Get to Know Your Instructor

Part 1

Here at Mary Jo's Cloth Store, we consider ourselves family. In that same spirit, we decided it was time to introduce our family to yours! Take a few minutes and get to know our instructors, aka the 'Sew Sistas', on a personal level.

Sew Sistas Q&A with Mary Sue Christenbury

Birthday: January 16

Can you tell us a little about your life story?

I was born in Summerville, SC. Graduated from Clemson University with a BS in Marketing. I also have CE credits from Greenville Technical College in Pattern Design and CE credits in Sign Language I, II, and III.  

After college, I worked as a manager for Uptons in Greenville, SC. My family relocated to NC in 1992 and have lived here ever since.

Currently I have many jobs. Through high school, I worked in retail and when I was in college.Since that time, I have taught in a private Christian school, been a teacher’s assistant in the public school system, and a substitute interpreter for the deaf and hearing impaired. I currently am the CFO for Kings Mountain Crisis Ministry and own a home based screen embroidery, sewing and screen printing business. I also do minor home repairs, painting, pressure washing, and cleaning or whatever else needs to be done.

How did your love affair with sewing come to be?

I’ve been sewing since I was 11 years old. It was very difficult for me to find clothes that were tall and that fit properly, so I started sewing. A very sweet lady from our church came over to my house for about an hour or so and showed me a few things and I’ve been sewing ever since.

What is your favorite project?

My favorite sewing projects are ‘one of a kind’ items. For example: Custom Designed & Embroidered Window Treatments, Wedding Dresses, Bedroom Ensembles, Custom Embroidered Reupholstered Furniture, and Original Dresses.

What is your favorite class to teach?

I enjoy teaching Sewing Concepts and Pattern Drafting. Both classes present their own set of challenges, but I truly enjoy sharing and teaching what I know and seeing the results when someone is amazed at how it all comes together. I truly enjoy the facet that students can take and use the information learned in these classes and apply it to any sewing or designing project.

If you could have any superpower in the world what would it be?

I think my ‘super power’ would be making people smile even when they don’t feel like it. We’ve all heard, ‘if your happy, notify your face.” Well, I believe that we should smile at people every day. You never know what people are going through and what a difference you can make with a simple smile. A simple smile is good for others around you, but it may also change your attitude as well. So SMILE!

Get your smile on with Mary Sue in her Pattern Drafting class this month.

Class: Pattern Drafting

When: Tues May 13, 6pm - 9 pm Description: Learn how to take exact body measurements and make a Body Glove Pattern out of muslin. Learn to cut & spread body glove to make a pattern that fits you perfect. Adapt body glove to make your own Pattern. Fee: $100

Please call the store at 704-861-9100 to reserve your spot today!

Lots of Little Dresses

We have a special guest contributing to our blog today; Cammie Berger, owner of  Cammie Berger Interiors, a custom drapery workroom located in Charlotte, NC.  Cammie is sharing a very special sewing project.  We love this story, and know you will too!  Thank you Cammie for sharing this story with us.

Cammie Berger with a special friend in Guatemala

Sewing for a living is a wonderful thing, but the real joy comes when I can use my gifts to serve others. Many years ago, my church, Christ the King Lutheran in Charlotte, NC started supporting Casa Bernabe orphanage outside of Guatemala City, Guatemala.

Over the years, this ministry expanded to a more needy area called Chimaltanango. While the children at the orphanage are clothed, fed, loved, and educated, many of the children in “Chimal” sleep on a dirt floor every night and spend their days rummaging through the city dump where they live, trying to find something useful to sell for food. From the beginning, I felt a calling to go, but the timing was just never right.  (I have since learned that the timing is never right, so don’t use that excuse like I did. Just go!)

One of my sisters in Winston-Salem started sewing pillowcase dresses for another mission group, and I became curious. When I mentioned it to my Pastor, he told me that another girl at my church had already started making them for the next team going to Guatemala. I found an easy pattern online at Nancy’s Notions (see a copy here), put a collection box in our church foyer and we got right to business. We called our mission “Lots of Little Dresses” and the simple supplies of pillowcases, elastic and bias tape came pouring in! 

