Famore Blog Hop - Seam Rip and Stiletto Review and Giveaway

Be Bop Zippity Dee Bop

My name is Hanna

it rhymes with IHANNA

Snip it

 you gotta zippity clip it

 and if you mess it

you gotta rip it

Be Bop Zippity Dee Bop

When those threads aren't a budgin'

you gotta start fudgin'

get up in yo ghetto and grab yo

Stiletto

Then ya start to watchin'

and you'll start seein'

those threads start runnin'

like you never seen dem run befoo

SOOOOO....I won't quit my day job I PROMISE!!! 

See what talking about one of my favorite subjects does to me?  I get all zippity-clip-it and my body starts dancin' ....oh there I go again...someone smack me....OUCH....not that hard!!!

 It is my pleasure to introduce you to Mr. Famore Cutlery Seam Rippah.  Those unwanted stitches don't stand a chance with this baby.  No more pokin-in with the old style seam rips and trying to catch a thread....then every third or fourth thread...not any more.

 Just look how beautiful the blade is....and baby oh baby it is sharp. 

I know what you are thinking....and don't tell me you aren't because I've heard several people tell me they were afraid to use the Famore Seam Ripper because they thought they'd slice into themselves or cut their fabric.  As long as you are not psychotic, I don't think you will do either of those things.  I've never once cut myself with my seam rip.  I guess it is like being afraid of drowning in my cup of coffee in the morning.  Technically there is enough fluid in the cup to drown....however I have a healthy respect for that cup o joe :)

Remember my pretty Prairie Point....well....I've decided she is going to meet her demise. 

I tucked the end of the seam ripper parallel to the fabric just inside the fold where the fabrics are joined.

Moving straight ahead and keeping the ripper parallel to the fabric I move the ripper through those threads and lickity split....look what you get....

I now pronounce those two pieces of fabric officially separated....just like that.  See...no blood :)

Many of you know I've started doing some machine embroidery.  I made this apron for my youngest co-worker for Christmas.  The problem was....I walked away and didn't see that the bobbin thread had come to the top and I had an entire sentence straight across the design that was not so pretty.  If you have ever done any ME you know that there is some crazy something that happens to the thread once stitched....it hangs on for dear life....no matter what.  Being the patient person I am (not) I sat and used my Famore Seam Rip to remove every last thread....and yes I also used their Micro Tip Tweezers (SewCalGal will review those on Friday) to pull out any tiny threads that would just not let go.  When I showed my tear out job to my girlfriend, Diane (years and years of ME experience) she was impressed and said she had not seen a tear out job that looked that nice.  Keep in mind, I have not washed the apron yet....I'm thinking that after it is washed it will look a whole lot better.

The Famore Seam Ripper comes with 3 blades....yes I said 3...and I've been using my seam rip for 3 years and still have one blade left to open :)   Oh yeah...it comes with a  safety cap too.

 You twist the little screw on the side and slide the old blade off and a new one on and you are good to go again. 

Now on to my friend Mr. Geppetto Stiletto...aka Famore's Metal Safety Stiletto

 When you first see Mr. Geppetto Stiletto in the package he looks like he got into a fight and lost....

 His head twists off (oh geez is that fun....to twist his head off....my dark side is showing once again...sorry...sort of) and you can see the Famore Stiletto has a built in safety jacket.

You turn the tip around and screw it back into the handle and you have a beautiful Famore Stiletto for your sewing needs :)

Sewing needs? If you don't have a Stiletto you may wonder what you do with one....and I will tell you....there are lots of things I use my Geppetto for.....

 When I'm feeding fabric under the foot of my machine there are times when I want to hold the fabric on the front or close to the side to keep it going straight.  I know this picture isn't really the best example but you get the idea.

 I use it when I'm feeding fabric into the tip of my Simplicity Bias Tape Maker tips...and it can be used for the Clover Bias Tape Maker tips too.

 Ever have a tiny piece you are working on and you need to use one of those tiny burn your fingers off irons?  (I use my Kandi Handi Iron so I don't burn my fingers off any more)  You can use the Famore Stiletto to hold your fabric in place so the iron won't burn your fingers.

I also use Gheppeto for pulling out a few threads when I don't want to cut the threads.  You can see in this photo....I was able to slip Gepehetto under a thread and pull out just one thread.

Are you starting to get the idea that I think very highly of Famore Cutlery's products?    I do because for the money, I don't think you can find a better value....AND the best customer service and care out there....which is just as important to me...if not important than price. 

