I love Etsy treasuries!

Etsy explains their treasuries as “ever-changing, member-curated shopping gallery.”  I think they are a fun way to find items around a theme or group some of your favorite things.

I love to make my own treasuries, like this one:

‘Black and Gold’ by personalitychildrens What I need this football season!

I Pity the Fool Black a… JustLiv $40.00	Sew a Go Go Sewing Mach… MoxieMadness $20.00	Who Dat Bath Bar Black … HerbnDevelopme… $4.25
Handstamped New Orleans… YUMYUMBUBBLEGU… $50.00	Black Diamond Vermeil B… robinbassjewel… $150.00	Saints Who Dat Fleur de… GaudetsGems $42.00
Hand dyed, hand spun wo… babablacksheep… $35.00	Abbellisca – Black and … maneggi $21.00	NEW – QT Canvas Tote in… Kinies $42.00
New Orleans Saints Swee… sweetiepietutu… $24.50	Limited Edition Black D… mariaburgos $350.00	Fleur De Lis Cookies rollinindough $30.00
Louisiana Soap BathTimeBouque… $1.00	Crochet Ribbon Bracelet… JarvisGift $10.00	Large Pleated Purse CA… Heart2Handbags $45.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

I also love to be included in treasuries, like this one:

‘1 Monkey, 2 Monkey, 3… ‘ by LavenderDaisy No more monkeys jumping on the bed! 🙂 

Monkey Jon Jon can be P… personalitychi… $40.00	PDF – Montgomery the Mo… hookedandchain… $7.95	Stephen Joseph Personal… StephenJosephB… $25.00
Coffee Sleeve – Java Mo… castlegate $15.00	Sock Monkey on Sky Blue… GBMBdesigns $6.95	Kids wall decal vinyl a… walldecors $79.00
Red Sock Monkey Hat…0… honeybeehats $18.50	Pink Monkeys Bib and Bu… weeonescoutre $18.00	PERSONALIZED – Birthday… Nanastutus $59.00
PDF Crochet Pattern for… ebethalan $5.50	Young girl clip on earr… BuySomeLove4Ki… $12.50	Money Clip Brass Monkey… CosmicFirefly $45.00
Mr. Sock Monkey iPod Na… RemnantRevival $10.00	Mischievous Monkey Mini… RoosRemnants $15.00	COUPON Organizer / hold… Laa766 $13.50
Wine gift bag with Sock… BSoriginals $6.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Now, go here to make your own treasury.  Then come back and share the link with me so I can check it out.

***This is the first installment in my series for beginners.  The information included is very basic, but quite helpful if you are learning to sew.***

What is a Seam?  A seam is the stitching holding 2 or more pieces of fabric together.  This is a seam:

To start your seam, match your 2 pieces of fabric together.  Line the raw edges up with a marking on your foot plate.  How do you know which ruler to use?  That depends on what your pattern tells you to do.  Commercial patterns like McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick and Vogue usually call for a 5/8 inch seam allowance.  (A seam allowance is the space between your seam and your raw edges.  It allows for raveling, fitting changes, alterations, etc.)  That means that you need to line the raw edges of your fabric up to the 5/8-inch line on your foot plate.  Your needle will now stitch a seam 5/8-inch from the raw edge of the fabric.

You can secure a seam by backstitching.  In other words, you sew back on top of your seam to make it secure and keep it from coming “unstitched”.  Start your stitch by sewing two or three stitches.  Then, hold down the reverse (backstitch) lever or button on your machine and stitch backwards two or three stitches.  Let up on the button and sew forward.  You repeat these back stitches for two or three stitches at the end of your seam.  When do you need to backstitch?  Anytime you want a secure seam.

The question I hear most often from beginners is:  “How do you know which stitch to use?”  Basic seams require your needle in the center position and a stitch length of about 2.5 mm.  You can use your sewing machine manual to learn how to change your machine to these settings.

These scissors are actually called “pinking shears”. 

The sawtooth blade creates a “zig zag” cut. 

Why would you want to add a pair of pinking shears to your sewing box?

Woven fabrics fray.  Many times, they fray A LOT.  Cutting raw edges with pinking shears won’t prevent all this fraying, but it will limit the length of the threads that fray.  So, having a pair of pinking shears is handy for trim seam allowances and preparing the edges of some fabrics before your wash them.