Thursday, August 4, 2011 
Did you know that your bobbin case has its own tensioner? Many sewers don't. If you're experiencing difficulty with tensioning your machine, it might be that your bobbin tension is too loose (or, less frequently, too tight).
Bobbin, Did you know?, How To, Tension in Tutorials Wednesday, June 8, 2011 
We carry the full range of Gutermann threads, which means we often get asked, "Which one is for what?" We have a few good rules to follow:
1. For piecing quilts, you want to stick to cotton thread. Cotton is less strong than polyester, which means that if your quilt gets tugged at it will be more likely to break on the seam than to tear in the fabric. If the seam breaks, you can easily stitch it back together. If the fabric tears, you've got a problem on your hands.
2. For making clothes, the opposite holds true. The thread in your clothing is what keeps you dressed during the day, and you definitely don't want those seams to break. Use polyester thread for clothing to ensure longevity.
3. For hand-binding, nothing (and we mean nothing) beats silk. It's like sewing with buttah. Grab neutral or silver colored silk and your ladder stitches (heck, even your whip stitches) will practically disappear. Silk thread will change your hand-binding life.
4. Waxed quilting thread is for hand-quilting only. Don't try it out on your machine; you'll be a very unhappy camper. If you're a hand-quilter, we hope you're already using the waxed quilting thread. If you'd like to try out hand-quilting, start with this.
As always, if you have questions about what to use for which project, don't hesitate to ask! You might be surprised by the little tips and tricks we have to help make your sewing life just a little bit easier (have we mentioned silk thread?).
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 
It's our very first tutorial on the cool cottons blog, and we decided to start simple. This easy coaster pattern is a great beginner project, a perfect way to use up your scrap, or an easy we're-leaving-in-20-minutes-for-a-dinner-party-and-I-want-to-bring-a-hostess-gift gift. I was first introduced to this patter a few years ago when a friend of my housemate gifted a set of these coasters to our house. We stared at them for a long while trying to figure out the secret to their construction. No top stitching at all? How is that possible? Here, we share the secret with you.