For a chance to win a Famore Seam Ripper and a Famore Metal Safety Stiletto just leave a comment on this post telling me if you own any Famore products and what your thoughts are on the items you own.  If you don't own a Famore product....let me know why you want to replace your current tools with these fabulous Famore tools :)

You must be a IHAN blog follower and leave your comment by Sunday, January 15th because Mr. Random Number Generator will choose a winner and the winner will be announced on Monday, January 16th.

The Famore Blog Hop is going on all week and here are a list of the wonderful places you can visit for your chance to learn more about Famore Cutlery and hopefully win even more wonderful sewing and quilting tools.

Monday Jan. 9th - www.PatsyThompsonDesigns.com

Tuesday Jan. 10th - www.GreenFairyQuilts.blogspot.com

Wednesday Jan. 11th – www.IHaveANotion.blogspot.com

Thursday Jan 12th -www.HappyCottageQuilter.blogspot.com

Friday Jan. 13th – www.SewCalGal.blogspot.com

I wish you all the luck of the Irish this week...and speaking of the Irish...if you're still with me...

Did you notice the beautiful quilt that I used as a backdrop above?

Believe it or not, I received this beautiful wall hanging as a Christmas gift from dear blogging friend.  Not only was I totally and completely blown away by such an amazing gift of love....but it also reminded me of another dear blogging friend Micki, from Ireland.  Many of you will remember her blog, Irish Muses.  The blogging world has brought so many wonderful and loving people into my life....so when you are out hopping around....remember .... quilts provide warmth....and so do wonderful friends you will meet in your blogging journey....it's not about the prizes you will win....(although they are great) it is about the amazing and wonderful people behind the products and quilts you see and meet in your blog hopping journey. 

Giant Smiles,

Kelly

Famore Cutlery Blog Hop All This Week :)

You can see for yourself, I am "Kelly Scissor Fiend, Queen of the IHAN Nation" (self appointed of course) and this is Brint from Famore Cutlery, formerly known as "The Scissor Man." 

Brint was stripped of his Scissor Man Apron in Houston...hence his tears in the photo above.  I wore my "Queen of the IHAN Nation" apron and  THE Scissor Man apron too....reigning supreme over the Land Of Sharps...LOL

While my reign was short lived...it sure was fun.  It isn't to hard having fun with the folks from Famore Cutlery....that's just what we do!

Join us for some more fun....the Famore Cutlery Blog Hop

I have invited 4 other bloggers to review a Famore Cutlery product this week.  They were able to choose any Famore product for their review and they'll be giving an identical item away on their blog.  How they decide who the winner is ....well, that's completely up to them.  Rest assured the giveaways are not rigged...cuz I already have what they are reviewing...I'm so, so, so, so bad!

Monday Jan. 9th 

Visit Patsy  at PatsyThompsonDesigns.com  Patsy is reviewing the Batting and Fabric EZ Glide Scissors.

Tuesday Jan. 10th

Visit  Judi at GreenFairyQuilts.blogspot.com  Judi is reviewing Famore's  4" Curved Scissors.

Wednesday Jan. 11th

Visit the "Queen of the IHAN Nation" at IHaveANotion.blogspot.com
I hear she will be reviewing the Famore Seam Ripper and the Metal Safety Stilletto.

Thursday Jan 12th

 Visit Jocelyn  at HappyCottageQuilter.blogspot.com Joceyln is reviewing the Famore 8" Bent Trimmer Fabric Shears

Friday Jan. 13th

Visit Darlene at SewCalGal.blogspot.com  Darlene is reviewing Famore's Micro Fine Tweezers.

Have a wonderful week and be sure to visit each of the blogs listed above.  I can't wait to hear what other people have to say about the Famore Cutlery products they are reviewing.

Smiles,
Kelly

"Look At Me"

I promised when I was finished with my Power Suit Challenge Piece I would show everyone a photo.  Here it is, "Look At Me"

The Theme for the Power Suit Challenge is:

What does “Power Suit” mean to you? Does it conjure images of smoke-filled rooms where deals are made? Is a Power Suit a garment or a person? Do you plug in a Power Suit? What if a Power Suit gave you Super Powers? Using Power Suits as your inspiration, create an art quilt that expresses your point of view.

Here is my "artist statement"...I say that lightly...very lightly!

This is a picture of the entire back.  This is the first time I ever sewed a facing on a quilt...I was so proud of myself.  I used Susan Brubaker Knapp's tutorial....click here if you want a great tutorial on facing a quilt.

