Tag: projects

JUKI Posts, JUKI Projects

5 Projects you can create this Spooky Season!

by sewinwithjuki4 Comments on 5 Projects you can create this Spooky Season!

It’s almost time for spooks and candy JUKI Lovers! For today’s blog, we will share our top 5 favorite Halloween projects you can begin creating this weekend. So whether you’re going trick-or-treating, or staying at home, follow along below for ideas you can start today!

Halloween Patchwork Quilt

Stay warm this fall and create a Halloween patchwork quilt! Using a variety of Halloween fabric pieces, think witches, pumpkins, and ghosts, you can begin making your very own patchwork quilt. Quilts are the perfect accessory to any home, used and loved by everyone.

We recommend checking out your local quilt shop for holiday quilt bundles. Great options when you want to create a patchwork quilt, and don’t have the scraps, are browsing charm bundles, jelly rolls, and mini-charms! Also, don’t forget to grab batting for your quilts and have fun by bringing texture to the surface using free-motion quilting techniques.

Some great tools to have when quilting is your Open Toe Quilting Presser Foot, Quilting Rulers, and a ¼” Presser Foot for finishing.

Costume Cape

The perfect addition to so many costumes, a cape can be used for various characters ranging from royals to superheroes. To use this cape multiple times, create your piece using basic colors like white, red, or black so you can enjoy this project through the years.

For creating a cape, we recommend having fabrics like stretch velvet, fleece, or wool! Usually, you’ll use about 2 yards of fabric for an adult cape and 1 yard for a child’s cape. This is an excellent apparel project for a beginner to try their hand at. For more advanced sewers, you can add features like trims and a hood for a more finished and professional look.

We recommend having a Cording Foot on hand if you plan to attach a string inside for the cape hood. Also, use a Decorative Stitch Presser Foot to add designs on your cape’s ends for extra personalization!

Spooky Placemats and Table Runner

Decorate your home with a spooky table runner and matching placemats! A fun and easy home project, you can accessorize and personalize your kitchen and dining table with fun fabric designs and colors.

When creating placemats and table runners, we recommend having some tools on hand. Inside your placemats and table runner, you’re going to place a fleece or batting; this will stabilize your project. Spray glue is an excellent adhesive for this! Once you’ve pieced together your mat, you can choose to leave it as is or add designs with free motion quilting.

For yardage, we recommend 2-3 yards of fabric. With one yard, you can create up to 8 basic-sized placemats, and with your other yards, you can create your table runner depending on your table length! Keep a ¼ presser foot on hand when you’re ready to complete your project, so you can quickly finish the edging.

Halloween Garland

Decorate your archways and doorways with a fun garland! Easily created with less than a yard of fabric for the hanging pieces and string, this décor piece is the perfect touch. For the hanging details, we recommend using backing fabric for stabilization.

For this project, keep your ¼” presser foot nearby! Perfect for creating a clean edging on each hanging piece and the edging on the hanging string, this accessory can be the only foot you need for the project.

Trick–or–Treat Bag

Lastly, don’t forget to have your trick-or-treat bag ready! Wishing you a happy spooky season, download our free instructions for our see-through trick-or-treat bag here. With a finished size of 14″ x 16″, this bag will carry all those treats home!

Happy Halloween, JUKI Lovers!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Projects, RICOH Ri 100 (DTG Printer)

5 Things You Create On Your Direct-To-Garment Printer

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on 5 Things You Create On Your Direct-To-Garment Printer

Focusing on direct to garment (DTG) printing can be the beginning of a successful business venture! With this technology, you can now print quality images and graphics onto garments and have the ability to customize designs, fonts, and more. Using a machine like the RICOH Ri 100, you’re now able to create the highest print quality for the lowest cost per print. If you’re looking into starting up a business or upgrading your current one, DTG printing is the ideal choice. Let’s deep dive into some options you can create on your DTG machine today!

