Follow the link above to subscribe to our newsletter, because only subscribers will receive access to the bonus Featherweight material, patterns, etc, (including the free Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plate Pattern). Then come back here for the complete video tutorials (part 1 and part 2), using the Singer Buttonholer Attachment. You will learn how to make an eyelet hole - perfect for making this darling Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plate. (Same tutorial would apply if you only have the really small 5/16" buttonhole template.) If you're familiar at all with the ever-popular crocheted Spool Pin Doily, then this will be something "quilty" for you to add to your Featherweight decoratives. They will make lovely gifts for your Featherweight Club friends or fellow quilt guild members!
We used 1930's reproduction fabrics, but we look forward to seeing all the sweet Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plates you will make!
Scroll far below to watch the video tutorial on how to make an eyelet hole using the Singer Buttonholer Attachment
This Dresden Spool Pin Plate is awfully "mini" -- perfect size for the Singer Featherweight 221 or 222 sewing machine!
Setting your stitch length to about 15 stitches per inch makes rounding and stitching the curve much, much easier.
I recommend sharp-pointed embroidery scissors to slit and cut the eyelet center. A seam ripper has a tendency to slip and cut through the stitches - (don't ask me how I know....)
Just think of all the festive and seasonal Dresden Spool Pin Plates you can make to fancy your little Featherweight.
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How to Use the Singer Buttonholer Attachment - Video Tutorial
Part 1 will show you how to use the Singer Buttonholer Attachment,
and Part 2 will show you how to make the eyelet hole for the Spool Pin Dresden Plate. Be sure to watch both videos because there is important information about technique and proper alignment in both videos.
How to Make an Eyelet Hole Using the Singer Buttonholer Attachment
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The debut of the pattern was at a Featherweight Maintenance Workshop and Attachments Class in Spokane, Washington at the Quilting Bee. Many hours, samples and preparations went into making the pattern and videos. Everything was great!.... except... well... the trickiest part of the eyelet hole was getting it exactly center. And, after you've gone to all the trouble of making pretty little Dresdens, you want pretty little eyelets centered, too! A light bulb went off in my brain when the next day after class we received a wonderful email and suggestion from Carrolyn V. about getting that eyelet exactly centered... and easily.
Traditionally, buttonhole making is one of the very last steps you incorporate when finishing a pattern, so I was so used to making buttonholes at the very end of a project. Carrolyn's idea was to make the eyelet before you cut the center circle and then center the circle over the Dresden at the very end. BRILLIANT IDEA! I was so pleased that I wanted to totally revamp the pattern instructions and eyelet video, too. Now it will be easier for everyone to be successful with these Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plates! Thank you so much, Carrolyn, we are very grateful for your valuable input! (a little gift is headed your way!)
Here are a few more fun photos from our class!
Sharon has been a very longtime customer of ours... and a real sweetheart! She has known how much I have loved "thirties" fabrics and so she surprised me by bringing a bag stuffed full (and I mean FULL) of her stashes of retro thirties prints!!! Thank you, Sharon! I will think of you each time I use one..... they will be perfect for my 1930's Farmer's Wife quilt blocks.
(Sharon placed her tatted spool pin doily atop her Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plate, isn't that pretty?)
Elaine learning proper alignment of the cloth clamp - her eyelets were perfect!
Connie made a couple Dresden Spool Pin Plates before the class.
And, thank you, Claudia (background), for hosting the class for us! Claudia also gifted Ruthie and me with some gorgeous vintage fabrics from her family's estate -- one of them had "Sweet Peas" on it!!
Terry and Linda made "thirties" Dresden Spool Pin Plates, too -- it was so fun to see them all!
Look at all those Mini Dresden Spool Pin Plates that Shirley had made! Shirley added a backing to hers using fusible web and pinking shears.
Let us know in the comments how you like the pattern and email us photos of the ones you make! We would love to share your fabric selections and ideas with others, too...