I have a large studio space in my home, which is used during the day for my wholesale drapery business, so it was transformed at night and on weekends into a pillowcase dressmaking studio!

There were women from all parts of my life…neighbors, friends from church, co-workers and relatives.  They either carted their own machines over, or used one of mine. If they couldn’t sew, they would cut out the armholes, or iron.  At one point there were twelve people doing various jobs at once; it was quite the production line!

Since most everyone in Guatemala is very small in stature, we made mostly small and medium sizes. Some of the pillowcases were cut-off, to be made shorter and we even cut some down in width. When we ran out of elastic, we would use ribbon. When we ran out of ribbon, we would use bias tape. When we ran out of bias tape, we would make our own out of scrap. You get the idea!! We did use mostly pillowcases, but also some sheets, and some regular fabric.

What a great feeling to come together for a unified purpose; to help clothe our fellowman. These are the bare necessities of life and we were being used by God to provide them. The first year we made around 80 dresses, and the second year we made over 200! The feeling of community that you experience when you are working towards a common goal is like no other. Sharing the gift of sewing, and then seeing the joy on a little girl’s face when she puts on her very first new dress ever…, well, it just doesn't get much better than that!

Understanding Fabric Dye Lots

When you visit our store you will find a lot of fabric!  Yes, we love fabric and try to keep a wide selection for our customers.   Our hope is that you find the perfect fabric for your quilting, garment and home décor projects! 

Sometimes the fabric is “perfect” because of the color.  You may have purchased twenty-five yards of a beautiful damask fabric for new curtains because it was just the right shade of yellow, but when you returned several months later to purchase more fabric to slipcover a chair it didn't match.  How can this be?  It is the same fabric!

An example of cuttings of the same fabric from three different dye lots

What happened is the new bolt and the old bolt were from different dye lots. A good explanation of dye lots can be found in the book Textiles: Fabrics, Application and Historic Style by Karla J. Nielson. 

“One batch of dye solution is referred to as a job lot or dye lot, and the dyed or printed textiles within that dye lot are exactly the same.  When subsequent batches are mixed according to the master or standard formula, they may be slightly different.  This means that a set piece-goods bolt may be just off from the standard, and a precise match may be impossible”.

For this reason it is always best practice to purchase all the fabric you will need at once.  Never assume you will be able to buy more of the same fabric later.  If you do return to our store, looking for additional yardage of the same fabric, bring a cutting of the original fabric to compare. 

The dye lots of this chevron fabric are slightly different, one is darker than the other

This applies to all types of fabric from quilting to upholstery – dye lots can vary slightly or a great deal.  The good news is that this is not a common problem, but one that should be considered as you plan your next sewing project.

Recycle Old Blue Jeans into a Fun Apron

Before you throw that old pair of jeans in the trash, take a look at this easy project that will turn your trash into a treasure!  Make a cute apron from old blue jeans!

This apron is perfect to wear in the kitchen, but the deep jeans pockets are handy for keeping tools at your fingertips in the garden or art studio.  If you want to make a more masculine version, omit the ruffles and choose a solid or striped fabric for the ties and binding.

We found inspiration for making this project from the Creative Green Living website, which has a wonderful tutorial for making what they call a “Cowgirl Apron”. http://www.creativegreenliving.com/2013/04/farm-girl-apron-tutorial-from-recycled.html

Here are our step-by-step photos – it’s a fun project!  We hope you enjoy turning trash into treasure by making your own blue jeans apron.

Cut off the legs of your old blue jeans.

Cut away the seat from the front along the seams.

Mark a straight line from the crotch to the bottom and sew along the mark.

Cut off the bottom to make a curved, apron shape.

