Nancy Zieman...
the name is synonymous with sewing, isn't it?
As a teenager in the 1980s, Nancy patiently taught sewing to me and all her viewers on PBS.
Were you one of them?
I have some notes to share with you from my evening with Nancy (in person) here in my hometown and hope you can benefit from them, too...
Nancy started off by saying "Sewing is now a creative process rather than a necessity." I couldn't agree more! It's much cheaper to purchase a T-shirt in WalMart than to serge one yourself, but, then you wouldn't have the fun of being able to say, "I did it myself!"
Nancy showed us (a group of about sixty) how to create her bias scarf and cascading scarf with a serger. Those items are available on her website at www.nancysnotions.com .
A new product called "fantastic elastic" is an elastic you can the width you would like along the rib on the elastic without it unraveling!
I ran out and bought "Sewing A to Z", which is Nancy's newest book with DVD. I'm interested in not only quilting, but also machine embroidery and sewing for myself and my family, so this will be a very useful tool. I got a chance to peek through the book during a break in our session and knew it was a must-have for my library.
Nancy was wearing the nicest knit top and coordinating jacket. She designs for McCall's and one of her newest patterns is M6408, which I found at JoAnn's last week for only $1! How do you like this jacket?
the name is synonymous with sewing, isn't it?
As a teenager in the 1980s, Nancy patiently taught sewing to me and all her viewers on PBS.
Were you one of them?
I have some notes to share with you from my evening with Nancy (in person) here in my hometown and hope you can benefit from them, too...
Nancy started off by saying "Sewing is now a creative process rather than a necessity." I couldn't agree more! It's much cheaper to purchase a T-shirt in WalMart than to serge one yourself, but, then you wouldn't have the fun of being able to say, "I did it myself!"
Nancy showed us (a group of about sixty) how to create her bias scarf and cascading scarf with a serger. Those items are available on her website at www.nancysnotions.com .
A new product called "fantastic elastic" is an elastic you can the width you would like along the rib on the elastic without it unraveling!
I ran out and bought "Sewing A to Z", which is Nancy's newest book with DVD. I'm interested in not only quilting, but also machine embroidery and sewing for myself and my family, so this will be a very useful tool. I got a chance to peek through the book during a break in our session and knew it was a must-have for my library.
Nancy was wearing the nicest knit top and coordinating jacket. She designs for McCall's and one of her newest patterns is M6408, which I found at JoAnn's last week for only $1! How do you like this jacket?
When serging in a circle (the sleeve), Nancy suggests cutting out a 1" long 1/4" deep "starting gate". Begin in the gate and then end there. This will eliminate funky-looking circles and will create a perfectly round circle without cutting into the fabric.
McCall's 6040 by Nancy Zieman
This jacket features serging on the outside as a form of embellishment.
McCall's 5890 has a nice knit, draped jacket I think is flattering. I don't know about you, but I love to hide my hips! LOL
Tips from Nancy and Linda Lee on working with stretchy knit fabrics:
Fuse the hems first and then stitch over them. An iron-on fusible called "Steam a Seam 2", which acts like a stabilizer and works well for this technique.
For embroidery by machine, Nancy recommends "Designs in Machine Embroidery". Her new book and accompanying CD-ROM called "Designer Necklines"certainly caught my eye, too! What an easy way to make a $2.50 T-shirt look like a million bucks!!
Nancy has been working with Clover, a company out of Japan with an office here in the U.S. who provides all kinds of nifty notions for seamstresses and quilters. (You know the Clover quilting pins I'm talking about, right?!?) Well, if you have always wanted to make a purse but really didn't know how...can you imagine HOW CUTE a charm pack would be in quilted purse form?!?!? Or can you imagine making this Gingerbread House Purse with your embroidery machine like I did!
And may I recommend to you a website I found and LOVE called www.emblibrary.com ? Their projects page (all free!) are filled with fantastic giftable ideas.
Clover offers templates for handbags that Nancy has designed. The best thing about it is that there's absolutely no turning the bag inside out/upside down, etc. to create it. It's an extremely easy to sew project. The template is sturdy enough to use over 100 times!
For a successful purse, use double-sided fusible Pellon Peltex in the sides of the purse to make things "beefy" and use "Shape 'n Create" plastic for the bottom. This plastic isn't possible to pin, so be feel to use double-sided tape instead!
Straps are no fun without a turning tube, but now Nancy has designed an very easy, fusible "Create a Strap" for purses that requires no turning at all! You finish the inside with grosgrain ribbon that coordinates with your fabric choice. She finishes the raw edges on the inside of the bag with grosgrain ribbon, too and it's a very pretty finish.
Nancy's new product "Wrap 'n Fuse" makes it possible to simply wrap the fabric around the piping, iron and ta-dah! You have instant piping - this would be very easy to add to a quilted border or coordinating bed pillow.
Speaking of quilting, here's where the really patient of you get the latest from Nancy on quilting tips!
Her purse template I used is definitely awesome, so I also bought the Lone Star Quilt template from Nancy. There are several different sizes on just one template and there are absolutely NO Y-seams involved! Thank you, Nancy! Once cut, the pieces all sew together using straight seams. Nancy joked with us that you shouldn't "lose your religion" trying to sew Y-seams correctly, sew...she developed this template :-)
A free pattern for a table topper comes with the template.
Nancy highly recommends Mary Ellen's Best Press light starch and I agree with her recommendation whole-heartedly!
The Dresden Plate is also a template from Nancy using a no fabric waste "flip & place" technique that makes instant points. If you like decorating for Christmas, there is a free tree skirt pattern at clover-usa.com featuring Nancy's Dresden Plate template and a Grandmother's Flower Garden template, too.
Her Tumbler Block template is ideal for the new quilter, so wouldn't that make a great gift for the new quilter in your life or someone you would like to encourage? The same template provides you several various looks, plus comes with a How-to DVD featuring Ms. Zieman herself!
When Nancy saw quilts at the Wisconsin PBS-sponsored quilt show called "Landscape Quilts", her jaw dropped on the floor and she knew right then and there she just had to learn how it was done. The results are astoundingly beautiful and are quite non-quilty and very artistic at times. It was shocking to hear Nancy say that inexpensive glue sticks from WalMart and Sharpies permanent markers always go in her landscape quilts, but when she showed us her results....well, we could certainly see why! Simply amazing! She has written a book with samplers built right in so you can learn to begin landscaping. If you have tons of stash, this project would be perfect for you!
Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
All the Best,
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