Join us this month for a special Holi-deal coming to participating dealers near you! Purchase a DX-4000QVP this month to receive a free JUKI Trolley bag, perfect for attending classes and traveling!
Visit us here to contact your local dealer today!
As new sewists continue to join us, we recognize many are self-taught! Learning on your own is no small feat, but having the right tools can make any project easier. So today, we wanted to share our top 5 tips!
Slow and Steady Wins the Sewing Race
When it comes to creating your projects, it’s best to have a light foot than a lead foot. When you’re starting, we recommend finding a steady speed your hands can keep up. You can test this out by slowly increasing the speed and seeing how the machine feeds the fabric while your hands are moving along. For example, we recommend putting the speed at about 30% and increasing from there with free motion quilting.
It’s Easier with the right Presser Feet!
When you’re creating projects, learn about the presser feet options available with your sewing machine model. Check to see which feet come with your machine or are available in a specialty sewing shop near you. For example, some feet will help you conceal a zipper with ease, give you the perfect edging, and create a rolled hem. You can get familiar with different presser foot applications by reading the instructions provided with the feet or watching videos.
Trust in Patterns
There’s nothing worse than spending hours on a project and the result not fitting. However, sewists from different skill levels can find the benefit in using patterns on their projects. First, look for designs that fit your current project at your skill level. Many patterns come with expertise levels marked as beginner, intermediate, and expert. As you get more confident in your work, upgrading pattern levels is a great way to learn how to create a project from scratch and make your pattern one day!
Keep an Eye on those Needles!
Using the wrong needle when working on a project can cause stress! While many sewists recommend having a universal needle on hand, these needles can still struggle on heavy fabric choices like leather and can be too sharp for stretchy fabric material. Make sure to research which needle you need on your project to prevent any mishaps. Click here to view a helpful guide that matches your fabric to the appropriate needle. Also, remember to replace your needle every project or 8 hours of usage. One of the causes of tension issues can be a lousy needle, so it’s best to replace it frequently.
Try New Things
The best piece of advice we have is to get creative! Many sewists have something they don’t like to sew or are scared of trying. Take the time to learn new techniques like attaching buttons, zippers, pockets, and more. However, keep in mind your skill level. One mistake beginners make is choosing a project that someone with experience would say no. It’s best to start small and build your confidence than to go big and go home because of disappointment or frustration. Trying new things can boost your confidence creating the best experience in sewing!
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, these tips are great to keep in mind on your sewing journey. So what advice would you give beginners? Let us know in the comments down below!
Introducing Kiki Kitty, owner, and designer of K. Milele, as one of our new JUKI Designer Ambassadors! A member of the fashion industry since the ’90s, where she started off with FUBU’s womenswear, Kiki Kitty is a force to be reckoned with.
One of five siblings, Kiki grew up in a home where she and her family would focus on creating everyday items to stay entertained. Creating projects like ragdolls, pillows, and slippers, she was inspired by her mother, who found art in everything. Taught by her mother, Kiki would create using natural pieces like pinecones and other found items to create projects like home décor whenever inspiration struck. Through these small projects that Kiki learned how to build her creative eye, assisting her for years to come when it was time for her to design fashion.
Finding sewing as another art medium, her first lesson was thanks to her mother. A fun activity for her and her siblings, Kiki would complete little projects to train herself on the machine and work her way up on project size and complexity. One of her favorite parts about sewing has been the freedom to explore new techniques and concepts. Through her excitement to learn, she sees each mistake as an opportunity to learn something new.
“I love when a mistake turns into the greatest thing about a garment because it forced me to have to look at it in a new way.”
Kiki’s love for the hobby has grown, leading her into the fashion industry in the ’90s as a designer for FUBU, a women’s streetwear fashion line. Motivated by her need to artistically express herself, she finds the process to be therapeutic. Seeing this as a way to express her thoughts was her first step in learning to express herself. “It took me a very long time to find my voice, to verbally express myself, and to stand up for myself. Expression through art was always my outlet. And even now that I’ve discovered my voice, creating remains to be my most powerful expression.”
