Brother Sewing Machine Accessories

Moms craft kids' fashions and accessories (photo gallery)

But Wolff's handiwork is not just a way to dress her daughter. It's also a burgeoning business. She sells her creative creations in her online shop, Sweet Sapling, at Etsy.com.

More and more moms like Wolff are designing and selling "kiddie couture." It's a way to outfit their own kids and, more importantly, fulfill an otherwise untapped creative potential and entrepreneurial dreams. "I've always been a creative person. I've always had the urge to create," Wolff says. "I don't sit still. I don't just sit and watch TV. I always thought everyone was like that, but I guess they're not."

That's where the sewing machine comes in to play. "I've always loved to put things together, to pick out some really nice fabric and see how it can go with something else." Like Wolff, Jennie Howard squeezes in time to sew whenever she can. That's sometimes easier said than done, the 30-year-old Sioux Falls mom of three says.

But it's important, says Howard, who works full-time during nights and weekends as a receptionist at Sanford's NICU department. "If you love it, you find time to do it," she says. "Even if I just make one tiny little burp cloth, it fulfills that creative need."

Howard taught herself to sew last year after her husband bought her a sewing machine for Mother's Day. Since then, she has been creating items that are geared toward moms with young kids, like burp cloths and blankets and crayon rollups. "It's hard - everything I make I want to keep," Howard admits. "But I love making things for customers. I enjoy the challenge of creating something for someone else."

While Etsy allows sellers - currently more than 800,000 of them - to open up their shops to the world, shoppers can search to find local sellers, too. In Sioux Falls, dozens of crafters are selling everything from handmade clothes and accessories to jewelry to vintage clothing.

Selling something is thrilling, Howard says. It means someone likes what she does. "A lot of people love knowing that someone actually created this gift just for them rather than going to Target," she says. "The buyer and receiver both think it's something unique and something extra special."

It's more than just affirmation for her work that Wolff enjoys, however.

Brother PQ1500S Quilting Sewing Machine Review Sewing Machines for ...

This is easy – there’s only one stitch with this machine. That’s why this is called a straight stitch machine. It doesn’t sew anything fancy but it wasn’t built for fancy – it’s built for speed.

The maximum stitch length of the straight stitch is 7mm. You can perform even basic basting with this long of a stitch setting.

If you’ve ever made a quilt of any real size, you’ve had to deal with issues that face any hobby quilter. You have lots of pieces of fabric to attach together – time consuming work that requires lots of straight stitching and can consume great quantities of thread. You’ve had to work with different kinds of materials and put them together in order to add contrast and texture to your quilt. You’ve had to manage fitting a large roll of heavy material through the throat or “harp” of the machine (that area between the needle and the right side of the machine).

Industrial quilting machines are designed specifically to deal with large, bulk fabrics but can be way too much machine for most households.

The Brother PQ1500S fills the gap by being large enough to handle even King size quilts and yet still light enough to move around. As an industrial setup can cost a couple of thousand dollars (or more), the PQ1500S becomes an attractive choice as it’s not much more than the cost of some entry level sewing machines.

If you find you’ve been spending a lot more money lately renting a quilting machine and frame or you’ve been outsourcing some of your work because you don’t have the right equipment, the features on this model and the low price might be just the solution.

Sewing 101, A Beginner's Guide to Sewing

The Sewing Machine

New complete guide to sewing, step-by-step techniques for making clothes and home accessories

The Sewing Machine Accessory Bible, Get the Most Out of Your Machine---From Using Basic Feet to Mastering Specialty Feet

Thomas register of American manufacturers and Thomas register catalog file