Category Archives: Notions

Fifty-Cent Glue vs. the Good Stuff: When Cheap Is Fine and When Your Fabric Deserves Better

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A Colonial Needle Company feature with Shannon & Jason

Let’s get the obvious elephant out of the studio first. A purple school glue stick costs about fifty cents, fits in a pencil pouch, and lives at every drugstore, big box store, and back-to-school endcap on the planet. So when someone at a show tells us they would just grab the cheap stick instead of a Roxanne, we get it. We really do. We use school glue sticks too.

Here’s the part nobody says out loud, though: we use different glues for different work. Not because one is good and the rest are garbage, but because a studio full of textile projects is a lot like a studio full of any other kind of art. You reach for what the job actually needs. Sometimes that’s the fifty-cent tube. Sometimes it very much is not.

Think Like an Artist Buying Supplies

Walk into any art store and nobody blinks when a painter keeps student-grade paper for warming up and saves the good cotton rag for the piece that’s headed to a frame. Pencils, pens, sketchbooks, paints, fabric… they all come in student, artist, and professional grades, and every maker learns to match the material to the moment. Practice needs low-stakes supplies so we don’t freeze up worrying about wasting the fancy stuff. That fear of ruining something precious? It’s a creativity killer, and we refuse to let it win. But the work meant to last for generations needs materials that will actually last for generations.

For some reason, the fiber and textile arts haven’t always insisted on that same distinction. We’ll happily spend real money on gorgeous hand-dyed cotton, precision cutters, and a needle for every occasion… and then reach for an adhesive formulated for third-grade construction paper. So let us walk you through how we actually sort it out on our own worktable.

Three Glues, Three Jobs

School glue sticks

These are our accessibility-and-play tier. They’re what we hand out in beginner-friendly workshops where cost matters and everyone’s just there to learn a technique, and they’re what we grab in the studio when we’re testing a layout or goofing around with an idea. Cheap, washable, everywhere. Perfect for low-stakes, temporary, get-out-of-your-own-head basting.

Permanent glue sticks

These (the UHU-style ones) are our middle tier. When we’re teaching art-forward classes, building mixed media pieces, or doing certain visible mending where we want a bond that stays put, this is the reach. More commitment than school glue, different job than Roxanne.

Roxanne Baste-It

This is what we reach for on almost every textile piece that matters here in the studio. Gallery work. Commissions. Heirloom-bound quilts. The pieces we want someone to still be holding in fifty years. It’s the one glue we trust not to gum up our hand stitching or our machine work, it dries flexible instead of crunchy, and it washes out completely and cleanly.

None of that is a knock on the cheaper tubes. It’s just knowing which tool got invited to which party.

What Roxanne Actually Does on Cloth

Sticking two things together is easy. Getting fabric to stay put without wrecking its drape, its hand, or its color is the hard part, and that’s where a glue built for textiles instead of paper starts earning its keep.

  • Smooth, light application. It doesn’t drag on delicate weaves or leave thick, gummy clumps. For our English paper piecing, we can lay down the finest skiff of it on the template and the fabric, just enough to hold, with none of that sticky mess. On the fine garment fabrics in our upcoming visible mending workshops, that light hand is exactly why it beats a school glue stick, which drags and gums up the very fabrics we’re trying to save (more on the gumming in a minute).
  • Fast-drying and water-soluble. It sets quickly so you can keep moving, then washes out completely once the stitching is doing the structural work.
  • Made for the actual jobs. Appliqué, bindings, hems, EPP… it holds edges crisp under the genuine physical stress of textile work without turning your piece stiff as a board.

School glue can hold two pieces of cloth together, sure. But Roxanne is the one that was clearly invited to the fabric party.

