your sewing machine if it has got that feature. It will, once you selected your Twin needle width, limit all the stitches to that width to prevent damage to your needle. Attach the B-Foot, and use the manual for instruction how to thread the sewing machine for two threads.
If you havn’t tried those different needles before, you should. It will create a nice and personal look.
Have a great sewing week until next time!
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please send an email to: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-09-03
5D on my mind!
I have been waiting so for letting you know about the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery System. No I can finally tell you more! I have been part of the developing process of this new embroidery system and as a member of the team I have been part of creating the marketing material and sewing samples and that is great fun. (I know; I love my job!) I hope you like what you see of this new Software system both feature-wise and the marketing material and sewing projects!
This week I will show you some of the new features in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery™/ HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery Extra. One of the new functions is called “snap to” and that is a great new thing. What it does is; when you have one embroidery on your work area selected and want to add a text above, or around the design, you click on apply and it will automatically snap to the design, so you do not need to move it to the center of the embroidery design. Very neat! The same thing is happening when you use the frames, as long as the design is selected, the frame will be snapping to the design you have on the work area. It’s magic!
Included this week is the Sewing instruction for the Quilt tag: Made with Love by Mom.
Click here to see the instruction >
You can easily make changes for your own tag; change the colors to fit your sewing project and select any of the 119 pre digitized fonts, to make it look the way you want.
There are a lot of new embroidery designs included in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D Embroidery Software package! See on the sample above. It was made for the aprons on the 5D™ Embroidery package.
Another highlight is the Encore using Shapes! Use any of the 20 different shapes that goes with the 5D™ Embroidery, and play with your designs, it’s fantastic. Here is an example so you can see what it looks like.
I will be coming back to the 5D™ Embroidery system further on in my blog, with more of how to work with the new features in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Design Creator.There are so many new cool things to try out.
Kerstin 60 years!
Kerstin have been sewing most of the sewing samples for the 5D™ Embroidery system. She had her 60th birthday last week, and was out of the office on vacation. Here is how we prepared her office for her return!
We put embroidery threads on her whole desk and on top the sewing machines, and we also put a mannequin with a wig as chair, so when she showed up, she was very surprised to find a person sitting on her chair.
Hope you like my idea to sew the sweets with a four thread overlock stitch to create a decoration. I was in a hurry when I sew it otherwise I think it would have been even better if I would had used a ribbon to add in the stitch. It can a perfect Christmas tree decoration too, don’t you agree?
This weekend I will travel to France, and be part of a Dealer meeting in Avignon. My main task will be to present the 5D™ Embroidery System!
Happy Sewing!
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please send an email to: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-08-27
Cutwork in the easiest way!
Wow, I can´t stop! Today I have started using the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Embroidery Cutwork Needle kit, and the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Embroidery Collection #230 “Easy Cutwork”. I haven’t tried it earlier as I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop once I start.
The new "Easy Cutwork" design collection is very generous - it includes many designs: 10 designs for the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Large Hoop 240x150, 11 designs for the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Hoop 170x100 and 21 bonus elements complementing the other designs. Follow the instructions in the booklet that comes when you buy the whole collection and you will find how convenient it is to sew the beautiful cutwork designs.
The designs can be used without the Cutwork Needle Kit. However, be aware it involves a lot of small areas to cut by hand.
My sewing projects:
In the office I started to try on a linen fabric, and I think it looks fabulous. So I brought a piece of the fabric with me home to wash it before I start with the embroidery just to make sure it won’t shrink later on. (I do not want it to become too “small” for me!)
At home I started a second project. The second fabric is a medium weight knit, in a deep brown color, suitable for the fall. Hope you can see the wonderful cutwork areas with the decorative honeycomb stitches in the cutwork area. I have not decided what I will make out of this yet, I cut a big enough piece for a skirt, or a part of a top. It will be some kind of a garment anyway.
Helene, has made a top in a softer knit, in lightweight knit fabric. She also made a fantastic bag with one of the bonus designs from the collection. Great to use when going to the beach for example. Note: The embroidery is sewn on heavy transparent plastic (I bought that in a craft store.) You can also sew on vinyl, paper, leather and suede.
Barbara used the stand-alone embroidery designs to create a bracelet and she did also add them on her shoes. Fun, fun, fun!
I have included more pictures our embroideries, the white linen fabric looks so amazing, and the design is very special because it has got alignment stitches in all four corners so you can create as large embroidery as you want. I think that would look astonishing on curtains or pillows. Don’t you think so too? 
My suggestion before you go ahead with your project is:
Take a piece of the fabric that you are going to use for your project, and try both the embroidery and wash away the water soluble stabiliser. It is a well invested time. You might need to add an additional iron-on stabiliser suitable for your fabric, because if the fabric is too soft/lightweight, the satin stitches will not stay on the edge when you wash it.
If you sew the HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER™ RUBY dress, it does come with fantastic cutwork embroideries, and of course you can use the Cutwork needles also on these designs. Hint: the embroidery does look great in only one color too.
Remember, always; clean the bobbin area after you are done embroidering!
Have fun sewing!
Lena
PS If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week please contact me at: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-08-20
Back @ the office!
I wish all of you have had a great summer! I must say we have had a fantastic warm and sunny summer in Sweden, which we are not used to have. But most of us swedes truly appreciate nice summers as it provides more energy for the autumn season!
My apologies for not being able to post much during some weeks, however I will make it up to you and from now write every week, and will let you know what I am working with and where I will travel during this autumn.
Since I wrote last time I went on vacation to Greece with my family to visit my mother in law. We do live in her house while we are there. I had a lot to at the office before the vacation which I not had time to finish so I brought some work with me, both sewing projects and paper work. For instance I had not finished the top for my sister in law in orange dupoine silk, shich you can read about in earlier blog post from June 9th. I brought it with me to Greece and finished the last interfacing around the neckline and sent it to her from there. I did also have to mend Johanna’s bathing suite, so she could use it Greece, the straps was not sewn properly so I did stitch them in place. It was good for me that we gave my mother in law a HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing machine for her 70th birthday, so I could borrow it!
After Greece I went back to Sweden for two days, and then off to the USA, to attend the HUSQVARNA VIKING® convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A city that was great to visit, I might even have relatives, somewhere around there, since my grandmother had a brother and a sister that immigrated to this area. I have unfortunately not investigated in my family history, but maybe one day I will take the time to do it. I loved to see the HUSQVARNA VIKING® dealers and colleagues, and most of all it was great fun to get feedback on the products we’ve been working on for some time now. Next week I will show you more from of this!
Speciality Bobbin Case (#920 033-096).
A question that I have got from several sewers is how to adjust the thread tension of the bobbin thread, and my answer is: Do not change it! If you need to make changes, I would suggest the Specialty bobbin case that is made for use of special threads and thicknesses, yarns and braids and the possibility to adjust the tension as much as you like. No need to worry and the great thing is that it is easy to recognize as it is white. It comes with an instruction, and a screwdriver.
Read more about this accessory here (page 41)
Here comes the second tip of the week:
For our large family (including lots of relatives), we have during the years bought lot of different beds and they are in different sizes, therefore the bed linen for them are also in various sizes. (We have both King and Queen Size beds). My trick is to sew a little decorative stitch along the top edge of the bed linen that fits the Queen Size bed. In that way I can easily separate them and keep track of which I will need for each bed.
Now after the vacations and summer I have more energy and feel happy to start creating new sewing projects. Next week I will show a new innovative way of embroider, which you need to see!
Best wishes,
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please contact me at email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-08-13
How great to have a grandmother like Kerstin!
Before jumping into the projects of this week, I am now very happy to be able to show you a sneak peek of the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing and embroidery machine and now you can even see some small parts of the dress I talked about last week. Click here to have a look >>
Kerstin is one of our sewing experts in the sewing studio here at the office in Huskvarna creating many of our sewing projects for machine launches. Kerstin has a loving grandson she usually picks up once a week and they have a cosy afternoon together. Kerstin always makes pancakes for Oscar when she has picked him up, and I am sure that he loves to be with his grandmother.
Last week, Kerstin started to teach Oscar how to sew! With time he will be very skilled, and on top of his private lessons with Grand Mother, he will be going to take textile lessons in school. Sewing will be a new exciting experience. As you can see in the pictures, Oscar is doing fantastic. He practiced sewing on several of our sewing machines. He learned how to embroider and he also tried our overlock machines.
Oscar and Kerstin created the most fantastic pillow with an embroidery of a red sports car. This car is a design from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #159 called “Wheels for Everyone”.
Inserting the zipper was done by using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Narrow Zipper Foot, (4125657-45). You can see in the pictures how Kerstin taught Oscar how to pin the zipper in place before sewing. In the Accessory Catalogue you can find instructions on how to use the foot on page 20.
Thanks Oscar and Kerstin for sharing your sewing. I can’t wait to see what will come next!
My sewing will be displayed later, as it is still a secret (a fantastic and innovative new embroidery collection from HUSQVARNA VIKING®!). I have taken pictures and will share them with all of you in August when the embroideries are available. Until then I will be sewing in Greece with my mother in law. We gave her a HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing machine for her 70th birthday, and let me tell you, she has never ever been happier about a present before. It will also be useful for me as I have started plenty of sewing projects to be able to have some new outfits for my trip to US in July.
I will be back with a new update later in July just before I will travel to the US and I wish you all a fantastic “sewing” during this summer!
Relax and have fun!
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please contact me at email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-07-01
Love is in the air!