Custom Made, Personalized Apparel on Demand

A highly competitive market that’s constantly growing due to high demands is custom-made apparel. With the ability to print-on-demand small production volumes cost-effectively while quickly following market trends, you’re able to create your brand easily. These items don’t need to stop at custom t-shirts but polo’s, socks, aprons, tapestries, and more. There is a wide range of options for what you can create.

Memory Quilts

Are you thinking about creating or expanding your quilting business? An exciting venture is creating your unique fabric pieces for memory quilting. With the RICOH Ri 100 software, you can import photos of loved ones, graphics of their interests, and more to create a unique, personalized quilt.  In addition, you can provide fabric printing services to other quilters that want to create their very own memory quilt or are looking to make a quilt with their fabric design. DTG printers, like the RICOH Ri 100, use a wide range of colors, going as far as being able to print a photo taken in real-time with a webcam.

Fashion Textile Printing

DTG printers, like the RICOH Ri 100, use a wide range of colors, going as far as being able to print a photo taken in real-time with a webcam. With access to these unlimited colors, designers can make their fashion trends by creating prints for their projects. This can be a great niche to enter if you enjoy clothing construction and add more personalization to your projects. In addition, you can create on-demand accessories that users will love by printing limited edition fabric and using these on your projects. Some additions you can focus on are tote bags, socks, beach bags, and more!

Home Décor

We all enjoy decorating our home, and a fun way to do this is using personalized home textile! Using your DTG printer, you can create pieces like holiday-themed table runners for the dining room, tea towels with funny phrases for the kitchen, and monogrammed pillowcases for the bedroom. The possibilities are endless! You can also develop themes that transfer over different products, inviting shoppers to buy sets instead of one product.

Event Products

Marketing products are popular items to personalize and create for other small businesses, sports teams, school events, and more. You can also design pieces for birthdays, weddings, and other events that involve goodies being handed out. Follow your niche’s needs and open your business to personalized projects instead of creating designs or products. You can also offer up your services and attend events for onsite printing. Using a machine like the RICOH Ri 100, you’re able to take a photo and instantly print it onto a garment, creating a fun giveaway item for special events and shows.

Additionally, if you’re attending conventions or sporting events, you can take the RICOH Ri 100 on the go due to its compact nature! It can fit into a space as small as 15.7″ wide x 27.5″ deep, making it one of the smallest DTG printers. In addition, the printer and its finisher can be stacked to maximize functionality without sacrificing space.

With so many possibilities for creative products, the world of DTG is an exciting venture for many to enter. Creating personalized and commissioned pieces is also a perfect option for those who aren’t art savvy but enjoy creating otherwise. If you’re interested in starting your own DTG business, continue reading for tips on how to begin! What would you create on your DTG machine? Let us know down below!

JUKI Posts, JUKI Spotlight

JUKI Spotlight: The Little Green Bean

by sewinwithjukiLeave a Comment on JUKI Spotlight: The Little Green Bean
Credit: The Little Green Official Site

Located in Minnesota, you can find Missy Luukkonen, owner of the Little Green Bean! Born and raised in Duluth, Missy fell in love with sewing in high school and has been sewing crafts, quilts, and many other projects for over 20 years. This is all thanks to an extraordinary teacher.

Starting as a hobby, Missy was working full time in a profession she loved and coming home to sewing projects as a way to relax. What began as something to do in her free time slowly grew with each new project. Missy was making burlap tote bags when she started an Etsy shop for the fun of it, not realizing how well it would grow! After saving up her Etsy shop money and taking her husband and two sons on vacation, she thought the shop would be a great side business, but it continued to evolve.

Credit: The Little Green Bean – Instagram

As time went on, she found that her side gig was becoming a full-time job. Once she realized her small business continued growing, Missy decided to take a chance on her dream. Thus The Little Green Bean was here to stay! The products on her online store are constantly changing by customers’ suggestions. Missy makes these suggestions come to life with the help of her husband, who now happily works and runs the shop as well.  After her husband, Chris, joined, they settled on a great dynamic, Missy handles most of the designing, and Chris does the production. With both partners jumping back and forth with ideas, they make an accomplished team.

