Needle-ology

With regard to winter in South Carolina, at Heirlooms & Comforts we will always put a message on the phone system to say what we are doing about getting into the shop on bad weather days. My remembering to change the message after the bad weather ends is sometimes a problem (at my age). The message will always include the date just in case I forget to go back to the normal busy message. Above all we want our friends to be safe, healthy and happy. Therefore, if the road conditions are "iffy" we will make adjustments to our schedules. A quick check with our phone (864-639-9507) will be your best information.

Sara

H&C Feature of the Week: Needles
At Heirlooms & Comforts this week we will feature the all-important sewing machine needle. Buy two packs of machine needles and get the third one (of equal or lesser value) free. Needles should be changed after about 10 hours of sewing. They become blunt and can easily get burrs and become crooked after penetrating numerous layers of seam allowances for 8 to 10 hours. Most often the cause of skipped or uneven stitches is a damaged needle. We frequently see stitching problems related solely to the needle having been damaged or dinged on a forgotten pin or a "lump of trash" in batting. Polyester fiber is also very sharp or strong and can cause a blunted needle; so a project with poly batting can require numerous changes of the needle depending on the size of the project.

The engineering of the needle is important as well in producing a beautiful stitch. Universal needles have a slightly rounded or not very sharp point. It is a little hard to describe in terms of what it is; it is easier to say what it is not. A universal needle is not so sharp that it will cut the threads in a knitted fabric and cause a "run". It is not so rounded that it has a difficult trip through a woven fabric. Therefore, it is called universal because it can sew both kinds of fabrics. A Stretch needle is honed to go through knitted fabrics without damaging the fibers. A Ballpoint needle has a very rounded tip so that you can sew extremely elastic fabrics such as Lycra and Spandex without damage to the fiber. The round tip just shoves the stretchy stuff aside until it is done putting the thread where it should go. A Microtex needle is engineered to use its very pointed, almost arrow shaped tip to penetrate the fabrics that are dense and tough. It is designed not to cut the fabric, but to go easily between the rows of woven threads to make the stitch. Certainly I have not in this letter touched on all the available types of needles; this is just the tip of the "needle iceberg."

This is all so scientific and almost microscopic to my eye that I have to trust the printed materials that I have read across the 26 years that I have been in this business. I trust that the explanations for the use of the many different types of needles are the result of industry at its best. We offer you two brands of needles that we have found to be suitable for almost all machines on the market today. We have charts available for you to refer to in choosing the correct needle for your project. Remember also that "size matters".

Great Opportunity
At Heirlooms & Comforts we have a great opportunity for our customers to get a really tremendous bargain in a Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 830 classroom model machine with a full warranty for only $799. Can you believe it?!! That is an MSRP $1499 originally. You do the math; you get the savings. There are so many reasons to have this model machine that my email would be much too long to name them all here. Just suffice it to say if you want a Sapphire machine for any reason, now is the time to come in. The supply is limited, so don't delay coming in for your machine.