Soon I am able to reveal one of the new fantastic products that we have been out showing at our European sales companies last week. I hope you are as exited as I am to see what it is! Among all the sewing samples done using this new product, my favourite is a beautiful dress. You will probably love it as much as I do...
My work this week is to create easy exercises for the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® 5D™ Embroidery Software that is about to be launched really soon. I have made a little tag, that could be used on a quilt for instance, and I am writing the instructions for it. There are some very interesting new features, that will make small things so much easier, and that is so cool. You will all love it! I will soon be able to share more of the items made in 5D!
Now it is only one more week before I will have vacation. I feel eager to sew some more before that, as I will only have three days in the office after my vacation to work and to sew garments, for the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
I look forward to see all of the HUSQVARNA VIKING® dealers, their staff and my American colleagues.
It does create so much energy to use for the rest of year, and we will then be ready to show all new products in the stores.
Next week Kerstin will share her sewing she did together with her grandson Oskar. She taught him how to embroider and to sew a pillow.
Happy Midsummer and have a great sewing week!
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please contact me at email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-06-24
Swedish Midsummer coming up!
Next week we are celebrating Midsummer in Sweden. It is my favorite holiday of the year. I think it is because it is the long daylight hours and feeling of happiness when you see all the green colors in the forests and gardens, as well as all the beautiful flowers.
For my family, Midsummer preparation is easy, as it follows the same concept every year. We like to gather as many of our family and friends as possible to join the party. Normally we start by eating lunch together and that does consist of herring, sour crème, shives and new potatoes. To this we serve beer and snaps (shots) for those who like it. For desert we eat fresh strawberries, ice cream and whipped cream.
In the afternoon we go out to Hembygds Parken - which is a park where they have got some very old houses from the 17th and 18th century, and there is also were we got to decorate the Midsummer Pole, that we cover with flowers and leaves. When it is decorated and raised, the dance around the Midsummer Pole starts. We are singing traditional small songs like “Small frogs” and we dance a funny dance while singing the song. The children like this a lot.
After the dance we have a picnic or do have coffee in our garden at home with a wonderful homemade strawberry cake. Finally in the evening it is time for barbeque, and as you can tell, we do not sleep much this night. But very important if you are not married, you need to go out and pick seven different kinds of flowers, and put in your bed under the pillow. The flowers will make you dream about your husband or wife to be!
This year we will be at least 10 people, and it will be great fun.
This week I am out travelling in Germany and Italy. We did fly to Germany, rented a car and drew the car to Milan in Italy. We have had the same introduction meetings for the European sales companies as we have had for the Nordic area two weeks ago. We are now all up to speed with the new product introduction and I hope you will keep an eye open because you will soon see what it is, so stay tuned with HUSQVARNA VIKING® for more info!
Here is a picture from Milan, and it is a symbol for the Fashion and Garment industry they have here. You can see that it is a needle and thread. The knot of the thread is coming up in the pavement a bit behind.
Last week the Swedish sales company had an overlock education for some of their dealers.
(The Swedish Sales company have their offices in the same building us my office.) To make this training more fun, they decided to make a dress, using a Burda pattern number 7520. This was very fun, as they did use a lot of stitches and threads to decorate the dress and a part of the fun is also the fact that the dress was finished in less than an hour. The stitches they used for the decorations were, Chain Stitch, Cover Stitch, Rolled Edge and three thread overlock stitches.
I also got a chance to sew this project, as everything was set up and ready to go. A good thing was that we had three different overlocks so we could have different stitches on the overlocks. I tried several decorative threads; some that I tried was a bit too thick, so the worst thing that happened was that created a hole in the knitted fabric. Well what should I do? I came up with a solution to add a new piece of fabric on top using the Cover stitch to stitch it in place. It became a part of the decoration.
Hints:
- For the Chain Stitch and Cover Stitch use a piece of your fabric for start and stop, and cut those off with a scissor, after each stitch.)
- Use the extension table that comes with the HUSQVARNA VIKING® HUSKYLOCK™ s25, it will be easier to handle the fabric that you are decorating.
- If you get skipped stitches due to heavy threads, do not worry, do as I did, use the scrap pieces and cut out a shape of your won choice, and stitch it in place with your sewing machine with at straight stitch a zig zag or by using free motion.
- Iron the hem before sewing the Cover stitch, it will be easier for you to keep it straight and to sew the stitch where you want it.
Here is the finished result, as a dress and as a top. Two options in one garment. Great!
Bring you friends over hand try this together it is so quick, fun and inspirational. If your friends has got overlock machines too, tell them to bring them along and set up each overlock with a different technique.
I have a craving for a new dress for the Midsummer next week and it is what I will do when I get back home, I can hardly wait!
Happy Sewing!
Lena
If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please contact me at email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com
Lena Kantis - 2010-06-09
Creating a “Chanel” jacket!
Last week we had the first internal presentation of the new products that will be introduced in July/August. It is very exciting to have been a part of the whole process, from ideas to finished products. You will be able to see all of this in August.
This week I have my sister in law as a guest at home, Elena. Her step daughter is going to get married at the end of this summer and I have helped her to create a new beautiful outfit in a fantastic orange Dupioni silk that Elena can wear at the wedding. It is an outfit in three parts consisting of a skirt, a top and a jacket.
The jacket is a kind of “Chanel” jacket, like Burda pattern 7634 (pattern B).
The decoration for the jacket has been made by using the Ruffler Presser Foot. I think this presser foot is our “biggest” one on the market and my nick name for it is “the Dinosaur”.
I like what it can create with it and it is good to use for both garments and home decorations.
If you have not yet tried it, I can really recommend it! It is outstanding.
This is how I used it for the wedding outfit:
Hint: Thread the sewing machine, top and bobbin before attaching the Ruffler.
1. Decide how wide your ruffle should be on your sewing project. I like them fairly narrow. The one I have created here is a strip two inches wide (5 cm), After tha I fold it lengthwise. If you wish to use a wider strip, overlock the raw edges after folding it lengthwise, and have the overlock edge to the right in the ruffler. In that way it can be as wide as you wish. 
2. Iron the fold.
3. Adjust the Presser foot, and follow the instruction from the Accessory Catalogue page (23).
When you have created a long strip, add it on the edge of the sleeves, and/or at the edge of the jacket, all around the neckline and front. You can of course add it anywhere you like. You can see lot of these kinds of decorations on the stores right now.
The top, I'm creating for Elena, is from Burda Pattern 7919 .
The embroidery is from a wonderful HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection called “Paisley” #134. This is a design collection I can simply not live without. I have used all of these embroideries in one way or the other. If you love it as much as I do, you can find it at myembrodieries.com.
I love the colors in bronze and brown that Elena has selected. I will only add the facing and iron it to the backside, and the top will be completed.
Next time I will tell you about a very Swedish tradition that is happening ones a year here in Sweden called; Midsummer and let you know how we usually celebrate it.
So be sure to check back next week. I will add a surprise for you!!!
Best sewing wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send Lena an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).Lena Kantis - 2010-06-09
Crazy & fun sewing zig zag!
Let me share some ideas on how to create decorations on shirts. Here are three different ideas:
1.
I took one of my husbands, shirts to practice on. It was a plain red shirt. I used the pictogram pen and I drew wavy lines by hand as the idea is to make the shirt to stand out and to be unique. If you are using zigzag, like I did, you need to make the curves wide because it is easier to follow with the red center mark of the Presser Foot B then. I played around a bit with the settings of the zig zag. Some seams was wider, some more narrow, and I used the three step zig zag too as you can see on the picture.
To sew the zig zag stitches, add stabilizer on the backside of the shirt. For the collar I used water soluble stabilizer and for the body of the shirt I used regular Tear-Away. Play with the threads, and the color of threads. On this shirt I used black metallic thread, cotton 30 weight thread as well as embroidery thread in a nice red color tone. 
2.
Second idea is to decorate a shirt when you are sewing it, with a little stitch. This is a great way to add a personal detail and to use the possibility to use the single pattern program. Select the stitch on your HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER machine (for instance Menu N for fashion stitches), and click on the Stop button. It will automatically stitch one single stitch pattern. Try it if you have not tested this before.
3.
Third shirt is sewn and decorated with monochrome embroidery. I do think it is nice with tone on tone embroideries.
Another option would be to use the 4D embroidery software and the sketch function to create a nice look. Maybe some has tried? Please send a picture if you have, I would love to see it!
We are about to make some moving around in the office, so therefore we are finding things that we can no longer store in order to save space. I thought it could be a good idea to give you a nice little kit we’ve found. If you are interested in making this project with the fleece blanket, we are happy to give it away to you for free. It was made to be like a car blanket for a child. Nice strong colors in red, orange and yellow. 
Sewing instructions can also be found here, so even if our kits will not be enough for everybody, you can still buy some fleece and make an own blanket similar to this one.
If you want a kit, please send me an email with name and address. We do have around 50 kits, so it is the 50 first e-mails to me that will get one!
Happy Sewing
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send Lena an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-05-31
Sweet Dreams!
Thank you Rasmus for being my guest blogger last week! I did enjoy seeing your sewing projects, and your apartment. Looks fabulous! It is fun to see.
I have started to re-decorate one of our bedrooms at home. Athina wanted to have a bigger bedroom when her big brother moved out. We have been moving around beds, and it ended up with having two single beds together in this room as big as a King size bed. So the bedroom that she wanted had this big bed. When granny visited us before Christmas she said: who has got married? (In Greece, where my grandmother comes from, you do not get a bed of that size until you are married. Maybe it has changed, but granny is from a generation that has that built in in their minds)
Well, to make the room more attractive, Athina wanted to have pink curtains. She does also want to have lots of pillows in the bed so I bought her a round long pillow, at the biggest Swedish furniture store; you know the blue and yellow!
