Glue Basting with Roxanne Glue

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 Sticky Subject: Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray

Greetings makers, crafters, and creators! Today, we’re diving into our Colonial Needle Company products to cover a sticky subject: Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray (see what we did there?), and why it is a must have for your projects.

Who are we?

Who are we you ask? We are Shannon and Jason… the DIY Duo behind shannonandjason.com.

Shannon is the creative driver behind our colorful escapades. Picture a project enthusiast and savvy artist with a penchant for pushing boundaries and a love for all things fiber. Shannon’s imagination knows no bounds, and her ability to blend history and art into fun and inspiring teaching moments will leave you wondering if she’s secretly a sorceress in disguise. (Spoiler: she is.)

And then there’s Jason, the yin to Shannon’s yang, the peanut butter to her jelly (or should we say, the pixels to her crochet hook?). Jason’s the backbone behind our chaotic adventures; a photographer/designer with a knack for turning ideas into reality. From photographing projects for our books and patterns, to machine sewing quilts, to sashiko embroidering garments, there’s never a dull moment as he dreams up the next beautiful thing to create.

We recently joined up with Colonial Needle Company to inspire you to delve into more creative endeavors with their FAB products. You’ll see a lot from us over the next year as we endeavor to educate, motivate, and inspire you to embrace your own creative chaos.

That’s us… now let’s talk about Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray.
Ah, Roxanne’s Temporary Spray Adhesive—AKA the secret sauce of the quilting world! Let’s dive into what makes this stuff so special, shall we?

What makes Roxanne’s Adhesive’s so special?

Let’s face it—for quilters, pinning layer upon layer of fabric while making a quilt sandwich is like playing a game of “Don’t Poke Your Fingers” on expert mode. And surface design projects can be fussy and a sticky mess with other types of glue…don’t get us started on having to pin some of those details into place. Enter Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray, the new superstar of your maker toolkit! No more wrestling with prickly pins or risking a gloopy glue mess. Just a spritz here and a spray there, and voila! Your quilt layers and applique are bonded like lifelong friends at a quilting bee.

What are the benefits of Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray?

  1. Temporary Hold: Imagine having the power to hold fabric together like a boss, but with the freedom to change your mind if the creative mood strikes you… as we are all prone to do. Roxanne Temporary Spray Adhesive gives you just that—temporary bonding for your fabric layers and threads so you can adjust, readjust, and re-re-re-adjust to your heart’s content.
  2. Low Odor: Ah, the sweet smell of success—minus the overpowering chemical stench. This is a big one on our list! Our spaces are small and, although we have plenty of windows, we don’t dare use some of these glues indoors and NEVER use the old style aerosols in the house. Fortunately, we don’t have to run out back to the garden for smaller projects or even larger wall hangings that we are assembling on the dining room… umm… studio floor. Roxanne’s low odor formula allows us to work without feeling like we are going to pass out from fumes that come with other spray adhesives. Disclaimer from the product packaging: this is still an aerosolized glue, so we always wear a mask when using it.
  3. Non-Staining Formula: We’ve all experienced those nightmare moments when a little adhesive turns into a big ol’ nasty stain on our quilt, silk applique, or antique lace. But fear not, intrepid makers! Roxanne won’t leave a mark on your delicate creations. The non-staining formula means you can spray with confidence knowing your fabrics and materials will stay pristine and stain-free. We always tell folx to test your fabrics first to make sure any adhesive isn’t going to stain and we personally did the over-use test on different fabrics for an applique project and it did not leave a single blotch. One less thing to stress about so we can concentrate on the creativity part.
  4. Versatility: From quilting and sewing to embroidery, applique, and surface design (and probably a few we haven’t even thought of yet… give us time), Roxanne is your go-to product for all things fabric-related. Need to baste a quilt? Roxanne’s got you covered. Want to tackle a craft project? Roxanne’s ready to roll. We have started using it for some of our boro and sashiko projects and love how quickly the glue sets (and the fact that we don’t have to go outside to use the spray). There are a LOT of options in the Roxanne line of glues and we will get to those in time so be sure to check them out. Really… there is something for every project. The particular basting spray has been a life saver for us for garments, quilts, and surface design work.
  5. Easy Application: Say goodbye to fumbling with pins and hello to a much easier way to work with this aerosol spray! Roxanne’s easy application means you can baste your quilt (and other projects) with precision and speed, leaving you more time to focus on the fun stuff—like picking out your next fabric obsession… just us? We thought not! We throw down an old sheet to protect our work surface (like we did in the video) and we’re off and running. Even in the case of a little overspray, a damp sponge was all it took to clean off our surfaces including a wood floor and our cutting table. Easy application, easy clean up… because the creative process isn’t always so neat and tidy.

What’s the bottom line?

The bottom line is: we are grateful there is this option for a temporary spray adhesive that doesn’t gas us out of our house and has such a beautifully fine spray that we can decide exactly how much to apply for different styles of projects. Our recommendation is to keep a few around for different projects. We used about one can for an oversized king-sized quilt and can do quite a few wall hangings and garment projects with a single can. We have four cans on the shelf right now because no way, no how, do we want to be struck by inspiration and not have this gem on hand.

That’s all for now but be sure to check back for more about our fav products from Colonial Needle Company as well as some projects and tutorials that reflect how we use this all-encompassing line of products in our studio. Keep up with it all on the Colonial Needle Company social media channels and YouTube. You can find us at shannonandjason.com and on our Instagram and Facebook pages we are @embracethecreativechaos. Which 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

You can find Shannon and Jason’s tutorial on how to use Roxanne’s Temporary Adhesive Spray to make a quilt sandwich on our YouTube channel here. Don’t forget to subscribe so you’re up-to-date on all our latest reviews and tutorials!