Your Burning Questions - Answered

A lot of people have asked some really great questions in the comments and by email, and I wanted to take a minute to answer them here for everyone to see.

Becky from Sew in Stitches asks what weight of fusible adhesive I use for applique.

For anything wearable - or for a quilt - I use the lightest weight adhesive I can find. The heavier weights make things really stiff. I don't think that looks good on clothes and it's almost impossible to get a needle through it. Even if you sew it by machine, the heavyweight stuff will tend to gum up your needle.

The only time I use heavyweight adhesive is if I'm appliqueing heavy fabrics and I don't intend to sew through it. That means the fabrics can never be washed. I don't do this often, but one example is when I made a banner for my daughter's school to hang at their table for fundraisers and public events - like their annual rummage sale.

One other note on using fusible adhesive. . .

It won't stick well if you've used any fabric softener on either fabric. The sizing in new fabric (and new clothes) also will keep it from stitcking well, so always prewash everything you're going to use and don't use any fabric softener in the wash or dryer sheets in the dryer.

Anonymous asks if the colored pencils and crayons I used for the embroidery are machine washable.

Yes - the ones I used are color safe - but test your own first. I used Crayola crayons and Prismacolor colored pencils. I heat set them for a full minute with a hot, dry iron. I washed them in cold water with gentle detergent and the colors held up just fine. But you should always test your own stuff first! Your detergent will be different, the mineral content in your water will be different, the temperature of your hot iron will be different. Always test.

Jordana asks if, when I use just four strands of thread to embroider, can the other two strands be used, or is there something special about the way they're twisted together.

There's nothing special at all about the twist and you definitely don't want to throw those extra strands away. You can combine them with two more strands of the same color. Or fold your two strands in half to make a 4-strand thread. Or combine them with two strands of another color to make an interesting variegated thread. Go wild!

Keep those questions coming!

And come back later - I'm going to post some finished work by someone besides me!

Best,
Wendi