Remember when I said I would NEVER enter another challenge as long as I live?  Well, my lesson is "never say never." 

"Look At Me" is my very first finished art quilt.  It took me longer than I would have ever expected.  If something could go wrong....it did and I'm not kidding.

Before you scroll down and see some of the "process" pieces I thought I'd tell about the process.   I got a great idea from Ricky Tim's Grand Finale DVD.  He suggests making a mock up so you are not attempting something on the final piece.  EXCELLENT advise!!! I did many mini mock ups of different steps to see what I liked and what looked good to me. 

Yes, this is a bold of Mistyfuse.  I went through two packages of Mistyfuse and decided at the rate I use this amazing fusible....I better just have a bolt.  I'm in love with Mistyfuse....I was able to get many layers of fabric fused and it remained soft....oh yeah!!!

An entire bolt....pinch me....I think I've died and gone to heaven :)

This is Mr. Peacock's third head....he had two others....but for various reasons....this was the almost final version.  I added Swarovski crystals to his eye and stitched his beak....well...you saw all that in the pix above.

I think I may have 8-10 feather mock ups....where I tried all sorts of threads, stitches and even paints.
I'm only showing a few here.

 

 

Thread?  I'm telling you if you want to make art quilts....you better have lots of thread....and embellishments.  I'm telling you I used some of every brand I own....not all ended up in the final piece....but I sure did try lots of different threads with several fabric colors to see how they stitched out.  Save all those strange little items you find....you just may need them for an art quilt one day.

Yes....you need to have lots of space for a huge mess....if you are anything like me anyway.  I can make an enormous mess when I create....I pull everything I think might even remotely work, out of the drawers, off shelves and out of closets.

  

Believe me, I'm sparing you tons of other mess that I made....however it is all put away now.

I learned that it took a lot of determination to keep going every time something didn't work out.  I tore out and tore out and tore out.  I had a puckered piece and had to block the piece no less than 4 times to get it to lay flat.  People say, drink a glass of wine before you do free motion quilting.  My advise is wait until 12:30 am when your defenses are low and go like a bat out of H E double hockey sticks...LOL.  I tore out lots of free motion quilting that didn't look good....went back and re-stitched it.  I have a very personal relationship with all four of my Famore seam rippers....yes I have four (because I misplace them and get frustrated so I have one on each surface).

I used my new Portable Handi Iron and I'm still in love with it.  I noticed another feature that I missed when I reviewed it a week or so ago.

Check out the groove on the back of the handle....guess what goes in there?

The cord.....I didn't notice that before....how cool is that?  The cord stays out of the way and its perfect for right and left handed folks!

I put it on my ironing surface upside down....no I didn't use it for a elbow rest!  YIKES

I put my hot fix Swarovski crystals on it and heated them....used my tweezers to transfer them to my piece and they were ready lickity split.

I encourage everyone if they haven't entered a challenge....jump in....it can be very difficult but I think going through the process is well worth the lessons learned.

Smiles,

Kelly

Two Steps Forward....

One Step Back.....

By the looks of this heart, you might think I have taken up drinking or there was an earthquake in OH.  Talk about operator error...LOL.  The boys were playing nearby and I was paying more attention to them and kept looking away, so this is the result.

 

Lots of folks are afraid of these type of seam rippers.  I have a friend who winces every time she sees me us this one.  Why?  Don't ask me.  I love my seam ripper. It is made by Famore and the blade is very sharp so I don't have to really do anything other than glide it through these stitches and then....I'm free to start over!!  Did I mention the seam ripper comes with three blades?  Not one, not two....but three blades.  I don't know if I'll ever need all three blades....but just in case....I have them :)  I always share my best finds with others....it would'nt be as fun if I kept all this great info to myself, right?

That was fast and I used the tips of my GrabARoo's to rub my fingers across the remaining threads and they easily came off.  The little nubs on the gloves work great for getting threads out.  The of course I used my vacuum to clean up the mess I made on my table....but hey....these are not table saws that come with cool vacuum attachments.  Hmmmmm.....now there is a manufacturing idea!!!  I want  a sewing vacuum that can be mounted to the underside of my sewing table so I can just suck up the threads and scraps everywhere!!!  (Don't forget the copyright on my blog :)

So....lets see how far I can get now that I have 5 new spools of thread and three of my hearts removed because I want my wall hanging to be great....not just ok. 

Picky Smiles,

Kelly