It didn't bought a cover for it but wanted to sew one myself for her. I picked a wonderful white, fluffy, almost like rabbit fur fabric. The cover have to be washable, so I inserted a zipper.
How to sew the cover for a round long pillow:
1. Measure the length of the pillow. (Add seam allowance).
2. I rolled the fabric around to see how much I needed for the width.
(Add seam allowance).
3. Finally calculate the round area; the pillow I bought is 25 cm in diameter. As you can see I did use a plate with the diameter of 26 cm.
4. Cut the three parts. One for the long area, and two circles.
5. Use a three thread or four thread overlock stitch around all the edges of the three pieces. 
6. Measure and put your zipper on the long piece, see picture. I had a zipper of 60 cm for my pillow and that is 80cm, so I left 10 cm on each end.
7. Time to insert the centered zipper. I did follow the steps, presented in the animated film in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing room.
8. Select straight stitch, stitch with a straight stitch, length 2.5. when you reach the first pictogram mark, use the Fix, to tie off, select straight stitch length 6 mm or "Baste" on your Sewing Advisor. Baste the zipper seam, until you reach the second pictogram mark, sew the remaining seam with a straight stitch, length 2.5 and tie off by using the Fix button to finish.
9. Press seam allowances open. Place the right side of the zipper to the wrong side of the seam.
10. Select zigzag. Adjust width to 6.0. Lower the feed teeth. Sew in place with a few bartacks with an inch or so apart.
11. Turn the cover right side out. Select straight stitch. Snap on Zipper Foot E to the right of the needle.
12. Start stitching across the bottom of the zipper. Pivot and sew the right zipper side. Hint! To prevent the fabric from pulling, sew both sides of the zipper in the same direction.
13. Snap on the presser foot to the left of the needle. Sew across the bottom again and sew the left zipper side.
14. Remove the bartacks and basting.
15. Remove the basting stitches, and open the zipper.
16. Pin the circles, right side to right side of the fabric, and stitch around with straight stitch, length 2.5. using the A-foot. Note, you need to have the zipper opened, in order, to be able to turn it to the right side.
17. Turn the cover, right side out. Put it on your pillow and it is ready.
If you have a fabric that will shrink, do wash it before sewing the cover!
The bed will be great with this new pillow, Athina will dream sweet dreams! I am sure you will be able to sew this too!
One more hint: If you do not prefer a zipper- of course it will be easy to use Velcro instead!
Happy Sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send Lena an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-05-21
Great fun with free-motion yarn couching!
Hi!
My name is Rasmus and I am a collegue of Lena. I am the guest blogger of the week and will be filling in for Lena as she is away this week travelling. Some previous projects of mine can be found below in the blog under “The Wedding Gift!” (Mars 19) and “Vive Moi!” (February 12).
When I first saw the cool HUSQVARNA VIKING® embroidery collection #212 Majestic Cutwork (avaliable on Myembroideries.com) I knew I wanted to make something different with it. At that time I had some boring curtains I had bought at the store, and I decided to try to use this embroidery collection to make myself some new curtains and matching pillows.
As this embroidery is built for having areas cut away where the material behind can shine through I decided to go for black (faux leather) for my curtains and then have a lime green plain curtain behind. The machine first marks up where to cut and after one has done so (watch out so you don’t cut the plastic stabilizer) it puts a satin border above it.
I then made pillows in the same style by using the same embroidery, and other smaller separate pieces from the same collection. Instead of cutting out the intended parts I just hit the “stop” button and let the machine do the work while I busied myself with other things!
While I was quite proud of myself for making these items I got my steam up and decided to make myself some more pillows in the same colors by using the awesome Yarn Couching Feet Set! After setting the machine to free-motion and loading the yarn into the hooks on the backside and into the foot it’s all just great fun. It looks almost like liquid silver (depending on what yarn you choose I guess!) when you sew the yarn to the project in high speed. I made one black pillow with silver yarn and one green with black and silver yarn to go with the curtain and the other pillows
I like the results of my efforts, and I really enjoyed the professional looking result of the embroidery collection and the great fun of free-motion yarn couching! 
You should definitely try it out yourself!
Rasmus
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send Lena an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-05-12
Wrinkles anybody?
A wrinkle is a fold, ridge or crease in the skin (if you look at Wikipedia), but it is not the skin I am going to write about this week. It is fabric. And we all love fabrics, don’t we?
Let me share a great idea with you! We made a very nice dress for one of our embroidery machines launches, which was going to be made in a wrinkled fabric. But we could not find any in our stores in Sweden so we created the wrinkles ourselves. Here is how you can do it.
- Wash the fabric that you are going to add the wrinkles to. It should be a light weight fabric.
- When it is still wet, twist it into a “sausage” and let it dry inside a towel. It will create wrinkles.
- When it is dried, and has got lots of wrinkles, iron on a stabiliser that will stay and keep the wrinkles forever.
- Finally sew the embroideries. On the pink dress we used an embroidery from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Platinum 955E. You can however use any embroidery that is created with few stitches, more like outlines.
My suggestions would be the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #191, “Thread Velvet “ that you can get from Myembroideries.com. But any design that looks like this will work.
Another beautiful choice would be to try with an embroidery design from HUSQVARNA VIKING® called Design Collection #205 “Black and White Art” that you can also get from Myembroideries.com. I love the contrast of black and white. Have a look at my skirt below (under construction) where I have also played with the fabric that is in black and white. Pretty nice, don't you think?
Use your imagination, experiment and have fun with your sewing!
Next week, Rasmus will write the blog. I will be on Holidays in New York.
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-05-07
Wheat warmer!
A wheat warmer is such a nice thing to give away, it is a cosy friend when you are cold or when your body is aching. This is my list of some useful areas to use a wheat warmer:
- It is superb to comfort someone that is getting chemo therapy. Put it on the arm, to take away the cold feeling when the fluid is going into the body, it helps a lot.
- Put it in your bed, if you feel cold, it does work the same way as a warm bottle.
- Make a small wheat warmer, to put in the cot to comfort the baby.
- Another great use of it is for a pregnant woman. It can be made as a belt using velcro to close it. Stitch the tube, with channels to keep the wheat in several areas. It will help if you have pain in your lower back.
My colleague Ingrid has sewn this beautiful wheat warmer for a little girl that is going through chemo therapy. See the nice pictures of the wheat warmer in bright pink with an appliqué of “Hello Kitty”.
The fabric to use for this sewing project should be strong, like a linen fabric or cotton, or a mix of these two. Inside the wheat warmer, you need to find wheat that is whole wheat grains. Tip: If you like lavender, you can add some inside, to get a nice scent.
I made two wheat warmers, one is made as a square that is the same size as a Large Hoop 240 x 150mm, and the embroidery is from built in embroidery of my Designer SE. I resized the embroidery in the embroidery machine with a fantastic result. Of course you can create a wheat warmer in any shape. Make a frog, or a cat, and enjoy the warm comfort. It is fabulous.
How to heat the wheat warmer:
- In a microwave owen, 3-4 minutes on the highest temperature.
- If you do not have a microwave you can put it in a regular owen on a temperature of 125 degrees Celsius or 257 Fahrenheit 12-15 minutes.
It will stay warm for at least 20 minutes.
Happy Sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-04-30
So Green!
I do not know about you, but I find it so much fun to add more colors to the clothes in the spring time and it is super quick if you have an overlock.
I wanted to sew a new dress, and selected a fabric that I already had in my stash. I found a fabric in dark blue jersey fabric with dots in grey, very boring as it is, but when you add some color to it, you can create magic.
To add a bit more excitement to this fabric, I added a lime green color for the triple overlock stitches and sewed from the backside as I wanted to show us much as possible of the stitches. 
I completed the look by making a belt in the same color with embroidery in the same dark blue color as the fabric.
You have to try this out for yourself. It is very easy!
- Decide the length of you belt, my belt measured 40cm and it was 8cm wide
(do not forget to add seam allowance). It is easier to have a bit bigger fabric, add the embroidery and then cut it in the size you prefer with a rotary cutter and a ruler. - Select an embroidery of your choice or decorate with buttons, or why not overlock stitches all over. I reinforced the belt with an iron on stabiliser before sewing the embroidery.
- On my belt, I used the HUSQVARNA VIKING® embroidery design collection #212 “Majestic Cutwork”. The collection is created for the Majestic Hoop, but it does also include 10 bonus designs to match the larger Majestic Hoop embroideries in this fantastic collection It is easy to be creative with the smaller designs - make your own combinations. I did not use the design as cutwork. I only stitched them as they are on the belt.
- If you want even more stability in the belt, add another layer of iron on stabiliser.
- Stitch the seam of the long side of the belt’s right sides together.
- Cut long strips of the fabric. I used 3 strips on full width of the fabric, one inch wide.
- Sew the strips on the overlock with the reinforced overlock stitch, iron and fold the fabric like a belt loop and sew directly using the Standard Foot on your HUSQVARNA VIKING® HUSKYLOCK™ s21 or s25 (if you are using HUSQVARNA VIKING® ® HUSKYLOCK™ 936 use the Bias Tape Folder Foot, or the C-Foot).
- On the short sides of the belt, fold and iron the seam allowance to the inside.
- Put the ends of the three “belt loop strips” inside the short sides equally spread on the width of the belt, one on each of the outer edges and one in the middle. Pin them in place.
- Sew the short sides using a straight stitch with a 3mm long straight stitch on your sewing machine.