Split open one of the leg pieces and use the hem of the leg as the top edge of the apron.  Trim off excess  at the bottom to match the waistband on the bottom section, allowing an inch extra for sewing them together.

Cut away on each side of the top section for a better fit around arms.  To figure out the fit, pin the top and bottom pieces together and hold it up to your chest and mark a curved line.

Cut off one of the back pockets and sew to the center of the top section.

Make ties from a cute fabric and pin on each side of the waistband.

Make ruffles and sew around the bottom section.  Our ruffles are made 1 ½ inches wide.

Sew the top to the bottom, topstitching along the waistband.

Make a fabric binding and sew it around the cut edges of the top section of the apron, allowing enough binding to continue topstitching past the top, as ties for around the neck.

Cut a piece of fabric to line the bottom section.  Sew around the edges and turn right sides out.  Turn under the fabric at the top edge, pin and sew.

Your blue jeans apron is finished!

Pretty Window Valance with Wood Finials

When designing and making curtains or valances, you need consider so may things: style, fabric, trim, lining and hardware.  Often you can find exactly what you are looking for!  But it isn’t always that easy to match colors and finishes in you home with what is available in the store.

This is especially true with decorative hardware. You will find a wide selection of wooden pole rods, rings, finials and brackets at Mary Jo’s, but what if you wanted a certain color to match your wall or trim, or an unusual color to match a fabric or piece of art? 

Don’t worry – be creative!  Purchase unfinished wooden hardware and paint it yourself.

Here is an example of wood finials painted to match the fabric.  This creates a truly custom design, and uses finials in a new and different way.

Colorful wooden finials are used to accent this playful, swaged valance

Create custom hardware by painting it yourself

Trims and details make the difference

 Covered welt cord is used to make ties which are sewn inside the pleats

The valance is simply tied to the finials for an easy installation

Countdown to Christmas: Faux Fur Throw

We continue our countdown to Christmas with a great gift idea that you can make for your family and friends. Faux fur throws are a hot trend in home décor because they add a texture and romance to any room. 

You will see them them thrown over the back of a sofa, draped over a leather chair or at the foot of a bed. Faux fur throws are the perfect, cozy little blanket for watching television, reading a book or taking a nap. 

To make your own faux fur throw, begin by selecting your favorite faux fur for the front.  There is a tremendous selection at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store, from solid colors to realistic animal prints.  Keep in mind that faux fur with a short pile will be easier to sew, especially if you are inexperienced with sewing faux fur.  

We selected a faux chinchilla that is silky, soft and oh-so irresistible! For the lining we chose a red satin from the Mary Jo’s bridal department. Red is perfect for Christmas, but any color would be lovely.  

If you don’t want to make a color-statement, choose a warm brown or black lining.

Step 1:

Cut a square for the front and back.  We cut this throw 54 inches x 54 inches, which used exactly 1½ yards of the fur and satin material.  Serge the edges of the fur, and the satin if needed.  Mark the center of each side.  Place the fur and satin face-to-face, line up the corners and center marks and pin together.   Then secure in-between the pins, keeping the fur stretched taut between the pins while pinning together.

Step 2: 

Sew around the edges using a ½-inch seam allowance.  (Test stitching on a remnant of fur and satin to determine the best settings for your machine).  Leave a small opening along one side for turning.

Clip corners and turn right sides out.  Hand stitch the opening closed with matching thread. Your fur throw is finished!  

You will want to keep this gift for yourself, or make two, one for you and one for a friend, even your furry friends will love this cozy throw.

Mary Jo's Biggest Fabric Sale of the Year is Coming

You will not want to miss out on Mary Jo's Cloth Store largest sale of the year, Black Friday! For two days only, Nov. 29 and Nov. 30, enjoy immense savings on Baby Lock Sewing Machines, fabrics, notions and more. Doors open at 9 a.m. and free shipping is available to all online customers. 

Join Mary Jo's newsletter for exclusive prices on all featured Baby Lock Sewing Machines. Register Here.