The Studio View: Saving Your Needles, Your Thread, and Your Sanity

This is the one we feel in our hands, so bear with us while we get specific, because it’s the difference nobody warns you about until you’re living it. When we’re doing the stitching-heavy work we love most, sashiko, visible mending, EPP, appliqué, the wrong glue turns into a genuine problem. The heavier, gummier sticks do hold the fabric in place, we’ll give them that. But they dry stiff; stitching through stiff, gummy fabric is a fight. Worse, the glue transfers onto the needle. By hand, that means a rubbery drag that makes your thimble slide and your hand ache, and it means we’re stopping to wipe our needles down with alcohol to keep them moving smoothly. That’s not a workflow. That’s a chore we invented for ourselves by grabbing the wrong tube.

On the machine it gets worse, and here’s the chain of events we’ve watched happen more than once. The glue gets onto the needle and, with the friction and heat of stitching, melts onto it a bit. Now the needle is tacky, so it grabs at the fabric and pulls it instead of piercing cleanly, and that drag throws off your stitches, sometimes skipping them outright. Then comes the part that really stings: the same gummed-up needle tugging on the thread until the thread itself breaks. We’ve traced more than one snapped length of good thread back to exactly that. None of this is a lab-certified white paper, and we won’t dress it up as one. It’s our studio experience, learned the annoying way. But it’s consistent enough that we trust it.

Roxanne dries down light and flexible, so whether the needle’s driven by your hand or your motor, it slips through the basted zone instead of collecting adhesive and dragging it into the works. No alcohol wipes, no melting, no mystery thread breaks. Just smooth, rhythmic stitching, which is the whole reason we sat down to sew in the first place.

The Preservation Angle: Why Old Quilts Go Brown

Here’s the one that keeps us honest, because we’ve handled a lot of vintage textiles and old quilts, and we’ve seen the damage up close. You know those brown and yellow stains that bloom on antique pieces over the years? Most of us recognize them on sight. Fewer of us stop to ask what actually causes them.

A big part of the answer is the adhesives. Many old glues were acidic to begin with, or turned acidic as they aged and broke down, and that acid migrates straight into the fibers. Acid is what makes natural fabric yellow, weaken, and eventually fall apart, the same reason conservators fuss over acid-free mat board and archival tissue. Some adhesives off-gas as they degrade too, which doesn’t help. The through-line is simple: put an acidic, breaking-down glue against cloth and give it enough time, and the cloth pays for it.

Which is exactly why acid-free and pH-neutral aren’t just label decoration. An acid-free adhesive isn’t leaving a slow decay bomb tucked inside your quilt sandwich or your garment seams. Roxanne is acid-free and pH-neutral, and that’s the language we’re comfortable standing behind. You’ll hear folx toss around archival too, but in textile conservation that word carries the weight of decades of standardized testing, so we’d rather keep our claims clean and true: acid-free, pH-neutral, and a safe, stable choice when you want today’s work to still be here for the folx who come after you.

Use the Right Tool for the Job

Cheap glue sticks have their place, and we mean that. Mockups, rough drafts, kid projects, quick low-stakes fixes, and every I’m-just-playing moment where the whole point is not to feel precious about it. Keep that fifty-cent tube. Use it with joy.

But when you move past practice and into the work that matters, your tools should match your effort. Not every project deserves the fancy glue. But when the fabric matters, the fancy glue isn’t actually fancy. It’s just the better tool. Roxanne is the one we reach for when we want fabric to behave: smooth application, a lighter hand, easier stitching, and zero drama at the needle. That’s the whole philosophy, really. There’s a right tool and a right material for every project, and the trick is just knowing which is which.

Stitch on,

Shannon & Jason

🧵 Shop Roxanne Baste-It Glue and the full Roxanne glue lineup here.

📌 Explore Colonial Needle’s needles, thimbles, and notions for your next textile project here.

▶️ Catch more Colonial Needle tips and tutorials on YouTube here.

