Welcome back, sewing besties! I’m excited to be throwing it back in today’s post and share some of my favorite heirloom stitches that can be found on the Skyline S9, and pay homage to Janome’s rich and innovative sewing history. To share the heirloom stitches and what you can do with them, I will be replacing some sleeves on a thrifted button-down and adding an heirloom stitched design to it.
Here’s what I used in today’s design:
- Presser foot ‘F’ for the Skyline S9 (always check your manual for the proper foot!)
- Cotton Poplin
- Starch (as needed)
- Iron
- Matching thread to your fabric
- Perle cotton thread or DMC embroidery floss (optional to add additional details)
Prepping your machine
With heirloom stitches, you can use what is called a winged needle to puncture the fabric to create bigger holes, or keep your regular needle to add topical embellishment to the fabric. These holes that are created simulate almost an eyelet look on the fabric that you can leave bare or fill with embroidery floss for additional detail. To prepare your machine, replace your presser foot with presser foot ‘F’, or the coordinating foot, for the heirloom stitching.
To set your machine to heirloom stitches, you can use your manual along with your stitch selector to determine which heirloom stitches you want to sew with. Your heirloom stitches will predominantly be in Mode 1 in your stitches. Once selected, you can begin to prep your fabric to start sewing on! I used stitch 31, 19, and 29 in the heirloom setting.
Heirloom sewing saw a rise in popularity in the 1970’s, right around the time Janome came out with the world’s first programmable computerized sewing machine, the MEMORY 7. This machine featured a whole section on decorative stitches that are traditionally heirloom sewing stitches such as a pin tuck, cut work, shell tucks, and fringing were a few of the many techniques the machine was programmed to do. Now, computerized machines like the Skyline S9 allow you to adjust and view the stitch before you even apply it to your fabric!
Prepping your fabric
I recently thrifted this Everlane button down blouse with hand-painted tomatoes on it, but the sleeves are way too tight! I’ll be replacing them with a romantic balloon sleeve option from the sleeve pack from PatternCosPatterns. I’ll just be adding the stitched design on the lower sleeve portion, to simulate the look of lace down the center of the sleeve. To prep the fabric, you’ll want to start by cutting about an inch or more past where the cut edge of the pattern is. If you want to run a test on your fabric prior to completing a pass on your main piece, I would recommend that. Follow the instructions for your starch on your can to starch your fabric to add a bit of stabilizing to your sleeve as needed. Since I am doing my stitch down the center of the lower sleeve, I added a pressed crease to help center the stitch. (Figure 2)
Sewing your decorative stitch
Be sure to thread your machine with matching thread to your fabric to create that seamless eyelet style decorative heirloom stitching. To ensure your decorative stitching stays straight, you can use chalk to run a straight line to follow to keep your stitch centered. Be sure your machine is feeding the fabric evenly if you are doing a symmetrical design. Once you finish stitching your design on your piece, give it a good press to smooth out the area you just sewed. I’ll finish sewing up the sleeve, attach it to my top, and then give it a final press and that’s it!
The name “Janome” means eye of the snake, and the company earned this name by beginning to use a metal bobbin in lieu of a traditional long shuttle system. The founder Yosaku Ose thought the metal bobbin system looked like a snake eye, and thus the name was born in 1921! Heirloom sewing has been around for a long time, and thanks to your sewing machine, you can do these on your machine now. You can always check your manual to see if your machine does decorative heirloom stitches. Heirloom stitches are the perfect way to add details, hemlines, and embellishment to your made garments. I love using it to build panels of embellishment to areas of fabric! What are you going to use your stitches with? Until next time, happy sewing!