- Do the same on the other short side. You can cut the long strips when you have sewn the short sides. I divided my strips, in 1 third on one side and 2 thirds on the other. I wanted to have the knot on the side of the belt, just because it looked better.
I feel great in this new dress, it is so comfortable. I will go and buy a new fabric and sew another one in a fun color. You should try it yourself!
Happy Sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-04-22
A pink bathrobe for Emma!
I was at a Birthday party last weekend! My youngest sister Nina has got two children that has birthday only four days after each other. This weekend we celebrated them both. Emma is turning six and her brother Marcus is now eight years old.
Both of them are weekly going to a swimming class, were they learn different swimming techniques like crawl, backstroke and diving. Most important is that they learn how to enjoy the water, and to be safe while doing it.
Emma made a wish for a bathrobe that she can use at the swimming class, so I bought one for her (a ready made) in her favorit color; Pink. I personalized it by adding her initial on the front “EP”, and her name “Emma” and a princess crown on the back. I made this using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Express Monogram Wizard.
On the front of the bathrobe I created, the EP, with an appliqué frame. For the appliqué I found a piece of white jersey (and I added an iron on stabilizer on the backside). It was easy to embroider, as I did only hoop a tear-away stabiliser, and used the “basting around the hoop” function.
Hint: To get the embroidery exactly where you want it, print the template, put the template in place on top of your project. Make a hole in the centre of the template and use the pictogram pen to make a small dot. Remove the paper and make a cross with the dot in the centre.
To decorate the bathrobe a little bit more, I added some small buttons around the frame of the initials. When sewing the buttons I used my HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER DIAMOND™ sewing and embroidery machine, but for some of them it was impossible because of the look of the button itself.
Here is how I did it:
- Click on the SEWING ADVISOR® (select the button). The sewing machine will automatically bring down the feed teeth.
- Remove the presser foot.
- Put the button under the presser foot ankle where you want to add it.
- Click on the presser foot down button to bring down the presser foot ankle on top of the button.
- Bring down the needle in one of the holes in the button using the hand wheel.
- Turn the hand wheel towards yourself to make sure that the needle will go down in the second hole, if it doesn’t increase or decrease the width to fit the holes of the button.
On the backside of the bathrobe, the embroidery is made by using a water soluble stabiliser as a topping. It will hold down the loops of the terrycloth, and prevent the embroidery from disappearing into the loops of the terrycloth fabric.
She loved her new bathrobe and wanted to wear it to pre-school the following morning. For her brother Marcus, I have bought a new t-shirt, that I will decorate with embroidery as well. Next time he’s coming to us, we will embroider it together. I think that will be really fun and I can’t wait to see which embroidery he will pick out of all the embroideries available.
Happy sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-04-16
Endless fun!
Several questions were asked about the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Hoop, so I wanted to give you some additional information on how to work with it and why it is so great to have!
To work with the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Hoop, you need to have a software version in your embroidery machine that does recognise the embroidery hoop, so it is included in the list of available embroidery hoops. All of the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Designer series machines can be updated online.
Go to the machine updates page to get the latest update!
How to use the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Hoop, step by step:
(This example shows how to do it on the DESIGNER DIAMOND™, but it is very similar with all the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Designer machines and the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Platinum 950E).
1. Sew the first embroidery. The last stitch that is created is the alignment stitch. This is the most important stitch to keep track of!
2. When the embroidery has finished, and the Designer Diamond is asking if you want to clear the screen, click on the close button (Cancel - do not clear the screen).
3. Open the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Hoop, and pull the finished embroidery away from you.
4. Keep the fabric and stabiliser aligned with the ruler on the right side.
5. Click plus, on the stitch count, two times. First time it is recognising the hoop and the second time it is moving to the alignment stitch.
6. Bring the needle down by turning the hand wheel, exactly on the alignment stitch, and tighten the hoop.
7. Tighten the fabric, and stabiliser, and press the start button again.
8. Run as many embroideries as you need for your project.
Pictured here is the newest HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection# 208, “Endless Cotton Lace”. I have sewn one insertion lace to add on a dress that I am making, and I have sewn the edge lace to add around the hem of the same dress. The two laces are matching buddies! I will sew more of these, because they are wonderful. A little hint is to use the Top Stitch needle, size 90, which has got a larger eye, as the embroideries are made for 30 weight cotton thread.
I did find another small Easter project I did teach here at the office when I was new employed. We had an internal training on the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Designer I, which was the top of the line embroidery machine at that time. A fantastic embroidery machine, I still remember how fascinated I was, when the embroidery was running, I was sitting next to it drinking my coffee and watching the cursor on the interactive screen, how it was moving as the embroidery was growing on the fabric.
This is what I created then - A quick little pot holder. It says “Happy Easter” in Swedish on it. The embroidery design is coming from HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #4, “Holidays”. As you can see I have used it a lot in my kitchen during the Easter. Since the Easter holidays already is over for this time you can always create a pot holder with any embroidery you like or create one like mine and use for next Easter.
Kerstin has finished a coat this week, and it looks fantastic on her. Here is a little picture of how she did adjust the hem of the lining. She put the dress form on our iron table, and did make sure it had a perfect length. 
Here is how the finished coat is looking on Kerstin. No doubt, when you are sewing your own garment, you will be able to get a garment that does fit your own body.
Happy sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-04-07
Egg under cover!
Wow! Finally the spring is on its way - snow is melting away and small snowdrop flowers are showing up in our hedge. My father has been cutting our garden trees, and I have picked up some of the sticks to put in water inside our house. It will be spring in my house within a week. It’s a wonderful time of the year, I get much more energy and I’m very happy every time the sun is shining on a blue sky. I long for the warmer and longer days, and it seems like I don’t have to wait too long for that now.
My trip to Norway last weekend was great. I spent three days at a Quilt Show. I could not resist, I had to buy some new fabrics! I want to sew a garment with quilting technique, and I might do it on the overlock machine and using Rayon thread and have the threads shown on the outside of the garment. As I have been out travelling, I am a little bit late to start the sewing of the Easter projects. However, time optimist as I am, it is still possible to make some small sewing projects for the Easter that I will share with you.
You can find some embroidery designs for the Easter, in HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #30, Happy Seasons - Endless embroideries. It is totally adorable and also super fun; I do have one towel in my kitchen that I use always and not only at Easter. I do boil some eggs at the weekends, and I wrap them in the towel, so everybody in the family knows where they are and they stay warm for a while.
I have cut out one of the “chickens” to sew it like a cover for the egg, when the egg is put on an egg cup. The cut out can be done either with HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Embroidery Extra or in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Stitch Editor by using the tool “polygon select” and then cut it. I found some small scraps of wool in yellow, and a light green fleece, that I though would be excellent for this egg covers as well as for Kerstin’s idea (that I describe below).
Click here to download the embroidery file with the above chicken that is already cut out with HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Embroidery software. (Use a file compression utility (WinZip or similar) to unzip the downloaded file and save it on your computer.)
Kerstin will sew the chickens in the exact same way as the Mini Santa I did for Christmas. You can still download the template for the Mini Santa from my Christmas blogg insert to use for the new Chicken, to make beautiful table setting for the Easter. I will be sewing some of those too! It is so much fun to decorate the table for the Easter Party!
I have sewn embroideries on two towels. The Swedish kitchen towel size is 50x70cm (20”x 28”), so it does require two endless embroidery designs to make it look best. It’s great to use the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Embroidery Hoop when sewing these two embroideries. I will send each of my two children that have moved out one towel each, as a little Easter gift for them, as I don’t see them this Easter.
Note: It is important; if you’re not using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Endless Embroidery Hoop to no keep it tightened.
Happy Sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-03-26
The Wedding Gift!
This week I will be travelling. I am going to Paris for two days for a big textile exhibition, spend one day at the office and finally spend Thursday to Sunday in Norway at the Norwegian Quilt Meeting.
The sewing project that I will show you this week is sewn by Rasmus, working here at the HUSQVARNA VIKING® office. The fun thing is that I have been listening to a program on the radio about the young generation and their ability to multitask. They practise how to do different things at the same time, listening to music, typing on the computer, etc.
I think Rasmus does know how to be multitasking. Look at the pictures, and you will see. One eye on the computer screens (as you can see he has got two screens), all the excel charts on the wall, the focus on a discussion with Jean-Paul also working here at the office, and running the HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER DIAMOND™ machine at the same time. This is multitasking! (The reason that they both are smiling is that they were totally surprised by me interrupting their discussion with my camera. I did not ask of permission before starting!)
One of Rasmus´s friends from Canada is getting married next week, and the wedding is held in Mexico. The gift Rasmus created for the wedding couple was a pillow with a picture of the wedding couple with a heart around, stitched as an appliqué. He also added their names and the date of the wedding. On the backside he added “Made in Sweden, by Rasmus” in yellow and blue, the same colors as our Swedish flag.
This picture was prepared in the software program HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Sketch, using the function of adding alignment stitches in the corners of the hoop. He also used the possibility to draw a running line around the shape of a heart to actually see that the size would fit the size of the picture so that the faces of the couple should fit perfectly. It is also important not to forget to add tie offs with a few small stitches.
The running stitch of the heart was brought into the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Stitch Editor and one of the heart shapes was used to create an appliqué in the desired size. Finally, when the heart was created as an appliqué, the design was copied again and was brought into HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Embroidery Extra. In that software program the text with the names could be added, William and Joani, and the date of their wedding.
Rasmus printed the picture on printable fabric, using an inc copying machine. This is important since the inc will be “sprayed” into the fabric. No other copying machines will do it better. He cut out the pieces for the pillow in black linen and crated the embroideries in his office.
He did a great job don´t you think?