One project they’re very proud of is the “Monthly Gnome“! Each month, Missy and her husband create a sweet gnome, that is new, and original in design. These little gnomes can be a one-time purchase or a monthly subscription if you’re a collector.

Credit: The Little Green Bean – Missy

Missy’s shop has continued to evolve as she’s always working on different ideas. Ever since Missy was a child, she was always making something. Not being afraid to try new things, Missy goes for it when a new idea pops up. While getting the perfect pattern may take several attempts to perfect, she’s always ready to learn along the way. One type of project she tends to stay away from is clothing, “I have never liked sewing clothes though, I’ll make PJ pants for my kids, but that’s about as far as I go with clothing!”

We recommend checking out Missy’s breath-taking workshop on her socials! Wanting her work area to be different from the rest of her home, Missy imagined her space to be bright and happy. Using fun and bright colors, Missy was able to create a space that was inviting and fed her the good energy she likes to work with. Cleanly organized and with perfect space for her JUKI’s the TL-2000Qi and MO-6700, every day Missy spends her time in her cottage and garage making the next big thing.

To learn more about Missy and her family business, check out her website here! Make sure to check into Missy’s socials as well for an inside look into her shop and home life at on Pinterest and Instagram.

Business Plus

JUKI Small Business Seminar: Sell Your Sewing Skills

by sewinwithjuki2 Comments on JUKI Small Business Seminar: Sell Your Sewing Skills

Sewing is an escape. We bet you love sewing, and it makes you happy when you get to work on a project! Whether you’re creating a quilt, a shirt, or maybe working on home décor, you love it when you can show off that finished product. Now imagine taking this craft you love and making some extra money. The best part? You don’t need to be an expert; sewers at any skill can do this!

The best way to begin is to put yourself out there! How? First, open up a social media page for your creations to get your work seen by new people. There are always great people out there excited to get and share new ideas! Creating a customer base, people who want to own the projects you make, is the first step to opening your little e-shop. Remember that this can be built at your rate, so just start with the basics like sharing what you make and interacting with others, and it will grow from there.

We wanted to share some fun and simple start-up ideas for those who have thought about starting their side business but didn’t know what to do

Begin a repair and alter service

A service that never goes out of style, many people know altering and repairing are less expensive than buying something new. While you may already do this for yourself, many people out there wish they could save their favorite clothing pieces and don’t know how! Offering this service is a standard beginning for many in the clothes construction sector of sewing and will always be needed.

Clothing Construction for Others

If you find yourself in love with creating and designing clothing, look into creating this for others! Many people love having unique and meaningful pieces in their wardrobe. Whether it be beautiful gowns or tops or graphic tees and embroidered sweaters, we enjoy being different. The perks of shopping from small businesses are owning something unique, and that can be you they go to!

Photo by S O C I A L . C U T on Unsplash

Make Décor for the Home

As new homeowners and different styles continue to emerge, creating unique home décor pieces can be a great side business! Fluffy decorative pillows, warm duvets, quilts, or stunning curtains are essential to a comfortable home. When it comes to decorating a home, many want things that represent their style and taste. What better way than creating personalized items for that customer looking to express themselves?!

Sell your Sewing Crafts

When it’s time to let your creativity flow free, we can end up with an abundance of sewing projects leftover. While our first reaction is usually giving it to family and friends, there’s another solution, sell it! Clearing up your living space while sending out your projects is a win-win situation for you and the happy shopper who loved your art.

Maybe you just enjoy the luxury of sewing and never thought about selling your artwork. Maybe you’ve always had an idea of selling something but didn’t know where to start. What’s important is doing the craft you love! With so many options for online selling, social media marketing, and even the possibility of holding a booth at a farmer’s market, it’s essential to keep in mind that you have options. Remember, the best advice is always the same, just start.

Check out JUKI’s Business Plus program to learn more about how to become your boss at https://jukiquilting.com/business-solutions!