The Spring Clean Your Studio Actually Needs (Or: How We Stopped Throwing Away Perfectly Good Mats; And Started Obsessing Over a Sponge)

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Hey there folx! Shannon & Jason here and this month we’re going to be completely honest with you here for a moment: When the folx at CNC told us to try these out, we thought both of these tools were gimmicks. A little scrubbing tool to “restore” cutting mats? And a reusable sponge to replace our lint roller? Yeah, sure okay. When a mat gets grooved and scarred from years of rotary cutting, utility knives, and general studio chaos, you flip it, rotate it, and eventually replace it. When fabric gets covered in thread lint, you grab whatever sticky roller is closest. That’s just how it works. Right?

Turns out, we were spectacularly wrong about both of them.

The Problem We Didn’t Know We Could Fix

Our big industrial cutting mat – the beast we bought from years ago for the main worktable – had seen some things. We use that surface for everything: fabric cutting, yes, but also scoring paper, trimming mat board for textile art pieces, cutting reclaimed plastic for our Unconventional Boro work, you name it.

The center section, the high-traffic zone where 90% of our cutting happens, had developed serious grooves. Not just surface scratches but deep channels filled with fabric fibers that made our rotary cutters skip mid-cut. You know that feeling when your blade skips a few threads or slips forward because it hit a scar in the mat? Yeah. That was happening multiple times per project. Truly maddening.

We’d already flipped and rotated the mat once and that was a task and a half that we did not look forward to repeating. The next step was replacement, which for an industrial-sized mat is not a small expense.

And then the folks at Colonial Needle said, “Just try the Mat Smoother first.” (They are always doing that kind of thing to us!)

We were skeptical. But we tried it anyway (because what did we have to lose) and, if it didn’t work… well then, we’d have to go back to the flip or replace plan. Turns out (as with the other tools the folx at Colonial Needle Co. show us)… 

It worked.

Not just “a little better” worked. Not “bought us a few more months” worked. The Mat Smoother lifted out the trapped fibers from those grooves, allowing the self-healing surface to actually close back up under the motion of the mat smoother. The skipping stopped. The blade glided smooth and true and the cuts were clear again. No skipped threads. The mat we thought was done for is still in heavy rotation a year later.

The “Unsexy” Tools That Save Money

Here’s the thing about the Mat Smoother: it’s not flashy. It doesn’t make your projects prettier or faster. It doesn’t unlock new techniques or creative possibilities.

But it saves you money. Real money.

How it works: The Mat Smoother isn’t sanding down your mat — it’s gently buffing out the fabric fibers, thread bits, and debris that get trapped in the cuts. Self-healing mats are designed to close back up after each cut, but they can’t do that if the grooves are packed with lint and fiber. The Mat Smoother massages those fibers out (always use circular motions with light pressure), and suddenly your “dead” mat is smooth again.

We use it on:

  • The big industrial mat when the center section starts to feel gritty
  • Our smaller side-table mat by the sewing machine (that one gets messy FAST from trimming threads and seam allowances)
  • Any mat that’s starting to show visible fiber buildup

Pro tip: If you’re working on a white mat (like we do for photo and video shoots), dark fabric fibers can get embedded in the surface and cause color cross-contamination when you lay down lighter fabrics. A quick pass with the Mat Smoother before switching from dark to light fabric prevents that transfer. Once we learned that little trick, we use it every time we shoot a class or photograph a project or step-out.

The Lint Magnet: The Unsung Hero of Photo Prep

And then there’s the Lint Magnet, which we also thought we didn’t need. We had lint rollers. We had tape. We had a vacuum with a brush attachment. What more could a sponge-like thingamabob possibly offer?

Turns out: a lot.

Side Note: Yes, we’ve learned to just trust the Colonial Needle Co. folks and use the tools they recommend. We learn!

The Lint Magnet doesn’t just move lint around or pick up surface fuzz, it lifts embedded threads and fibers from fabric without leaving residue, without using sticky sheets you have to replace, and without the aggressive pull of a lint roller that can distort delicate textiles.

