Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits

Candy for your sewing needlesOkay so I've been meaning to start this for some time now. Why I chose Monday nights I'm not sure but it seems like I always forgot it was Monday night when Monday night rolled around. I'd wake up Tuesday morning and remember what I had planned to do the night before. And it is still Monday night here in Hawaii! So here goes the first one!

I've decided to add a post to my blog to hold my sewing, crafting hints, tips, and tricks. Welcome to the first of many (hopefully!). Please plan to check back weekly to get the latest.

A little known trick has to do with emery powder used to sharpen needles. You know the little strawberry thing attach to the tomato pincushion. Yes it's full of emery powder and it's use is to sharpen your needles. Nowadays people are coming up with all sorts of cute ways to get your needles sharpened. To get the emery powder (or sand) to work it's beNeedles in the candyst magic just squeeze it between your fingers and push your needle through several times. This creates enough friction or pressure to really do the job. Kinda like how you use an emery board to file your nails. And did you know that you can sharpen your sewing machine needles too? Just don't push it in past the start of the shank or you will make a large hole in the fabric and some powder may come out. Sand works much the same way as emery powder. A coarse sand will actually help remove corrosion/rust that you get in a humid place like Hawaii. I use a mixture of emery powder and sand in my needle candies. Yes candy for your needles,Squeeze the candy and push the needle back and forth to sharpen they'll love you for it and sew much better! Check them out in my Etsy shop.
Tune in next week for amother one of Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits!






P.S. I have a cute little owl coming to my shop soon whose ears have a secret! I'm going to post a picture of them on my facebook page soon so look for me there and become a fan of Big Island Rose Designs!

2 comments:

Zuda Gay Pease said...

Very informative post!! Your needle candies are so cute!

Julie G. said...

I do a lot of sewing and I didn't realize this! Thanks for the helpful info. and I swear, I thought those pin cushions were cupcakes or candies of somesort! Well done.