Hello friends, it's time for another Tip of the Morning Tuesday today. There are times I like to use a stiletto to help guide the fabric while I am sewing. A stiletto is especially helpful for guiding thick seams or holding applique pieces as you stitch. You can buy metal stilettos or bamboo stilettos or even plastic ones or you can do what I do and use a bamboo skewer. I found a package of thick, short bamboo skewers a few years ago and then thought I would jazz them up a bit by adding some polymer clay to the end. I didn't do the most professional looking job with the clay, but you get the idea. You could also glue a button or bead on the end if you want to make it fancy or just leave the skewer plain. Besides using a skewer, you could also use a chopstick or a wooden dowel too. If the point of the chopstick isn't pointy enough just sharpen it in a pencil sharpener.
The skewer, chopstick or dowel seem safer to me too, because if you purchase a metal stiletto and if your sewing machine needle accidentally hits the tip of the stiletto, the metal could fly and hit you in the eye! With the wood, chances are the wood will split, but won't cause as much damage in an accident. I have never had the needle touch the stiletto tip, but it is a possibility, so please be careful when you use a stiletto, because the needle tip could fly too if it breaks.
You can buy quilting, applique, sewing stilettos, but it's so much cheaper to use a skewer, dowel or a chopstick. You can get free chopsticks when you eat at Chinese restaurants. If you have a chopstick, dowel or skewer that is too long, just saw off the end to the size you want and sand it smooth.
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| Bamboo skewer with polymer clay. |
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| The clay even had sparkles already in it. |
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| Add polymer clay on the end and bake or leave plain or glue a bead or button to jazz up your stiletto. |
I hope you all enjoyed my tip for this Tuesday. And even though my mom doesn't have a computer and will never see this I want to wish her a Happy Birthday today, so Happy Birthday Mom. And Happy Birthday Matt too (my brother was born on my mom's birthday, what a birthday my mom got, huh?)
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