Have a great sewing week all of you!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-03-19
One design - “sew” many options to create a personal look!
Sewing and embroidering is giving us all an opportunity to create a look that is totally unique. This week I wanted to let you know, that a fantastic new Design Collection # 219, Romantic Cutwork, including Endless embroideries, by HUSQVARNA VIKING® has been launched at MyEmbroideries.com, and you will ONLY be able to get them through MyEmbroideries.com!
Click here to by now on MyEmbrodieries.com >>
At MyEmbroideries you can download/purchase embroideries at any time 24-7, and that is so convenient. When you buy a design (or several) you’ll also get the booklet as a pdf-file with all the embroideries pictured in natural size. That is great, because then you can print out a design on paper and cut it out and see how it will look like on your sewn project and if it is the size you are looking for.
The new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #219, Romantic Cutwork, is right on the spot when it comes to trendy designs. Romantic outfit is one of the biggest trends this spring. Layers and lace are delicate and very beautiful.
Let me show you, how three persons here at the office have applied these new embroideries on some sewing projects.
I start with Helene. She is the artist and creator of this beautiful design collection. Her style is very romantic, with a lot of lace. She has sewn the embroideries on white tulle. A lot of them have got the same color on the fabric and on the embroidery; tone in tone which is lovely, delicate and exquisite. I want to sew them too! Helene would like to give you another tips too: "You don’t even need to sew your garment; you can buy a ready made and do the embroideries on it. This is how Helene did with a simple white top.", just as I did with the top to the right: says Helene.
Next person is the sewing expert, Kerstin. She is creating this light blue top in a linen fabric, also with a tone in tone embroidery. It looks fabulous as well - I am sure you agree.
Finally it is my own creation: I am sewing a dress, and I am not scared of playing with colour! My absolute favourite colour is turquoise and today I am sewing it on a lime green silk, which has got a turquoise warp. I have also started to sew an underskirt in tulle with exactly the same design as Helene did with white on white.
Don’t be scared to change colors, and play with your own ideas. Make your sewing projects reflect who you are!
Best sewing wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-03-12
Sharing my findings!
Having a big house is both good and bad. Good when it comes to having a big family and lots of friends staying over, bad when it comes to keep it tidy and organised. Due to this I can find things that I have not seen for some time. We have during a long time put a lot of stuff in cardboard boxes, and taken them down to the basement for storage. Now I am trying to organize a fitness room in our basement so therefore I have to try to get rid of some old things, to get more space to be able to workout.
To give you a bit more of background for my sewing samples of the week, I guess it is probably best to first tell you the following. In Sweden we do decorate our windows. I do not know any other country that I have visited, that is paying so much attention to how the windows are looking. We have curtains in all kinds of looks and fabrics. In all our windows we also have plants in pots, and also some small lamps that we use during the evenings when it gets darker. We usually change curtains for each season and holiday. Especially in the kitchen!
These are things I found in the basement:
One quilt, the very first I made over twenty years ago in Bargello technique, both fun and easy. In the background you can see curtains with the print of Harry Potter; I sew them at a hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. This used to be my son Simon’s room. He has now got a bigger room as my other son Emil moved out.
For Emil’s room I made this curtain, which was also used as drapes, because there were no blinds in the window when we moved into the house. I added the appliqué with the giant shark half a yard (45 cm) long approximately. Inside the appliqué there is an iron on batting.
To give you a bigger understanding for what I mean with the Swedish window decorations, I have added some pictures from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #204 “Elegant Art Embroidery” as well as a few ones from HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #178 ”Mega Décor”.
You can make your windows look totally unique too.
Have a great sewing week!
Best wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-03-05
Appliqué - how to!
This week has been very fun, with a lot of meetings as I am involved in so many fantastic projects. However, most of them are not possible to write about yet. What I can say right now is that you will be seeing a lot of new products coming this year, all kind of projects. You will probably not believe it but we are already preparing for Christmas!
This week’s sewing consists of making a small present for one of my friends, made in the embroidery hoop. This magic design collection is called HUSQVARNA VIKING® “Pretty Purses in the Hoop” (#171). I made it in my friend’s favorit color, red. Before I put the red silk in the embroidery hoop together with the tear-away stabilizer, I did add an iron-on batting on the fabric to create a better stability and body of the purse. I used one color instead of three, as I love this black metallic thread. The best option for metallic threads is to use a needle with a bigger eye. An INSPIRA™ Topstitch needle is my recommendation. To lower the speed when embroidering can sometimes make a better result and avoid thread breaks. This is however not always necessary, as it depends on the elasticity of the metallic thread. Don´t forget to check back next week to see the result.
My daughter Athina had a day off from school this week and came with me to work, She started on a new sewing project; a new hood sweater. She selected a black fluffy polyester fabric that is very soft. To add a personal touch she added an appliqué. Here is the result, I think she did great!
Sewing appliqués are easy if you have got the right tools. The best presser foot to use is the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Open Toe Foot (412 80 09-45), or in clear plastic HUSQVARNA VIKING® Open Toe Foot (413 03 19-45). Read more about the feet in the accessory catalogue, page 59. I can honestly say that this presser foot is one of the top ten presser feet there are. In my opinion a “must have”. It is great that they fit on all our sewing machine groups.
This is how you do appliqués:
- Select a picture to use or make your own drawing for the appliqué.
- Print out a copy of the drawing.
- Copy the drawing on to a double faced iron-on stabiliser using a pen.
- Cut the iron on stabiliser around your drawing.
- Iron on the stabiliser on the wrong side of the appliqué fabric.
- Cut out the appliqué.
- Pull off the paper of the iron on stabiliser and iron it on the project, or garment at the position of your choice.
- Sew with a satin stitch around the edge using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Open Toe Foot, and a tear-away under the fabric (please see picture of Athina sewing with p.foot)
- Sew other details with sewing machine stitches, or add small appliqués of fabric for details too.
Have fun and enjoy your sewing!
Best wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-02-26
Spin Around!
I really hope that you will all get a chance to try the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Ribbon Feet Set. I have used it and it is very easy to spin around and create decorative ribbon embellishments. The Ribbon Feet Set, comes in three different sizes. When you use it you should choose the size that accommodates your ribbon in the best way, meaning that it should feed the ribbon in a good way.
In order to get the best result you should use an iron-on stabilizer or a tear-away stabilizer underneath. Depending on the fabric, more or less stabilizer is needed. My recommendation is to always test on a scrap piece of the fabric, before you sew on your real project.In the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Ribbon Feet Set kit you will find a user’s instruction plus an instruction movie and an inspirational slideshow, so you won’t be stuck without any help! There are so many possibilities with the Ribbon Feet Set. You can use it to decorate your garments, pillows, tote bags or where ever you like to add a little special ribbon decoration.
Below you can see some pictures I have taken on some really nice things that have been sewn by one of my friends, Barbara. Barbara is working at our development team here in Huskvarna and she is creating many of the beautiful sewing machine stitches, which is added for new presser feet for example. Here you can see her skirt (my favourite), a top, a quilt block and a tote bag. They are so nice!
Ribbons that fits the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Ribbon Feet Set is sizes between ¼”- ½” (6mm- 13.5mm), preferable flat ribbons. The Inspira® Ribbon Kit in neutral or bright colours are perfect to use because these ribbons have a very good size for the Ribbon Feet. The ribbons are available in both amazing vibrant colour shades as well as in different textures. I thought it would be easiest to use the Ribbon Feet Set in free motion sewing mode, but found out that it is just as easy to sew with the regular straight stitch. Note: If you are going to create a swirl or a spiral, start in the center and work your way out.
Happy spin around sewing!
Best wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-02-19
Vive Moi!
Wow, my trip to London gave me so much more energy, and inspiration to create more fun sewing. It is amazing to see all wonderful garments in the shops in London. I have gathered a lot of new ideas, which can be great projects. The inspiration came when Karin and I was window shopping walking on Regents Street and Oxford Street. I will definitely use several ideas for my new sewing projects.Have you seen the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design collection 221, Raw Edge Letters? It is looking so cool, and can be sewn in several layers to make a very personalised sweater, jeans or what ever you want to add the text on. I have for some time been wondering what to write using them, and did find a nice wording on a t-shirt in London, that I liked. “Vive Moi”, (I Live) and I will sew that on a garment. Vest or jeans, or t-shirt I have not yet made my decision.
Here is an example of what it can look like!
In the office we have had overlock education, and a colleague of mine; Rasmus, made a pair of sweatshirt pants. What was extra fun with the trousers was the text on the back of them; HUNK. Fun, don’t you think!? You have an option to use one or two layers for the appliqués. Rasmus used one layer and where it could have been a second layer, he stitched the outline with a metallic thread.
Have fun and enjoy your sewing!
Best wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-02-12
Walking on the edge!!!
Not as dangerous as it might sound! I am talking about topstitching around the edges of garments, curtains or jeans.
This week I thought it might be a good idea for you to see how I used the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Left Edge Top Stitching Foot, to finish my pyjamas from last week. You can see an image of the foot below or click here to read more about the foot in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® accessory catalogue.
I used the inner right side of the foot to guide the fabric. Together with the underside of the foot, that is designed to glide along the folded edge, you will get a beautiful top stitch on your project. The great thing is that it does fit all HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing machine groups from 1-7 (please click here to read more about the machine groups in the HUSQVARNA VIKING® accessory catalogue).
Look at the monogram to the left, which I created by using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D™ EXPRESS MONOGRAM software . A very important detail in everything you sew is to change the sewing machine needle to fit the fabric and technique. On this silk fabric I switched to a thin Inspira Microtex 70 needle. Remember - needles should never be used more than approximately 7 hours to give the best result!
