Create your own Pencil Case

pencil-case.jpgPencil cases are one of the best beginner projects because they’re fast, fun and can be easily customised. This tutorial shows you ideas on fabric types, embroidery designs, quilting styles and how to apply your own ScanNCut design.

What you need

Fabric Required

Recommended fabrics such as cotton, linen, denim, canvas or drill.

  • Front & Back: Cut two 24cm x 14cm in both fabric and lining
  • Zipper Tabs: Cut two 4cm x 4cm in fabric

Pencil Case Tutorial

Fabric Pencil Case

Create a simple pencil case with fun, bright fabric.

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Baby or Toddler Sewing & Embroidery Ideas

One of the best reasons to get into sewing and embroidery is for the many incredible things you can create for children, toddlers or babies. If it’s for yourself, or for your friends, it’s a great way to save money and create something unique and incredibly gorgeous.

The following items can all be made on the Brother Innovis NV950 Sewing & Embroidery machine or similar combination machines.

Embroider Buddy – Whimsy Unicorn (Pink)

There is a large range of Embroider Buddies available, however for this gift idea I have chosen the Whimsy Unicorn in Pink. I downloaded the Too Cute Unicorn embroidery design from Urban Threads and imported the design into Embrilliance. I then added  my friend’s baby girls name, who is turning one over the weekend. The font below is called Jelly B 17mm, which is a BX Font by Lindee Goodall. However, there are plenty of fonts you can use or choose from.

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Learn To Sew – Choosing a Machine

by Erin W

If you’re new to sewing and are looking at buying a machine, it can often get a bit overwhelming with the variety of  brands, makes and models to choose from. Unfortunately, we see time and time again people opting for a low cost machine from larger retail chains. The problem with this is that some of these machines come with little to no functions, which can make your first sewing experience a frustrating and unpleasant one. Also, what happens when you run into trouble? Will they offer ongoing support or advice? Can you pop into the store  or phone someone and actually get some help from a knowledgeable person? Can you participate in classes and events where you have the best chance at learning everything you need to succeed?

When someone comes into our store looking to purchase the cheapest, smallest sewing machine as a ‘starting out’ machine, we will always try our best to explain that cheap and cheerful rarely equals a good sewing experience and we’ll encourage them to think long term by getting a machine we know and trust. We want to give them the best experience money can buy, allowing them to invest in a machine that will invest in them for years to come.

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There’s nothing worse than starting a new hobby, especially one that can seem a little daunting at first, and not having the right tools or equipment to get you started. More often than not, having a cheap, low cost machines lacking in mordern user friendly features will force you to throw your hands in the air saying, “I give up! It’s all too hard.” It would be like buying a new car and not having air-conditioning, power steering, disk breaks or even a radio. It might get you from A to B but it’s just not enjoyable.

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Echidna Hooping Station

Hoop an Embroider Buddy with Ease using the Small Echidna Hooping Station

How many times have you tried to hoop a small item where the extra parts of fabric get caught up in the hoop, then the entire process ends up in frustration? That’s why every embroiderer needs to add one of these fantastic Hooping Stations to their set of tools!

Here are our step-by-step instructions on how easy it is to hoop an Embroider Buddy plush toy.

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You’ve just purchased your NV950!

If you’ve just purchased your Brother NV950 Sewing and Embroidery Machine and haven’t yet taken it out of the box here is a video that will help you get started.

This video is part of the Echidna NV950 Sewing and Embroidery machine playlist. If you click on the top left corner navigation on the video player you can browse through the list of videos. Otherwise you can also view the youtube playlist.