While her time at FUBU led to her first brand K.A.Kitties, a venture she’s proud and fond of, her most tremendous success was only recently accomplished in her latest fashion collection K.Milele, “This is My Protest.” Using her JUKI machines, our MO-20000QVP, and HZL-NX7, she states she was finally able to create a collection that is 100% her self-expression. With the opportunity to explore prints, patterns, and textures, she hopes to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces representing her and those she designs for.
Her newest collection has trends like gathering, a favorite of Kiki’s since the ’90s. Loving how the final product looks, she finds it’s a simple technique that elevates the simple styles into sexy numbers, something her line embodies. Loving anything that creates fabric manipulation is her favorite trend in sewing. A must-have tool she keeps on hand for these projects is her tweezers. Allowing her told the fabric in place and keeping her fingers away from the machine after one terrible accident in her time at Pratt University when she first began sewing on industrial machines, she finds this tool to be a finger saver.
From FUBU to her current collection, Kiki’s journey in sewing is far from over. We hope you enjoyed getting to know our ambassador today and that you keep up with her future projects! Kiki’s new collection can be found on her socials here, and we’re so excited to see her projects come to life! Kiki’s final note to you JUKI lovers is this, “When you’re trying it [sewing] out, don’t get frustrated about making mistakes. Often mistakes make way for the opportunity to be creative and discover that there’s more than one way to achieve a great outcome. Even if it’s not the idea, you started with. Be flexible. See the beauty in what’s in front of you.”
Introducing Charles Lu, Canadian fashion designer, “Next in Fashion” Alumni, and our new JUKI Designer Ambassador! Born in Ontario, Canada, Charles began sewing at a young age, inspired by his mother’s career. Developing a keen interest in sewing, he continued practicing, motivating him to move to London, UK, at the age of 18 to train at Istituto Marangoni, the London school of fashion and design. It was here that Charles further developed and mastered his technique in garment construction. As a result, Charles has designed and produced garments for global clientele, showcased his collection in London, and created his label. Follow along as we deep dive into Charles’s story and follow his journey to where he is today.
Charles’s journey in fashion began with his mother, his true inspiration. Charles’s mother assisted in her aunt’s clothing manufacturing company in pre-wear Vietnam and then for Levi’s and OshKosh when she first arrived in Canada as a refugee. Charles was strongly deterred from using her sewing machines as a child but was fascinated with her sewing room ever since he could remember. They often went shopping for fabric together in the bargain section, where Charles watched on mesmerized and begging for her to teach him her art. When this failed, due to Charles young age, he moved forward and began visiting local libraries in the hope of finding books on sewing to be learning. Starting with hand-stitched projects, the only sewing he could do, Charles found his creative outlet in life.
“Now, my mother and I have this special language and mutual passion for sewing. We love to sew together, and she is who I always want to impress first. She’s my biggest supporter, and her heart lives in my work.”
By the age of 10 or so, Charles was finally granted permission to work on his mother’s JUKI industrial machine. Two decades later, Charles still loves his mother’s JUKI, now his own. He adds, “it’s intuitive and makes sewing a true pleasure despite how frustrating the sewing process can be. I often use materials that are on the cusp of resistance to regular machines, so I find it comforting to have something I can fully rely on.” Claiming himself as a perfectionist, willing to correct each small detail he notices, he considers his JUKI an extension of himself. “My brand and JUKI share the same ethos of precision and quality, so being an ambassador is an honor and a fitting dream.”
In the present, Charles finds himself enjoying his journey in sewing, claiming his most tremendous success has yet to come. While he found success in the accumulation of a finished collection in the past, he realized this mindset wasn’t allowing him to enjoy the final product and present, as he was always thinking of the next project. His new outlook in his creative process has allowed him to enjoy each collection individually and mentally process his creations. With a desire to learn how every kind of garment is created and understand the construction and materials, Charles focuses on understanding each project’s technical aspect and concentrating on small details. As he states, “perhaps my greatest success is constantly expanding my arsenal of knowledge in my craft.”
His motivation to continue learning stems from his domination of past design failures, and a desire to create a story through his work. Each piece he’s made can be seen as a snapshot or extraction from a period in his life. In many ways, he claims his fashion and art are a memoir and a stamp to his life’s journey, allowing him to keep a visual representation of a diary alive. He finds his favorite projects are those driven by passion. Continuing his goal to constantly keep learning, he used this past year as a form of exploring new avenues in the fashion world he had shied from before. Facing these new projects with apprehension but excitement, he was able to produce over 30 individual pieces on his own for his collection, ranging from corsetry to puffer coats.