We use it constantly for:

  • Cleaning up the big white cutting table between photo shoots (because every thread shows up on white, and we film and photograph a LOT of content)
  • Removing thread lint from dark sashiko fabric after stitching (white thread on indigo? Every speck is visible)
  • Prepping wool and felt projects before photography
  • Quick cleanup of our sewing machine’s exterior surfaces (because yes, those get fuzzy too)

And then there’s the bonus use we stumbled onto recently that we did not see coming: felt hats. If you have a collection of felt hats — and apparently, we do — you already know they attract absolutely everything. The Lint Magnet handles them perfectly. No pulling, no distorting the felt, and no sticky residue that attracts more “stuff,” just clean hats. It’s now a permanent part of our hat care routine before we walk out the door.

The best part? It’s reusable. No disposable sticky sheets filling the trash. Just rinse it when it gets saturated, let it dry, and it’s ready to go again.

It’s one of those tools that falls squarely into our category of “things we thought we didn’t need until we tried them and now we know just how terribly wrong we were and are glad we don’t have to do without them.” It’s a long category title, but we can admit when we’re wrong.

Why Maintenance Actually Matters

Here’s what we’ve learned about studio maintenance over the years: it’s not about keeping things Instagram-perfect, it’s about protecting your investment in your craft.

Clean mats mean:

  • Your rotary blades stay sharper longer (less friction = less dulling)
  • Your rulers don’t slip on gritty surfaces
  • Your cuts are accurate because the blade isn’t skipping over embedded fibers
  • You’re not wasting money replacing mats that just needed a good cleaning

Lint-free fabric means:

  • Your finished projects look professional (no white fuzz on your black wool coat)
  • Your photo and video content is cleaner (trust us, every speck shows up on camera)
  • You’re not fighting cross-contamination between light and dark fabrics

These aren’t glamorous tools. They won’t make your Instagram feed pop. But they’ll save you money, extend the life of your expensive surfaces, and prevent the low-key frustration of cutting on a mat that fights you every step of the way.

The Bottom Line: Maintenance Makes the Maker

A few years ago, if you’d told us we’d be writing a love letter to a mat cleaning and smoothing tool and a lint sponge, we would have laughed.

But here we are.

The Mat Smoother saved our big industrial mat from early retirement and extends the life of our cutting mats all over the studio. The Lint Magnet keeps our photo prep from turning into a 20-minute lint-picking session — and our felt hats looking sharp. Together, they’re the maintenance duo we reach for every time we reset the studio.

If your cutting mat is feeling gritty, if your rotary blade is skipping, if you’re considering replacing a mat that’s “just worn out” — try the Mat Smoother first. If you’re spending more time picking lint off dark fabric than actually stitching it, the Lint Magnet will change your life. And if you have felt hats, well. You’re welcome.

They’re not exciting. But their value is in how well they work. And sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.

Ready to restore your studio?

Shop the Mat Smoother here.

Shop the Lint Magnet here.

Watch the video demonstration on YouTube to see these tools in action on our battle-scarred mats and lint-covered fabrics.

What’s your studio’s “high-traffic” zone? Is your cutting mat more scarred or smooth? Share a photo and tag us — we want to see those Mat Smoothers saving the day!

The “Extra Hand” You Can Stick Anywhere (And We Mean Anywhere)

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We Have Five Rolls of Handy Tape in Our Studio. Here’s Why:

You know a tool has become indispensable when you stop putting it back in the drawer because you might need it close at hand at any given moment. We have Handy Tape everywhere. One roll lives on the peg board over the cutting table, another lives in the top drawer of the sewing machine cabinet, and there’s one in the studio “miscellaneous supplies” box. Oh… then there’s one in the utility drawer in the kitchen for gallery wall projects and there’s one that’s currently sitting on Jason’s desk because we used it to wrap a present a few days ago instead of regular tape. Yes, you read that right. We used Handy Tape to wrap a gift. So yeah… we have it on hand pretty much everywhere. That’s how useful this stuff is.

What Even Is Handy Tape?