As promised I have also included the sewing instruction for the apron.
Download sewing instructions here (pdf)
Here is a little hint on how to sew the bias bindings on the apron:
Use a small zigzag in the same color as the bias binding. Press the bias binding so that you have a little bit wider edge on one of the sides. That wider part of the bias binding is going to be folded to the backside of the apron, to make it easier to “catch” the edge of the backside when using a narrow zigzag (width and length at 1.5 – 2.stitched from the right side of the apron).
Happy Sewing!
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-02-05
Sewing and embroidering this week!
To get to know the overlock practise on simple things, like making a T-shirt, sweater or pyjamas pants, Athina my youngest daughter, sew a pair of pyjamas trousers in flannel. She found that it was both easy and very nice to sew them on the overlock machine.It was her very first try on the overlock machine. My oldest daughter Johanna loves to sew on the overlock machine and she knows how to thread it too. To help you, if you ever run into trouble, we have put the overlock threading instructions on the web:Click here to come to the threading guides
A silk pyjamas is one of the projects I have started. I have soon finished the trousers. I will only add the elastic and stitch the hem before I am done. I think it is a lovely color, “raspberry red”. My plan is to sew a monogram on the pocket of the shirt. It is very lightweight, and it will look good when I wear it. I will bring it next weekend when I travel to London. (secret mission!)
I did find more things in my basement, some old skirts that my mother sew when I was 15. The skirt is cut as a circle and it was fun to find that the same pattern was included in the new patterns magazines released this month in Europe. It might be due to the fact that the musical “Grease” is very popular in London and Stockholm now. My sister and I did have the same kind of skirt in yellow, but in different prints as you can see in the picture below.
Lately I have been working on a lot of secret projects at work. I am excited and will share more with you a bit later, but I can tell you I am running the embroidery machine 10 hours a day at work with wonderful embroideries. All these embroideries will be included in marketing material later this year. Below you can see the fabric to one of the embroidery projects I am working on. I have embroidered on my HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER DIAMOND™ sewing and embroidery machine. It will end up as a vest when it is done. This is also one of the things I will bring to London next weekend. I will share how to create the embroidery later on.
My next sewing project that I will be working on for myself is a new cocktail dress. I am going to an elegant dinner and would like to look fabulous. I think I will make it in a turquoise satin. I will draw the pattern during this weekend and tell you more about it later.
During last week I got a request from one of the blog readers. I was asked to write some sewing instructions for the apron. I will write that and include it next week.
Have a great sewing week all of you!
Best sewing wishes
Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-01-29
Best wishes for a new wonderful sewing year 2010!
I hope you have all had great holidays with your family, friends and some time for doing the things you love.
I have sewn some smaller things since last time. My mother in law loved the apron Johanna got for Christmas present so much so I had to sew one for her too. And when I finally got that done I made one for my husband as well. He got one with an embroidered text on it saying: “Kiss the Chef”.
I have also mended a pair of jeans. You know a pair that already had some holes in it. However the hole that I did mend was not meant to be. It was in an area where it gets worn out easily.
The mending and darning stitch is one of my favourite stitches on the HUSQVARNA VIKING® sewing machines! I know it sounds crazy but it is true! It is super good, because when you have sewn, you will hardly see where the hole was from the beginning. You only have to pick a thread in the exact matching colour as the fabric. I have mended lots of jeans and garments with it, especially when the kids used to play football and fell on their knees often!
Here is how you mend:
Add, on the wrong side of the fabric, an iron-on-stabiliser or cut a piece of denim big enough to cover the hole. (Pin the denim in place, if you choose to have denim behind the hole.)
Use the mending stitch and sew straight over, with the hole horizontally and the stitches vertically. Press the reverse button and finish darning. Press the Stop button to duplicate the process. Move the fabric and repeat until you have mended the hole.
Many of my friends find it very boring to mend, but I don’t think so, as it is such a great stitch, the result is beautiful and it is very quick.
Hint: I have seen this stitch used as a decoration on haute couture garments sewn with really colorful threads repeated all over the fabric. I like this idea!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2010-01-18
More Christmas gift sewing!
We have snow! I love it! It has been several years in a row without snow at Christams, so I hope it will stay some days now so we can get a “white Christmas” this year.
I am working on some last minute Christmas gifts. My daughter Johanna have an apron on her wishlist, and I thought it would be very fun to sew one in the same fabric as the breadbasket. She is very fond of black, so I think she will love it. I sew her name on the apron using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Embroidery. There are so many beautiful fonts to choose from within the software.
Next suggestion for a quickly embroidered Christmas gift is a kitchen towel, or any towel you want of course. I bought a ready made and added Johanna’s Monogram on mine.
If you are like me, saving all small scraps, here are some other small things to create:
• Potholder, in a log cabin technique.
• A small quilted wall hanging. This one I bought in Japan. It was made on HUSQVARNA VIKING® Designer SE. Size is 5,5” (14cm) x 8” (20cm. )
• My colleague Karin made nice embroidery on a pillowcase also using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D Embroidery.
this was all for this week. Now I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! now it's time for a short blog break, but I will come back with new fresh ideas and news from HUSQVARNA VIKING® next year. Next update of the blog will be at the first week of January.
Best sewing wishes from Lena, and all of my colleagues here in Sweden.
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-12-18
Only for you - a free embroidery design!
You are so lucky! This week I will give away an embroidery design as an early Christmas gift only for you! It is one of the embroidery designs that I really love and I have used it a lot. Look at this table setting for example:
I did sew a little mini Santa for each person coming to the Christmas Dinner in our house. It is sewn as a cone, and I think it is very cute. Under the bottom of the cone, I added a little text saying “Merry Christmas xxxx” (xxx= the name off the person), created with the 4D Embroidery software. The Santa was multifunctional as it also positioned the people around the table. I am a genius!! (If I may say so myself).
Download the free embroidery design and instruction here!
For the table setting I also bought a big bunch of red napkins which I decorated with embroidery designs from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection#38 “Christmas”. Those can be used each Christmas, as they are washable.
It is fantastic to be able to set the table like this!
My sewn Christmas gift of this week is a little bag. I am creating this for my daughter that has moved out from our house. It will hold her aspirin, thermometer, plastic aid, noose spray etc. I can tell you this is something kids will not spend money on and as a mum I still think it is important to have if they get sick.
Best wishes and Happy December sewing!
/Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-12-10
Sewing bread baskets
I hope you are having as fun as I have when sewing Christmas gifts. I am sewing some new gifts every week to be able to have something for each member of my big family. This week I’m actually sewing myself some gifts, bread baskets. When doing this I have to use my old mathematics knowledge. To sew the bread baskets, I need need to know the circumference around the circle for the bottom of the basket. The math I use to get this is multiplying the diameter of the bottom with 3.14 (pi) The best type of fabric to use for the bread baskets is a very heavy cotton fabric.
If you would like to sew the bread baskets, here is how to do it:
For the big size I did use about 0.4 meter (approximately half a yard). Cut out two circles for the bottom parts. I did cut the circle with a diameter of 27cm (11”). Calculate the circumference. For my basket it was 79cm (31“) and the height was 27cm (11”). On one circle and on one of the long pieces, add an iron-on-stabiliser to give it more stability. I included 1,5 cm (5/8”) seam allowance in these measurements.
Sewing:
Sew the short sides, right side to right side, of the long strip together to create a tube. If you want you can also add a little decoration on the side, approximately 10 cm (4“) from the bottom. I folded a ribbon that was 5 cm (2”) long double, and put it in the seam with the folded edge sticking out a bit from the right side of the tub. It makes it look more professional, don’t you think?
Sew the circle (bottom piece) right side to right side of the tub, with the circle on the top when you are sewing, as it is easier to control the turning of the fabric all around. Iron the seam allowance toward the top of the basket. Sew a straight stitch using the D-foot around the bottom to keep the seam allowance in this position.
Sew the other two pieces in the same way.
When this is sewn, you have to iron the top of the basket, with a fold of 1,5 cm (5/8”), on both the baskets. Pin them together with a couple of pins, and sew all the way around it with the D-foot and use the stitch length of 3mm.
Make them look different:
- Select a printed fabric for one of the layers of the basket.
- Decorate with any embroidery on the edge of the baskets. For Christmas I have seen a lot of texts on pillows and home decorations. Why not add “Merry Christmas” on the edge that will be folded towards the outside? See my sample with the Swedish text “God Jul” which is “Merry Christmas” in Swedish.
- Use the calculation and you will be able to sew any size of the basket.
I created big bread baskets because I have quite a big family. At least during Christmas, we will be around twenty people in our house. Out of these twenty, twelve will be staying for a week or more in our house. You can just imagine how that is, if you have seen “My Big fat Greek wedding!
Happy Christmas sewing from Lena
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-12-03
Embellish or embroider some of your Christmas gifts!
Have you ever tried the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Embellishing machine ER10™ ?
If you have, I am sure you have had a lot of fun. I will share how to create some small gifts or decorations with the embellishing machine. The small decorations can be used almost anywhere, to create a brooch or as a decoration to your christmas gift. Only your imagination can stop you here! See the pictures for some inspiration.
This is how you can do it my way:
Start by drawing a pattern on a water soluble stabiliser. I prefer the Inspira™ Aquamagic Dissolvable, as it is easy to draw on when using a pictogram pen and it is smooth to work on using the Embellishment machine I use different textures to add on the stabiliser like, wool, yarn, ribbons and threads.