As Charles continues his pursuit in the art of fashion, he’s excited to see how the industry has grown recently. “The resurgence of home-sewing and growth of eager creators/designers. There is a beautiful return to craft thanks to part in the sharing of knowledge due it social media. A lot of luxury clothing has reached an entirely unattainable price point and conversely, fast fashion is oversaturated with issues from lack of sustainability, quality, and ethics. I respect anyone who tackles this sort of craft.”
Like many of you, his love for sewing shows itself at that moment when you can see a project and design finally coming together. He understands those moments when it feels like so many things can go wrong, and they do, but he also knows something is rewarding and comparable when the garment finally starts to take shape and come to life. His advice to new sewers is to remember those moments when mistakes are made, to permit yourself to do so. Creating these mistakes is only a step in uncovering secrets that sewers can only find through trial and error.
“It is through the failures that we learn, improve, and innovate.”
We hope you enjoyed getting to learn more about Charles Lu with us!
Follow along on his journey with us and learn more about our designers at (ambassador website) today!
Today we’re introducing a new addition to the JUKI team, Kovid Kapoor, one of our new JUKI Designer Ambassadors! Based in Brooklyn, New York, Kapoor is an Indian fashion designer that focuses on the luxury and high-end fashion market. Holding an impressive background in fashion, Kapoor has won the National Textile Corporation’s Young Designer Hunt competition in India, completed his master’s in fashion design from the Academy of Art University, and was a contestant on the 17th season of Project Runway. So it’s no surprise his work has gone on to be featured in well-known fashion titles like Elle USA, Elle India, and Vogue Italia. Follow along as we share more about Kovid and his life in fashion below!
Starting at a very young age, Kovid learned how to hand sew from his grandmother. Finding love for art, he continued to be passionate about the hobby through his teenage years and adult life. During the foundation years of his bachelor’s degree, Kovid started using sewing machines in his work. As Kovid shares, “It was one of the most crucial subjects and essential skills to develop a successful garment.”
Kovid’s brand is a small-scale brand that believes in creating dynamic clothing to find a healthy balance between art and viable commercial product. Inspired by tales and stories that celebrate feminine and LGBTQ stories, he believes fashion should represent an individual’s identity and be used as a form of self-expression. Focusing on contemporized pieces with a traditional twist, his line is relaxed yet helps buyers feel confident in their look. His motivation for creating his pieces is a therapeutic process, “What motivates me to create is to project and express my thoughts and creative aspirations through fashion and clothing. It’s a therapeutic process of self-reflection, and every collection helps me evolve not just in my creative space but also my emotional space.”
Besides his fashion brand, Kovid has accomplished great success in the art world of fashion. His favorite art piece to date was a conceptual art wear garment inspired by the Mask Project Series, in collaboration-with Akshit Bhardwaj. This art piece was an enlarged garment version of a mask, designed with three-dimensional details. Enjoying the organic process of the garment creation and the carefree approach with which they followed, the final pieces reflected their experience in the creative process. Another art piece, one he claims as his greatest success, was for an installation in the Asian Art Museum vault. A 12-foot tall saree dress tent made for art directors Adrienne Pao and Robin Lasser, designed with bright colors and traditional style. Click here to view the art piece!
Currently, Kovid is working on his upcoming collection all constructed on his trusted Juki machine. A must-have tool, Kovid shares a good sewing machine is worth the investment because of its importance in elevating the speed and efficiency of his work. Describing the upcoming collection as something new and fresh, he’s beyond thrilled to showcase the new line once completed. With a passion for his work, Kovid’s love for sewing comes from the process of creating. “There is something very rewarding about constructing something yourself. It adds a personal touch to an otherwise store-bought world.”
As we finished getting to know Kovid, he had one final tidbit of advice for new sewers in the community, “The key to success in sewing is consistency and practice. Sewing is a skill that is finessed with practice and time so it’s completely fine if the initial projects don’t work the important thing is to keep practicing.”
We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know Kovid Kapoor! Follow along as we continue to join Kovid in his fashion journey, and visit us here to learn more about Kovid and our other designers!
sewinwithjuki.com 