Punch needles: Gene, I've got punch needles, yarn for punching (though the needles will use embroidery floss if you prefer) and kits for rugs. You'll see a link to Punch needle on my home page (below), let me know if you have other questions. There are a number of brands of punch needles out there, I happen to like Purrfect Punch because it's a good size to hold, and has an easy to set depth gauge. http://weevings.com

Bonni in NH

Stuffing Pillows: I have used craft sand in pillows and it makes them really drape as a real pillow would. I have always encased the sand in a lightweight cotton using a neutral color or one which matches the pillow casing, before stuffing it into the pillow itself.

Marilyn, MI

Teddy Bear Patterns: This site shows bears in international outfits .they print out at 1 ½ inches besides having needlepoint patterns for each. I thought that some of you would enjoy seeing them to use for decorating items in your doll houses or for costume ideas for your mini dolls.
http://www.vsccs.com/charts/IntlBears.html

Jane in Arkansas

Stiffening Fabric: try stiffening your fabric with a ready made product from the USA called Stiffy... if we can get in the UK it must be widely available in USA. or watered down Aleene's Tacky... I use this ten of water to one of tacky. I also fill the 'empty' tacky bottle with water, make sure you give it a good old shake before using and this is always a good stand by to use for draping. If you cut the top off the tacky bottle when you have no more use for it this makes a former for a hat. You will have to file down the ribs...but it works.

Hazel

Stiffening Fabric: when I make my curtains or draped tablecloths, I paint it with diluted fabric glue. I put a little glue in a container, add water and mix well with a paintbrush. It must have a thin consistency (more water than glue). Paint the fabric with the mixture, shape or pleat, and dry with a hair dryer. When dry, it keeps its shape, and it doesn't change the look of the fabric. I've used it with lace and cotton, even some synthetic fabric that is usually not that easy to pleat.

Betsie

Stiffening Fabric: I often use hair spray to stiffen fabric. I get the cheapest 'unscented' kind I can find and it works well. Heavy duty is even better.

Dottie in Tucson

Tapestries: Do you like to needlepoint? www.janetgranger.co.uk has some tapestries that would be perfect.

Sue in CT

Bra Uses: you should be able to harvest metal parts from bras, if nothing else –

-   the hooks and eyes that fasten at the back can be cut off; flatten the hooks and stick into a basket of yarn for non- working sewing scissors;

-   the eyes were used for drawer pulls in the mini olden days when commercial mini-hardware was unavailable and still are by some DIYers.  

- The metal loops on the straps, pulled through a hook, would make a hanging loop for mini-towels, or a base on which to glue greenery for a 1/24 scale wreath.

- The buckle-like loops pulled through a hook would make a toilet paper holder with a strip of paper wrapped around the lower bar

- the fabric's lace trim may be the right scale for mini curtain or sheet edging.

Loretta.Sniarowski

Workshops & Organization: Organizing fabric: I just finished a monumental job of sorting through years of my own purchases, plus the quilting fabrics I inherited from my mother. I have an old dresser/chest of drawers, with four small drawers across the top and six drawers side by side below that I use for fabrics and sewing stuff. Here's how I did it:

I bought several boxes of ziploc plastic bags, both sandwich and gallon size. For all those fat quarters and eighths of a yard pieces that I'm always buying, I grouped related prints and solids together in the sandwich bags, by color. I did the same thing with the larger pieces, folding everything to fit. It's surprising what will fit within one of those bags.

I discovered that three rows of sandwich bags fit exactly side by side across the width of one standard drawer. I measured and marked off two dividers to fit from front to back of each drawer and my grandson cut them for me from cardboard. Four drawers held three rows each of sandwich bags (gasp!). I can just riffle through them as one does the patterns in the file cabinets at a fabric store. It's the dividers that keep them from slithering down.

For the larger pieces in the gallon size bags I made dividers to fit them, also, although the bags had to be lengthwise in the drawer as opposed to facing me (does that make sense?), sometimes with the ends of the fabric sticking out of the top of the bag. The largest pieces of yardages (from my mother's quilting) I just folded as compactly as I could and laid them flat in the bottom drawer. I may cut them into smaller pieces eventually to share with newbies.

I worked for days on it, but now it should not be that difficult to either locate something or to add new pieces (which I shouldn't do but know I will). I would imagine you could use the same process in those large plastic storage boxes, too, if you don't have a chest of drawers. Just line up the bags to see how they best fit, snugly but still flippable-through, and make your dividers.

In some cases I added odds and ends to the bags that I knew would go into a planned scene. For example, in a bag with some correlated apple prints from Joann's I put some apple buttons, stickers and pictures clipped from a magazine for posters, etc., that will eventually go in a Michael's hutch in my apple kitchen vignette.

Wanna in El Paso

Storing fabric in plastic bags: An addition to the utility of plastic Ziploc type bags. I also write in permanent marker on the top of the bag, the more rigid part above the zipper. For example, one bag may be labelled "Solids, cotton", another "Plain silk", another "Brocade" or "Christmas prints". You then only need to flip through the top of the bags, not investigate what is actually in each one.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

Storing fabric: I, too have tons of fabric scraps. I store mine in those large cardboard storage boxes that are made to go under the bed. I did not use the plastic ones because some fabrics will deteriorate if they can't breathe (and how do I know this, you ask?). I made dividers for them and put all of the fabrics of a similar colour together in each section. I deliberately didn't label them because I like to go through them once in a awhile to see what's there. A few times a fabric has inspired a whole roombox.