On the surface, Handy Tape is exactly what it sounds like: a measuring tape with a low-tack adhesive backing that sticks to things. Fabric, walls, tables, your sewing machine, even skin (more on that later). But calling it “sticky measuring tape” is like calling a rotary cutter “a round blade.” Technically accurate but missing the entire point.

Handy Tape is the third hand you’ve been wishing for when you’re trying to measure something by yourself, mark guidelines without permanent lines, or create temporary grids that actually stay put while you work. It’s repositionable, it doesn’t leave residue, and once you start using it, you’ll find yourself reaching for it in situations that have nothing to do with measuring. Like wrapping presents. (We’re still a little surprised by that one ourselves.)

How We Actually Use It (The Real List)

The Temporary Design Wall

This is probably our most-used application. We hang a flannel sheet on the wall (flannel because quilt blocks stick to it), then apply strips of Handy Tape to create a grid or border. Suddenly we have a design wall where we can space out quilt blocks, test different layouts, rearrange components of a textile art piece, and see the whole composition without committing to anything permanent.

The tape sticks to the flannel, the blocks stick to the flannel, and everything stays put while we audition different arrangements. When we’re done, we peel off the tape and the flannel sheet is clean.

Why this matters: Most design walls are either expensive foam boards or permanent installations. Either way, they take up valuable space that, personally, we don’t have. This solution costs about $12 and packs flat when you’re not using it.

The Sewing Machine Seam Guide

We have guides etched into our sewing machine’s stitch plate. They’re fine. They’re also tiny, hard to read, and easy to lose track of when you’re chain-piecing at speed. And if you sew on a machine that has seen some years of use, those lines can be worn down and faded making them all but useless. Handy Tape applied directly to the machine in front of the stich plate stitch plate creates a bold, high-contrast guide that’s impossible to miss. Just line up one of the marks on the tape with where your needle is set, and follow the clear, bold Handy Tape lines. And the low-tack backing makes it easy to reposition Handy Tape or remove it entirely without leaving sticky residue.

Bonus: It’s much easier to see on camera than etched metal lines. When we’re recording workshops or tutorials, we don’t have to zoom in and out constantly to show measurements. The tape is visible, clear, and stays exactly where we put it.

The Solo Measuring Solution for Awkward Spaces

Try measuring a doorway by yourself with a regular tape measure. One end wants to snap back. You’re holding it at arm’s length. You’re squinting to read the numbers while simultaneously trying to keep tension on the tape.

Now try it with Handy Tape: stick one end to the door frame, walk it across, stick the other end down, read the measurement. Done.

We’ve used this for:

  • A large living room window (trying to figure out curtain yardage or curtain rod length)
  • A curved chair back we were reupholstering (impossible with a rigid measuring tape or cloth tape)
  • Walls when we’re planning furniture placement and art placement
  • Any situation where you need a third hand but you’re working alone

The curved chair was a revelation. Regular measuring tapes bend but they don’t stay in place. Previously, we would use a separate roll of tape to hold our cloth tapes in place but Handy Tape does it all quickly and efficiently. We laid Handy Tape on the curve and had our measurements without the gymnastics.

Gallery Wall Spacing (No More “Oops” Holes)

Hanging multiple pieces of art or textile work in a grid is an exercise in spatial geometry and crossed fingers. Measure wrong, and you’ve got unnecessary holes in your drywall. Handy Tape lets you plan first, drill later. Stick strips to the wall to map out where each piece will go. Step back. Adjust. Move things around. When the spacing looks right, mark your hook or nail spots, hang your pieces, and peel the tape away.

No guessing. No regrets. No spackle.

Body Measurements (The Solo Solution)

Here’s a use case we discovered by accident and now recommend all the time:

Taking your own body measurements is awkward. Getting someone else to take them for you is either impossible (you live alone) or uncomfortable. Not everyone wants hands-on help, and not everyone has a person available who knows how to measure correctly. And it’s not like we’re going to run to the neighbor’s and ask them to hold the tape for us. GAH!).

