I was asked by a good friend of mine, to add a bible verse to some scarves she had purchased for our Big Sky Tres Dias Prayer Team. “Tres Dias” is Spanish, meaning three days, and it is a weekend dedicated to help us grow, explore and mature our faith in Jesus Christ — to learn more, & be strengthened in living our Christian life. Visit the website “Big Sky Tres Dias” for more information, or contact me. I so enjoy the sweet fellowship of seeing old friends, and meeting new ones every time I serve these weekends. Here is the verse for our Women’s weekend retreat:
So, truthfully, I was a bit intimidated by the sheerness and fragility of the fabrics in these scarves. I knew two things: some sort of stabilization was needed, and I wanted to write the verse out by employing free motion.
The best stabilizer for this job was “Aqua Bond” — a sticky-backed, water-soluble stabilizer. I cut it into 1 1/2 inch strips, peeled off the paper backing, and placed it on the backside of the scarf, at the top edge. I chose my #24 free motion foot to help prevent excess fabric from ‘flagging’ which means the fabric travels up the needle in an unpleasant fashion. The #9 foot would have worked well here too.
For thread, I chose a Superior Threads, tri-lobal polyester. I had to loosen my top tension greatly — to .5! I put a black Isacord polyester in the bobbin. I found out that if I kept my stitches too small, they easily could make a hole in the scarf… not cool. I wish I had tried a 50 weight thread for the bottom… but I didn’t until I was finished! Sew .. it.. goes!
It was definitely a great benefit to use my ‘white gloves’ (quilting gloves), to help grip the thin fabric, making it as taut as possible, and especially working with just the top edge, too. I did think about a hoop… but I would have had to move it alot, and I think it would have damaged the fragile fabric, too. After I finished stitching, I washed out the stabilizer, and pressed them. I was fairly pleased with the way they turned out. I got to try something new, and was blessed to be asked, and to learn… more.
Isaiah 12:2: Surely God is my salvation: I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my might, He has become my salvation.
Praying He is YOUR strength and might…and if He is not… that He will be! Amen.