Pull and shape the wool to fit on the shape you have drawn, and put it on top of the stabiliser. Start to use the embellishment machine and move the stabiliser, around under all the needles, and on the shape you are creating. Add more textures, like ribbons or threads; it will be nicely blended into the wool as a nice effect. Cut the outside edges of the stabiliser, and finally put the decoration in water. Sew the pin on the backside, by hand, if you want to use it as a brooch.
Here you can find five different video clips on how to use the Embellishment machine ER10™. If you haven’t tried an Embellishing machine yet, one word would be enough for it: Creativity!
If you have an embroidery machine here are even more of my ideas to be creative:
There are several embroidery collections, which are exquisite and quick to embroider. My favorite one’s for making brooches are: HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection#84 Elegant Embellishments, HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection#162 Blooming Flowers, and HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection#184 Purse Pizzazz, which also (beside the brooch design) contains embroidery, designs to make beautiful purses in the hoop. Nice to match with any outfit you are sewing and you only need a fabric piece big enough for the embroidery hoop.
I will continue sewing my Christmas gifts. I have already started with sewing a “bread basket”. I will present it to you next week.
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-11-25
Creating Christmas Cards!
I look forward to the month of December, because I love to plan for the Christmas presents (shopping), and what to give to each person. Hopefully we will be getting some snow soon, which will make the days a little lighter, as we now have less day light hours.
I do also love receiving beautiful Christmas cards from my friends, decorated with embroideries and lovely Christmas poems. This year I will make some of my own cards to send to my family and friends and I will share my ideas with you here. To sew your own Christmas cards can be fun, creative and easy. And it is a great way of using small scraps of fabric, felt, paper, buttons and ribbons.
My first Christmas Card
On the first card I embroidered a design on the inside. Since the design I used containe 3 angels, I cut out one of them by using the edit tab in HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D™ Embroidery Extra. The embroidery design comes from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection # 70, “Happy Season”. As I have a handwriting that is difficult to read, I did also add text using the same software module. You can cut the design using a pinking sheer scissor or a rotary cutter with wavy blade. Sew it on the card with a straight stitch or a zig zag. I used a metallic thread that I liked.
On the front page of this card I did use Tear-Away Stabiliser underneath the paper when sewing the text: Merry Christmas. I used the possibility to program one single stitch with a tie-off in the beginning and at the end of the single stitch. That way I did secure the ribbon on the front.
My second Christmas Card
How to create the Christmas Card with the Christmas Tree appliqué.
- Cut a Tear-away stabiliser as a template for the Christmas tree.
- Then cut out the Christmas tree in a green silk fabric.
- Use a narrow satin stitch 2mm, to sew the appliqué on the linen fabric, that is slightly bigger.
- Sew the linen fabric on to the card, using a zigzag ¼” from the edge.
- Pull the threads from the edges, to create the fringe look.
- Sew on felt to write “Merry Christmas” and sew it on the card with a straight stitch.
Here are even some more Christmas Cards that you can try!
And don't forget to check out the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Holiday website where you can find even more inspiration for some Christmas cards and a couple of free designs to download and a lot of other Christmas gift ideas. Click here to get into the Holiday spirit now!
I am sure you will come up with your own way of sewing Christmas Cards. Until next week, have some happy sewing!.
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-11-20
Coming up...time to personalize for the Holidays!
What a fantastic weekend I have had, parties two day’s in a row. My husband had his 50th birthday. Friday night we had a surprise party for him. All his colleagues, almost 30 people were waiting in our house when he showed up from a trip.
What would have made it easier with all the glasses with drinks would be to create wineglass charms, as there were many who lost track of where they put their drinks. It would have been beautiful and at the same time we would have saved lot of dishes.
There are lot of holidays ahead, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year. Therefore I will make these wineglass charms starting now using HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D™ Express Monogram Wizard. It will be easy to fit at least six of them in one hooping. I will decorate them with the initials of my relatives that will spend Christmas and New Year together with us in our house. To differentiate them more I will add different pearls and beads.
Of course there are much more possibilities with the HUSQVARNA VIKING® 4D™ Express Monogram Wizard. I have included a few more samples I have made below. 
Tip; One thing I did learn at a fair in London, England, was to cut a yard of a light metal thread, and make it into a small ball, by rolling it like you would make a snowball. It is also a beautiful decoration for the wineglass charms instead of using the beads!
Next week, we will start to make Christmas gifts and cards.
Until then, Happy Sewing!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-11-12
Create the Folklore look!
I was very happy the other day as I was organizing my sewing room in the basement of our house. I found a half-made sewing project in a paper bag that I did not have had time to finish last year. It is a skirt in medium weight wool, with two different matching fabrics. It is a lovely blue-green color (in Sweden we call this color Petrol), and the quality of the fabric is very easy and smooth to sew on.
Here is how I am planning to decorate this skirt:
I have the seams on the outside of the front and back pieces and I will make fringe of the seam allowance. It is very easy to sew the seams together with a straight stitch, wrong side to wrong side. To make the seam safer I also added a narrow three step zig-zag seam just outside the straight stitch. Finally, I pulled out the threads in the seam allowance, all the way down to the zig-zag seam.
The embroidery is chose to use on the skirt is the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection #210, “Handlook Needlework”. I have wanted to embroider these designs for a long time, but have not had a project to sew on. Here is a picture of the first embroidery on the skirt. For this skirt I used stronger stabilisers; one layer of “Cut-Away” plus one layer of “Tear-Away”. To embroider this design you should use the “30 weight cotton thread”, but I couldn’t find a nice color to match the blue-green color of the fabric so instead I used 2 threads of the “Sulky Rayon 40” in the same needle.
My colleague Ingela has sewn a magnificent skirt too. Look at this picture how nice it is! 
I’m glad I found this half-made project to sew on – maybe you also have something half-made which you should go back to and finish up today! Take a look in your wardrobe!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-11-05
Creating a nice gift – fast and easy!
This week, all children that are going to school are having autumn holidays. My youngest daughter Athina, wanted to spend some time on her holidays to create a little garment for her youngest cousin Cornelia's birthday. Cornelia will become 1 year old on Thursday. You can follow Athinas progress in the pictures below.She started off with choosing a pattern for a little baby tunic and then she drew the pattern. After that Athina and I went to buy a fabric that she liked. She picked a pink velour for the tunic. Athina then cut out the little tunic and she also chose to have a small embroidery design on the front. Athina selected Design Collection #74, Fuzzy Wuzzy Bears.
Athina was so happy when she had finished her little baby gift - now she just have to wait and see if Cornelia likes it as well!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-10-28
Majestic Bedcover!
One of my many ongoing projects is a bedcover that I am sewing in off-white satin, using the biggest embroidery hoop the HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER™ Majestic Hoop. The size is 360x350mm/ 14.2” x 13,8”. I started to create these blocks at a quilt show in Gothenburg a couple of months ago. It was attracting a lot of people to see what I was doing.
The Design Collection "Majestic Yarn quilting", #209 is what I selected for the embroideries. It is fabulous as it has got many possibilities and you can sew them with embroidery thread or sew the designs with the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Yarn Couching Feet set. The design collection also includes designs for the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Do All Quilters Hoop 150x150mm/ 6”x6”. What to choose is often the trickiest part!
I will use my new overlock machine, the HUSQVARNA VIKING® HUSKYLOCK™ s25, with the large extension table and the large sewing area to piece the blocks together. After calculations I found that I need 20 blocks. I also plan to add a border around the edges that I will create in a new software module; the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Quilt Design Creator.
Come back next week and let me show you!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-10-23
Play with Textures!
The new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Texture Hoop, (#920225096) is a fun and very out of the box sewing tool! It is perfect for a person like me as I like things to be unique and out of the ordinary- nothing boring for me!
This weekend I will be teaching how to use the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Texture Hoop at a dealer event. We are going to sew a mini bag (please see the image below/beside), and decorate the little bag with a Texture Hoop design. The design we will use is from the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection 213, “Flowers and Ribbons”. If you would like to sew it yourself you can find the sewing instructions for the mini bag here.
But I also needed some accessories and yesterday I cut the pieces to the kit; fabrics, a stabiliser and a piece of organza. To create textures, I also brought the new Inspira Ribbon Kit, both in Bright colors and in Neutral colors along with yarn, ribbons and wool.
Several projects have been created at our office since we first started to work with the Texture Hoop. I have added a few of my favourites here, and I can assure that only your imagination can set the limits for what you can create.
There are several tips on how to use the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Texture Hoop.
Below you can find a few of them:
• Trace/transfer the design to the included template using a template marker, or print a copy of the design from the PDF and place the inner hoop directly on the copied design. Line up the inner hoop with the center lines which is number 8 both horizontally and vertically, and place the ribbons/yarns according to the lines of the printed design.
• Secure each ribbon/yarn with a clip. Then add the outer hoop, slide it under the fabric and stabiliser.
• If you add a lot of yarn, do also add a layer of water soluble stabiliser on top of the hooped fabric to prevent the presser foot for getting caught under the embellishments.
Until next week, Happy Sewing!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
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Lena Kantis - 2009-10-05
I am”sew” inspired!
Thank you for all the positive feedback! I appreciate your comments. I have been asked to show a close up on the dress I showed you a few weeks ago. Below you can see a photo of the waistline embroidery.
This week, I went to a fabric trade show is Borås, Sweden. Borås is famous for all textile design, development and textile trading. It was interesting to see the trends of different qualities and colors. It was such a great inspiration and we found several interesting things that can be possible to use for new products and techniques.