Handy Tape sticks lightly to fabric and skin without leaving residue or pulling uncomfortably. Wrap it around yourself – bust, waist, hips, whatever you’re measuring – stand straight, mark the overlap point with a marker, remove the tape, and count the inches. It’s like having a tailor’s assistant who doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t judge your measurements. We give this advice constantly now. It’s especially helpful for people who sew their own garments but don’t have a sewing buddy nearby to help with fitting.

The “Not Actually Measuring” Uses

And then there are the times we use Handy Tape for things that have nothing to do with measuring at all.

  • In place of washi tape for mixed media art: The measuring tape marks add visual interest, and the low tack adhesive means it repositions easily on paper and fabric without tearing.
  • Wrapping presents: This happened just a few days ago. The tape dispenser was sitting next to a roll of washi tape we’d been using. We needed to wrap a gift. We grabbed the Handy Tape instead because it was right there. It worked perfectly. We’re not even mad about it.
  • Scrap bin organization: We stick strips to the top of our scrap bin lids so we can instantly check if a piece of fabric is large enough for a project without digging out a ruler or clearing off the cutting mat.
  • Teaching tool for workshops: When we’re demonstrating spacing for sashiko grids or blanket stitch edges, we apply Handy Tape directly to the fabric. Students can see the measurements clearly on the overhead video regardless of the classroom lighting situation. IYKYK

The Bottom Line: It’s Not Just a Measuring Tape

Here’s what we’ve learned after going through multiple rolls of this stuff:

  • Handy Tape isn’t solving one problem. It’s solving the “I need a measurement guide that stays put, doesn’t damage anything, and works in situations where regular tools don’t” problem.
  • It’s the tool you didn’t know you needed until you try it once, and then suddenly you have five rolls scattered around your workspace and house because you keep finding new uses for it. Fair warning: order a few extra rolls because others will discover just how handy Handy Tape is and yours will mysteriously disappear. Just sayin’…
  • Handy Tape may not be the flashiest gadget in your toolbox, but it’s one of those quiet workhorses that makes everything else easier. Measure solo. Mark temporarily. Create grids that actually stay where you put them. Wrap the occasional gift when the regular tape just isn’t special enough.

Like we said… we have it everywhere.

Ready to add a helping hand to your studio?

Shop Handy Tape Here

Watch the video demonstration on YouTube here to see Handy Tape in action.

What’s the most creative place you’ve ever used Handy Tape? Let us know in the comments. We’re always looking for new uses we haven’t thought of yet!

The Tool We Can’t Sew Without: The Sixth Finger Stiletto

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If you’ve ever watched a professional sewist guide a tiny scrap of fabric toward a needle with terrifying precision, you might have wondered: How are their fingertips still intact?

For a long time, my “secret weapon” was actually a set of long acrylic nails. They were great for tucked pleats and guiding seams, but once I moved away from them, I realized I needed a replacement that was just as precise (and a lot more durable… ever snagged a needle on an acrylic nail? Ugh.).

Enter the Sixth Finger Stiletto from Colonial Needle Company. It has officially earned a permanent spot in the tool tray right next to our machines. Here is why this little tool is a total game-changer in our textile studio.

1. Safety Without Sacrificing Precision

The primary job of the Sixth Finger Stiletto is to do exactly what its name suggests: act as an extension of your hand. When you’re feeding fabric into the machine – especially at the very beginning or end of a seam ­– your fingers can get uncomfortably close to that very sharp, very fast-moving needle. The stiletto gives you ultimate control to nudge, push, and hold fabric flat without putting your actual fingers in harm’s way. Anyone else cringe hard at the memory of a needle-meets-finger moment?

2. The EPP “Glue-Saver” Hack

We discovered a brand-new use for this tool last year that we can’t stop talking about. If you do English Paper Piecing (EPP), you know the struggle of glue-basting:

  • Glue gets on your fingertips.
  • Your sticky fingertips then touch the front of your beautiful fabric.
  • The fabric sticks to you instead of the template.