Pat M, London, ON

Bunka & sewing notions UK: Tee Pee Crafts have bunka by the meter (15p meter I think) http://www.teepeecrafts.freeserve.co.uk    and Valerie Claire has lots of shop accessories including sewing stuff. http://www.valerieclaireminiatures.co.uk

Brian

Whitening old lace: [I bought some very old and stained cotton lace at an estate sale. Any ideas how to bleach and/or whiten it without dissolving it?]

First of all, don't bleach it Bleach is very corrosive. Use a mild detergent for delicates and hand wash - don't agitate. It may take a few washes and rinses to get clean. If they have come into contact with any protein over their life(food, blood etc)then that may not come out. But you should be able to make it less noticeable. If you want it to be brighter/whiter, after you've cleaned it, you can rinse it in a solution called Blueing which is found in Drug Stores and grocery stores in the Laundry section. It usually comes in a small plastic bottle. Make sure you lay it flat to dry on soft, clean towels.

Debi in Quesnel

Whitening old lace: Biz is the best when it comes to taking out stains! For something like your lace I would just fill a bucket with some water - toss the Biz (a laundry additive found in grocery stores) and leave over night- or as long as it takes Marvelous stuff Even gets out old baby food stains!

Renee Kutcher

Whitening old lace: I recently purchased a huge box of antique lace at an auction and most of it was pretty filthy. I soaked it in "Oxyclean" a couple of times and was truly amazed with the results. Start with a weak solution -it really doesn't take much. I was surprised to find that my formerly ecru colored lace was actually several shades of white and ivory. Didn't hurt the lace at all. Oxyclean is available at WalMart.

Sierran

Cleaning old linen: Joan asked about cleaning old or discolored linens. Here are some tricks used by our Altar Guild to wash Irish linens. They are good ideas for any stained fabric, new or antique. First, soak them in cold water to which has been added a pinch of cream of tartar.

If the linens are delicate, wash them by putting them in a large, wide mouthed jar and shaking the jar. This eliminates "pull" on the fabric. Washing for too long can put the dirt back into the fabric. Two or three minutes should do it.

Add a little borax to the wash water. Borax also gives the fabric some "body" so it doesn't take stains as much If stains remain, then... Soak in 7-Up.

Soak in warm water and denture cleaning tablets. NEVER rub with a bar of soap, as this can cause the threads to move slip and spread....and start from the top, again. And finally, there is no such thing as too much rinsing. Soap film traps soil.

DAni, in Bradshaw, MD

Wool felt: If anyone is looking for 100% wool felt, I just came upon a site that has it.   Wool felt works beautifully for making miniature hats, etc, because unlike the synthetic felt carried in most stores, it is soft and "mold-able". This company sells single squares and swatch packets at reasonable prices. The address is http://www.achildsdream.com/woolfelt.htm#Wool_Felt

Darlene from Long Island

Needlepoint Tip: For those of you who think they can't needlepoint, here's a trick. Look at a needlepoint chart - and use a coloured in chart, it's much easier. Say it represents a flower. You will see petals, stamens, a stem, maybe a leaf. eek! Too much! STOP. Look again at the chart, and see it as a sequence of coloured squares in each row eg 2 cream 3 green 2 cream 1 red 1 dark red 1 red 2 cream. Just focus on counting. Pick a colour, load your needle, and follow the count of that colour.Say it is the green of the stem, mostly 2 squares wide.Notice if it slips to the side, so it hops one square to the side, which will make the finished embroidery appear to curve a little, But just count - ignore the flower. You will sit there muttering eg '5 green, 4 green', fill in the 5 and the 4.And when you have finished, stop and have a look, and you will have a flower.

Helen from York, England

Needlepoint/petitpoint site, basketweave stitching: Just came across this site http://www.needlepointfun.com/welcome.htm#9a

As well as some charts and kits for dollshouse rugs it also has what seem to me some very interesting tips and comments about doing needlepoint. They advocate doing basketweave stitch the opposite way from the usual way if you are using a frame and "stabbing" rather than sewing, i.e. going from the lower left rather than the upper right.

Since I gather that most silk gauze work is done framed in mat board, do any experienced petipoint stitchers have any comments on this? I have three kits that I am looking forward to doing, including a Janet Granger footstool and a fantastic medieval lurcher of Bobbie Schoonmaker's from my dog loving daughter. I would like to do my best on them.

Wendy in Clinton, NJ

Basketweave stitch and frames for miniature needlepoint: Yes, using a frame of some sort is generally recommended for stitching on silk gauze simply because it helps to avoid stitching too tightly and pulling the finished piece out of shape. If a stitcher is experienced enough to stitch with the proper tension, a frame is not necessary. If that is the chosen option, however, then you just tape the raw edges of the gauze with masking tape to avoid snagging the thread on them. Using a frame necessitates using a "stabbing" technique, rather than a "sewing" technique, and takes twice as long to complete.

As for the basketweave stitch .... it is recommended for full size needlepoint because it is much sturdier and tolerates wear, which is necessary in pieces that are "used". When working large background areas in basketweave, a diagonal grain can be seen. Conversely, in miniature work, I recommend the Continental Stitch (worked back and forth horizontally) because wear is not an issue and no grain can be detected. It is especially important in working rugs and carpets that the stitcher uses the Continental because full size rugs are woven horizontally and you want to emulate that in your miniature work.   http://www.micro-stitchery.com

Bobbie