Wow! Look What I Found at Mary Jo’s

Mary Jo’s is known as a fabric mecca for quilting, home decor and apparel sewing. But if you look a little closer, you will discover a few surprises, special purpose materials and unique finds. Here are our top ten favorite specialty products that you might be surprised to find at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store.

1. Billiard Cloth, also know as “pool table fabric”, 66 inches wide, 75% wool, 25% nylon with backing.  This is a heavy, 21-ounce cloth, available in four colors. Used to cover or restore billiard tables and other game tables.

2. Automobile Headliner fabric, a foam back material most commonly used to restore car headliners but it is also a great product for lining shipping and storage cases, gun cases and drawers. Headliner fabric is also a popular material for making dolls and puppets.

3. Heat Resistant fabric is coated with aluminum and available in plain or quilted cloth. It is used for ironing boards, sewing tables, oven mitts and potholders. 
        

4. Cow hides also known as hair on hide. Full cow skins are used as area rugs or for upholstery or custom purses and bags. Each hide is unique. Some hides are natural while others are dyed or printed.

5. Silver Cloth is made specifically to prevent tarnishing of silver and silver plate items. Silver cloth is used to line chests or cabinets or sewn into jewelry pouches or bags for storing candlesticks and silver serving pieces.

6. Vinyl Mesh is a durable vinyl encased polyester material used for lawn and patio furniture, office chairs and shade structures and available in a wide range of colors. 
      

7. Cotton Art Canvas #10 a heavy cotton canvas, 60 inches wide and is stretched on frames by artists for paintings and also used for tarps, tents, upholstery, banners, theatrical backdrops and tote bags.
    

8. Clear Vinyl #30 is a heavy, rigid crystal clear vinyl used for windows in marine and tent windows, enclosures, table covers and crafts.

9. Ripstop Nylon fabric is light weight and water resistant. Used for making flags, kites, banners, windsocks, pennants, backpacks and outdoor apparel.

10. Rhinestone and crystal bandings are an elegant and glamorous embellishment for formal wear, costumes and decorative accessories. Available with plastic or metal mesh backing, rhinestone banding is a hot trend in wedding cake design.

Make Pompom Decorations with Knit Fabric

Decorate for your next party with pretty and cheerful pompoms! You can make a variety of sizes and colors to match the holiday or your event. Make an assortment of red, white and blue pompoms for patriotic holidays, pink and blue for a baby shower or white and cream colors for a wedding.

Hang pompoms outside from tree limbs to create a festive landscape; a beautiful backdrop for wedding pictures; or use pompoms indoors, hanging over buffet tables or grouped in clusters to make a simple centerpiece.

Making knit fabric pompoms is easy.  Just follow the instructions below.  We would love to see how you use pompom decorations.  Please share your photos with us on Facebook.com/MaryJosClothStore or by tagging us on Instagram at @MaryJosClothStore!

Easy knit pompoms step-by-step:

To make pompoms you will need cardboard and strips of knit fabric like t-shirt material.  We used Knits by Riley Blake in hot pink and ITY Jersey Knit in a soft blush color.

http://maryjos.com/fabrics/knit-solids-k100-70-hot-pink-riley-blake 

http://maryjos.com/fabrics/ity-jersey-knit-pink-spandex-house

1. Make a template from cardboard to the size you would like. We used a small plastic tub for the outer circle and an aerosol can for the inside circle.  Cut a small pie shaped piece from the circle. This will create a “C” shaped template. Cut two the exact same size.

2. Using scissors or a rotary cutter and mat, cut knit fabric into long strips. Cut ½-inch to 1-inch wide pieces. You do not need to worry about measuring and cutting accurately; the strips do not need to be perfect.

3. Stack the two cardboard templates together and start wrapping knit fabric strips around the template.  Wrap it with an even tension but not tight. When one piece ends, overlap and start a new piece.

4. Continue wrapping knit fabric strips around until you have at least 4 layers.

5. Place the wrapped template flat on the work surface and place the palm of one hand on top while cutting around the edges with scissors.

6. Cut one strip of fabric to use as a tie.

7. Carefully separate the cardboard pieces, slip the tie in-between and tie tightly, cinching all the fabric strips together.