We started using the flat prong of the Sixth Finger Stiletto to fold the fabric over the edges of the EPP templates. It creates a crisp, tight fold and keeps the glue exactly where it belongs – on the paper, not on your hands! A quick swipe with a damp cloth or a small sponge kept on the side and the prong is clean of glue residue and you are on your way again.

3. It’s Always Within Reach

Some tools end up buried in a drawer, but the Sixth Finger is a “front-row” tool. Whether I’m guiding a bulky seam allowance, holding a ribbon in place, or helping a feed dog grab a slippery silk, it’s sitting right there in the tray. It’s simple, ergonomic, and honestly, I feel a little lost sewing without it now.

Bonus: Pressing Tool

Unlike some rounded pressing assist tools, we absolutely love using the flat prong of the Sixth Finger Stiletto to open and then “finger press” a seam open. Even with shorter nails, I don’t like dragging them across my fabric to set a pre-crease so this tool is perfect for that. Then, we hold the flat edge across the seams securing them while pressing the seam open. It slides easily along the seams holding it in place ahead of the tip of the iron. Safety and precision all in one!

Pro Tip: Because it’s made by Colonial Needle Company, the quality is top-notch. It’s sturdy enough to handle heavy denim but precise enough for delicate appliqué and slippery gauze and silks.

What’s Next?

Tune in! Make sure you check our YouTube video demonstration where we show you the Sixth Finger Stiletto in action at the machine and give you a close-up look at our EPP folding technique and all the ways we use this versatile tool in our studio.

Do you use a stiletto in your sewing room, or are you still risking your fingertips? Let us know in the comments!

Glue Basting with Roxanne Glue

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One more product we can’t seem to live without!

Greetings makers, crafters, and creators! Today, we’re diving into another group of Colonial Needle Company products to cover a sticky subject: glue. Specifically, glue basting with the Roxanne Baste-It family of glue.

Glue basting is a technique where you apply a thin line of water-soluble glue along the seam allowance or cut edges of fabric pieces to hold them in place before sewing. This allows for precise piecing, perfect points, and smooth curves. It is especially useful for boro, finishing quilts, and a manner of appliqué – completely removing the need for pins.

How to use Roxanne Basting Glue in Four Easy Steps:

  1. Simply apply a fine line of glue
  2. Line up the fabric pieces
  3. Press with a hot iron to set (this step is not always required–as you will see in our video)
  4. Then sew as usual.

Key points about glue basting:

  • Application:
    Roxanne Baste-It comes in a wide variety of container sizes and shapes to suit any purpose. From the spreadable 2-Way applicator to small pipettes and dab on applicators. And the Roxanne Glue Stick glides on smoooooooooth as silk without gumming up your fabric and needles. You choose which glue is best for your project and where to place it.
  • Heat setting:
    Although not required, a hot dry iron can be used to quickly set the glue and further ensure there is no shifting once the placement decisions have been made. Once set, you can easily sew without worrying about shifting seams or fabrics, even when rough handling of the fabric such as for hand quilting, sashiko, and boro.
  • Portability:
    Baste-It products come in easy to store and access sizes. You can take your handwork projects with you whether you’re traveling across the city or just to your sofa for the evening
  • Basting Glue Benefits:
    Say good-by to pins! Baste-It glues reduce the need for pins and clips, making sewing faster and smoother. Especially hand sewing. No fussing to work around pins and no stuck fingers!

Improves accuracy and precision in piecing, especially for points and curves.

Especially well-suited for appliqué, where you need precise placement of fabric edges.

The Roxanne Glue Stick is our go-to for placing boro patches and visible mending patches prior to sewing down. Watch the boro section of our video for how we create boro inspired fabrics as well as some examples of our work.

Baste-It Glue won’t leave a mark on your delicate creations. All of the Roxanne glues are non-staining and wash away completely with ease!

