Details Make All the Difference

I'm so excited. Always new discoveries and new methods of doing things. I've been making labels by printing in reverse on iron-on transfer paper, cutting out the image, and then ironing the image onto ribbon, then ironing the ribbon in half and sewing into project. They look lovely and work well, though they are a bit of work to make. The disadvantage is that if I forget to sew it in at the right point while making the project then the project doesn't get a tag. I saw on some show a woman demonstrated how to make labels with printable fabric, iron on interfacing, and then iron onto project. Handy. Spendy. Limited fabric selection. Went to local store to get some printable fabric to give it a try and the wonderful salesclerk was very helpful and we started talking and she said, oh, just iron fabric onto wax paper and it will go through the printer. I'm so eager to try it. A lot cheaper. Great color selection, as I can use any cotton or cotton/poly blend. I'm so impatient to give it a try. How exciting. It's amazing how exciting little things like professional looking tags can be. But it's true. It's all in the detail. And if the detail costs pennies instead of dollars then the details are exciting instead of a burden or drain. Will try it tonight and let you know how it turned out.

On another note, embossing leather. Tried the method of wetting down the leather and putting object on leather then adding weight and letting it sit overnight. Image came out all right on the depressed side, not so well on the raised side, and made the leather stiff and dry and darker. Have an embossing gun and will give it a try next weekend. I suspect heating the leather will be hard on it and not sure how well the embossing glue and powder will stick to leather but have some scraps I can try to experiment with so will at least play.

Have a new hobo bag pattern that has turned out so well. Very simple and straightforward and I like the simplicity of the end result. It does need a tad of bling and embellishing though, thus the experminting with embossing leather. Where the magnetic snap sits I want to add a patch of leather to reinforce it and I want it to be embossed and I plan on hanging a few strands of beads from it, sewn in when I attach the patch. Should be just enough embellishing to relieve the severity yet leave it a simple, classic line of purse.

I have figured out the secret of sewing leather. New needle and going slow. I hear it all the time and it's so true, a new needle, a new needle, a new needle. With leather it's like night and day. A seam bunchs, slides, and has a life of its own. Put in a new needle and take a relaxed pace and it's like sewing cotton.