When we got back I continued to sew on the overlock machine HUSQVARNA VIKING® HUSKYLOCK™ s25, since I wanted to finish the collar of my tunic from last week. One thing I discovered when I turned on the HUSKYLOCK™ s25 was that it does remember the last stitch I had selected. That is great!
Below you find a few of my best overlock tips:
- When you change the needle positions, lower the presser foot. It will give you more space.
- Make sure you bring the needles all the way up in the shaft when you change to cover stitch. That makes it much easier to see that the needles are all the way up because you can watch each one of them.
- If you have moved the needles between different positions, tighten the small needle screws so they will not fall out when you sew due to the vibrations. However do not tighten them too hard because that can damage the shafts so that it will not be possible to tighten the needles properly afterwards. So, tighten the screw after taken them out, but not too hard.
- Before you sew on the garment try it out on a scrap piece first. You might want to change the settings slightly.
Click here to find more overlock tips and tricks from the HUSKYLOCK™ family launch site.
We are several people here at the office that has been created similar tunics. In the photo you can see Karin, Kerstin and me.
Karin created her tunic without sleeves and added embroideries from the HUSQVARNA VIKING® Design Collection 165, “Venetian Embroideries”.
For the collar on my tunic, which I created as a big tube, I used a two-thread wide overlock stitch and I set the differential feed on 2. It gave me a fun shell-look on the edge! Finally, I added a big button with black pearls.
Next week I will be teaching at a dealer event in how to use the Texture Hoop, sew a beautiful design and make a small project out of it. So make sure to check back next week to see the photos.
Until then, Happy Sewing!
PS: If you have any questions regarding the topic of the week, please just send me an email: lena.kantis@vsmgroup.com (English only).
Lena Kantis - 2009-10-05
Great news!
Out on a business trip.
I am part of several projects at my work at HUSQVARNA VIKING® and for one of those projects I had to go on a business trip this week. Of course this is one of the times when I’m panicking a bit about what to wear since I always feel that I don’t have enough fun (new) outfits. Because of this I went right ahead to create a few things before I left.
I started by creating an embroidery. A “luggage tag”, in a purple colour from an absolutely wonderful new embroidery collection called “Hoop, Sew, Go” (#215), which I absolutely love! I made the back side a bit different (as I have a very bad hand writing) by using the 4D embroidery software to write my name and address with the font category “Decorative” and the using font “Chance” 10-40 mm. To the left you can see the result!
To extend my trip wardrobe I also bought some new tops, that quick and easy can be personalized with embroideries and get a totally different look in just a few minutes. I used my HUSQVARNA VIKING® DESIGNER DIAMOND™ to sew a lot of beautiful embroideries while I packed my things needed for the trip. The embroidery collection is a new collection called “Precious Crouchet” (#217), and they are sewn on water soluble stabiliser. I tested two different water soluble stabilisers and found that “Inspira, Aqua Magic™” Dissolvable Stabilizer gave the best result. After I had washed the embroidered piece I placed it on the neckline of a new T-Shirt. To match the clothes I also made a bracelet using the designs number 13 and 23 from the embroidery collection.
The secret!
Last time I mentioned that I had some great news to share from within the HUSQVARNA VIKING® factory and now I am “sew” happy to be the first one to tell you about it. HUSQVARNA VIKING® is releasing a new line of overlock machines as we speak! I’m so excited as well as all my colleagues. The overlock machines have innovations that focus on ease of use and professional results. I love to use the new overlock machines, and I have since some time back used the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® HUSKYLOCK™ s15 and it’s so fast. It sews 1200 stitches per minute which you can never beat on a regular sewing machine! The result is really professional and neat. Everybody who ever sews should have an overlock machine. It is such a great complement to the regular sewing and/or embroidery machine. I would never ever want to be without one!
The new HUSQVARNA VIKING® overlock machines are the two new models HUSKYLOCK™ s21 and HUSKYLOCK™ s25. (The numbers are referring to how many stitches you can use on the different models.) There are many great features on the new HUSQVARNA VIKING® overlock machines and below is what I find especially attractive with the s25 model: The new Graphic Touch Display where you can see the stitch, in actual size, and in any kinds of adjustments before you sew. The Exclusive SEWING ADVISOR®. Simply enter the type of fabric you are sewing and the settings will be set automatically. The sewing advisor will tell you “everything you need to know to sew”; the best stitch length, differential feed, the thread tension for the chosen stitch, recommend needles and more to give you a perfect result. The HUSKYLOCK™ s21, is offering a great value for any sewer, because beside the 2-, 3- 4- and 5-thread stitches, it has got Coverstitch wide, narrow, triple and Chainstitch.
I look forward to finish my bed cover for my king size bed by using the new extension table that is coming with both HUSKYLOCK™ s21 and HUSKYLOCK™ s25 and I will definitely have use for the large sewing space! I also think both of the new machines have a wonderful soft and gentle sound. Don’t forget to visit your nearest dealer to try them out!
I have been sewing on overlock machines for a long time. I bought my first overlock machine in the 80s when I got my first child as I wanted to sew baby garments in knits. I bought several yards of navy striped jersey and made sweaters for me, my husband and my little baby. The biggest difference from back then compared to now is the animated threading guide which goes with the machines and can also be found on the HUSQVARNA VIKING® website. It is doing wonders to help! This is the easiest way of learning how to thread the machine and it gives you lots of answers on how to set and use the overlock. No more guesswork!
Tip of the day!
The fastest way to get a new trendy garment is to ask your friend, when she is showing up in a nice new sweater, if she would lend you the sweater she is wearing for five minutes. You put it on a pattern paper and draw the shapes of the design. Next step is to adjust the
size, by using the pattern you normally use to create a sweater, to fit at the shoulders and neckline. By using the pattern mentioned above you can match it to the shoulders and neckline.
This is how we used to do in the 80´s: We laid ourselves on top of the paper and created a pattern to use for a sweater or a cardigan. We sewed it on the overlock machine and then added the shoulder pads. Here is how it looked when I made the pattern - easy!
It took less than 15 minutes to sew it.
Next week I will tell you more about using overlock stitches to decorate a top I created on the new HUSKYLOCK™ s25. So make sure to be back next week to see it finished!
Lena Kantis - 2009-09-28
"Shoot for the stars and you will at least reach for the moon!"
Here is a summary from the wedding last weekend:
We all enjoyed the most lovely late summer weather when we attended the wedding, no raincoats! I have taken some pictures that I will share with you. The new wedded couple and their daughters all looked amazing, and we all wish them a long wonderful life together and that they will live happy ever after!
I told you that my plan was to sew a second dress in bright orange silk, however,
I did not manage to finalise it, and I am still sewing on it. I selected the Design Card 198, “Candlewicking Creations”, unfortunaletly I did not manage to finish in time, because I had to take care of a lot of new projects, that was a bit more important, like helping my daughter with her move to Sundsvall, “the Mid Sweden University”. She was very happy to be able to attend a new programme starting this year in Criminology. She will study there for three years. Second of my children has left,
I miss her, but I am also very happy for her and of course very proud. Here is the detail of the dress. I will take a picture of the dress when it is finished, I promise!
How I love the changes of the seasons, we are now moving into fall. The days are becoming shorter and the temperature is getting a bit colder here in Sweden. The leaves on the trees are changing into red, orange and yellow. There is also more time to spend on sewing, as I do not need to drive the children to the lake for a swim, and the garden does not need any particular attention. So new season - new outfits!
I have started to plan what I want to sew for this coming season. I like to dress myself in layers, so I will sew some new tops, and cosy sweaters. I have fallen in love with the color purple, so I will try to find some new nice fabric in that color. (Of course I do have fabric in my stash that could be used as well, but I do not think it is purple.)
I will reveal a new HUSQVARNA VIKING® secret; I am going to sew on a new developed sewing machine to create my garments. When I sew I like to have a professional and perfect appearance of the outfits, and at the same time it should be a bit unique as well as getting it sewn very quickly. That is exactly what this new machine is perfect for. Next week I will be able to show you the new product line, I know you will fall in love with it too!
Lena Kantis - 2009-09-21
Busy Sewing!
Hi everyone and welcome to my Sew Fun! blog.
I am “sew” happy to be able to share with you, a lot of sewing inspiration, tips and hints as well as provide an “inside” look at w
hat is going on in the factory at HUSQVARNA VIKING®. I´ll share updates and sneak peeks of our new products, and my personal opinion on the new exciting features of our products. You will be the first to know about items you won’t be able to live without! The blog will be updated weekly. And of course I will also share what I am sewing, quilting, and testing, as well as fun stories from my trips.
Right now and am working on a cocktail dress, or actually two dresses using the same Burda pattern number 7829. One is already finished (please see picture to the right). I have been using the HUSQVARNA VIKING® embroidery collection 185; “Lovely Lace on Tulle” to decorate the waistline piece. The second dress will be in bright orange, and I am to decide today what embroidery designs to use and what colors. The reason I am sewing a beautiful dress is that I have been invited to a wedding next Saturday, and I look forward to go, not only because both the bride and the groom has been working here in our company, but also because the bride has been sewing a lot for the wedding, Her own dress, and four dresses for the bridesmaids. The wedding colors are vanilla, pear, and strawberry. I will take lots of pictures and show next week, so please come back next week to see all pictures, and read more about the wedding! Let us hope the weather will be nice, as the party is going to be in the Garden after the ceremony at the church, otherwise you will find pictures of us, sitting in our raincoats.
There are many things going on right now back stage within the company. Next time I may be able to share some very exciting HUSQVARNA VIKING® news with you from inside. So don´t forget to check back later to be the first one to hear about it…
Happy sewing!
Lena Kantis - 2009-09-16