8. After the pompom is tied, remove the two pieces of cardboard.

9. Fluff the fabric and trim to make an even shape.

10. Continue to make more pompoms! You can create different sizes and colors, or alternate colors when wrapping the template to make a multi-color pompom.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Quilts: How to Fix Mistakes and Mishaps

The dog ate my handiwork…

The family dog found this quilt too hard to resist and chewed a hole into the edge.  Bad dog! We consulted with Aimee Griffin, owner of Overall Quilter and Sewing Director at Mary Jo’s Cloth Store for advice on how to fix this, and other quilt mistakes and mishaps.

For this quilt, Aimee suggested downsizing and adding new binding.  By doing this, the border will be consistent around the entire piece and the slightly smaller size will not be noticeable.

First step to repairing this quilt was to cut away enough from the edge to remove the bad area.  Aimee is using a rotary cutter and mat with a clear quilters ruler to make accurate cuts.  After the edges are cut away, new binding can be applied and it’s as good as new!

Oops!  Spills and stains…

Before cleaning you should always spot-check on remnant fabric, or on a small corner of the quilt to make sure the materials are colorfast.  For small spills and stains try spot cleaning with a mild soap and water, using a cloth or soft toothbrush to work the stain out of the fabric and air-dry flat.   If the entire quilt needs to be washed, use a fabric friendly detergent like Forever New, which is mild cleaning solution, free of bleach and petroleum products and rinses clear without any soap residue.

To machine wash, use a front load washing machine set on the delicate cycle and air dry or tossed in a delicate, low heat dryer. Machine finished quilts are obviously sturdier and take machine-washing well.  Hand quilted quilts can also be gently washed, but may require repairs to the hand stitching after multiple washings.

That doesn’t look right….

It is a proud moment when you finally finish a new quilt!  You can’t wait to show it off to your friends and family but while admiring your creativity and hard work there it is, in the beauty of the blocks and stitches you see it for the first time – a mistake!  How did that happen?

Did you spot it? One block of four squares a quarter turn the wrong way.   Don’t despair! Aimee has a great method for fixing this type of mistake without taking apart the finished quilt.

Begin by sewing together a new block out of remnant fabrics.  All you need is that one small section of four squares.

Aimee suggests using Wonder Tape with an iron, and a Press Perfect stiletto to carefully set the new square in place, covering the mistake.

The seam allowances are pressed under using Wonder Tape to hold the edges down.  

More Wonder Tape is used to temporarily secure the new quilt block over the mistake with an iron.  Use the stiletto to hold the fabric in place, keeping your fingers away from the hot iron.

Aimee is excited to show off the repair!  The new block can be stitched in place, and only you will ever know the mistake was ever there!

Pretty Purse Tissue Pack

 This pretty tissue pack cover is so much fun, you will want to make a few for yourself and a few more to share with friends or family.  We used a cute cotton polka-dot fabric, which is bright and cheerful.

Are you planning a wedding?  Make a tissue pack cover for each of your bridesmaids and the mothers, using scraps of fabric from the dresses or wedding decor – you know somebody will need tissues! 

Step-by-step:

1. Cut two pieces of fabric 6 inches x 7 inches.  Cut two pieces of narrow elastic 3 inches.  Along one of the short sides, on one piece of fabric, secure the elastic (folded to form a loop) inset 2 inches from each end.  Use painters tape to old the elastic loop in place.  

2. Place the two pieced of fabric face to face and sew along the short sides using a ¼-inch seam allowance.  Backstitch over the elastic pieces, to make sure they are sewn securely.  Turn right sides out and press with an iron.

3. Topstitch along each sewn edge, inset ¼-inch from the edges.  Fold the sewn edges together, meeting in the middle and pin each end to hold in place. 

4. Sew across the end using a ¼-inch seam allowance.

5. Flatten out each end and mark 1/2inch from each corner and pin to hold in place.

6. Sew each corner, keeping the seam allowance facing in the same direction.  This will create a box shape. 

7. Turn right sides out and sew a button opposite each loop of elastic. Insert tissues and loop the elastic around the buttons. 

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!