How we use glue basting for different techniques:

  • Boro and Visible Mending:
    Boro Stitching
    Apply a thin layer of glue to the patch and adhere to base fabric, adjusting your placement as necessary. Then stitch down. We love the Roxanne Glue Stick because it glides on smoothly and the patches stay where we place them…until we decide we want them someplace else. Or… someplace else again. But then they stay put!
  • Quilt Binding and Bias Tape: After sewing on your binding to one side of the quilt, fold the fabric over the edge and apply a layer of glue. Press with a hot, dry iron to set, then hand stitch or machine sew the remaining seam down. No clips or pins needed; you don’t have to worry about that binding shifting. Our video features a no worries technique for making fabric tape with Roxanne Basting Glue.
  • Curved seams: Apply a thin line of glue along the curved edge, carefully folding and shaping the fabric edge.
  • Appliqué: Glue the edges of your appliqué piece to the base fabric, ensuring smooth edges and precise placement. Then use your favorite visible or invisible appliqué stitch for attaching. Be sure to watch the video for our tip for sharp corners on those appliqué pieces.

That’s all for now! Let us know if you want a recommendation for which glue is best for your project or share your favorites with us. And remember to check back for more about our fav products from Colonial Needle Company as well as projects and tutorials that show how we use this all-encompassing line of products in our studio.

Keep up with the Colonial Needle Company on their social media channels and YouTube.

You can find us at shannonandjason.com and on our Instagram and Facebook pages we are @embracethecreativechaos.

Which CNC products do YOU have questions about? Let us know and we might just feature your question in a future video or post.

Until then…STITCH ON!!

Shannon & Jason

A [Thimble] Crown Fit for a Queen!

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Hey folx! Shannon and Jason checking in.

Back in February, we had the pleasure of meeting the Colonial Needle Company team at Sew Expo. We chatted about reviewing their products and made it crystal clear—we’re all about honesty, no punches pulled so if we like a product, we will shout it from the rooftops and use it.

On the bustling Sew Expo show floor, they handed us packs of needles, various sewing tools, and what looked like tiny metal disks with dimples and sticky tabs. We’re all about toys for the sewing studio, but our first thought about those metal disks? “Okayyyy, not sure how this will play out, but let’s give it a whirl.”

Fast forward to May, and Jason, with his big mitts (no offense, J!), was tearing up the house looking for a thimble for sewing a label onto a quilt. Most thimbles on the market aren’t built for his large fingers. Then, lightbulb moment—we remembered those Thimble Crowns from Colonial Needle. We pulled them out of the box, applied the sticky dot, slapped one on Jason’s finger, and off he stitched. It was anyone’s guess how it would turn out.

So, real talk. For a long time, we have joked about starting a blog titled “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen… and now I can’t live without it.” If that blog existed, the Thimble Crown would be a star. Seriously, what a game changer!

Fit like a glove—err, crown—boosted his nimbleness and let him crank out even finer stitches (and trust us, his stitches were already A+). It upped his needle game, gave him more comfort, and let him tweak its position to suit his sewing style.

Shannon quickly jumped on board using the dimpled crowns for embroidery, quilting, and general hand sewing as well as EPP. See, Shannon has nails, she will not sacrifice her manicure to a full covering thimble. These little wonders were the PERFECT solution for her manicured fingers because they stay in place without interfering with the nails. Also, she tends to stitch using the side of her finger to push the needle and this little Crown Thimble stayed securely in place even on the inside edge of her middle finger. You can imagine this was an amazing little tool for rocker stitch quilting. Yup… she’s sold on them now too. Completely.

Both of us tested the Thimble Crowns on our middle fingers, knuckles—heck, even our palms for lighter sashiko stitching. It’s ace for most of our hand stitching gigs: basic sewing, embroidery, quilting, mending, you name it. Honestly, not sure how we coped without one all these years.

Colonial Needle offers a range of these thimble tips for different sewing jobs. Check ’em out and give ’em a whirl. Next up for us? We’re trying the Under Thimble and Thimble Dimple for some hand quilting. We’ll keep you posted!

Stitch On!

Shannon & Jason