Charmed

I am coming to believe that the best part of having a new sewing machine is getting to play around with all of its special features. The free lesson I received on my machine (yet another perk of buying local) really spurred this experimentation because I now have a basic understanding of what all my stitches and accessories do. And let me tell you, I am now in love with all of the feet that come with my Janome DC2013.

I used 3 special feet for my latest project: a patchwork wristlet. This project is from a mini charm pack kit that I bought on a quilt shop hop last summer (and can I say I'm totally sold on charm packs - no cutting and coordinated fabrics? awesome) and was perfect for trying things out on my machine.

Right off, I used the machine's 1/4 inch foot for all of the patchwork seeming. I wasn't convinced that I needed this foot, as I really don't quilt, but the seam guide was amazingly helpful and I will definitely use it again when I need 1/4 inch seams. The other obvious foot to test was the zipper foot for installing the wristlet's zipper. This foot is pretty straightforward but I like that it can be mounted to either the right or left of the needle, depending on what you're sewing.

1/4" foot - zipper foot - ribbon/sequins foot

The third foot to be tested was a ribbon/sequins foot that I purchased separately from my machine. This little foot guides 1/4 ribbon, elastic, and strands of sequins into the sewing area so you can stitch it directly onto your fabric. What is really appealing about this foot is the ability to use decorative stitches on top of ribbon for beautiful trimmings. I still need to play around with this foot more, not only to get ideas but also because my trimmings aren't coming out straight yet.

Besides giving me a chance to test out a few of my new sewing feet, this was a really fun and quick project and I'm very happy with the results. It's got me thinking about more uses for [mini] charm packs and making new plans for experimenting with my new sewing machine. All told, that's the best kind of project.