Michaels Bundle

Here's the 2nd of 3 posts this week. The last one will be tomorrow then I'm out of the picture til at least Sunday. Wednesday is a holiday here in Quebec and I booked off Thursday and Friday in order to fit in a quick trip to New Brunswick.

Ann & Diana - I'll be passing through about suppertime both Wed and Sat ! ;-)

First a Q&A - actually, one question from Faye about my piping foot. I don't have a piping foot (actually I do have one for my serger, but I only thought of it AFTER I'd finished both dresses LOL)

For the Pink dress, I used my Kenmore's regular zipper foot. It's a really square, clunky, metal foot and you can't sew really close to the cord of the piping.

For the Butterfly dress, I used another foot, it has a vertical edge on the right hand side and I just sewed from the right side of the fabric leting the piping ride along the inside of that vertical edge. I think it's my 1/4" foot, but don't quote me. It worked really well.

My singer has one of those plastic, narrow, pointy zipper feet that would probably work well enough, but again I only thought of it after.


Sooooo, I received my Michaels bundle last week. It was shipped on Jun 9 and I received the delivery notice on Jun 16 - ONLY 1 WEEK ! I was expecting at least 2 weeks, shipping to Canada is NOT fast.

Now I need some help/advice. (and all of the problems, questions, mis-expectations are the result of my own inexperience, not Michael's fabrics)

I got a 15yd bundle of the cottons, which includes, cotton, linen, silk and variations of them - how do I tell what is what - is there a way ?

I also, for some unexplainable reason, expected a cotton bundle to be all shirtings. What is it they say about assuming things ?! I have 5 pieces, 3 twill and 2 shirtings. But now I have to figure out what to do with them, I'm sure the twills are too heavy for shirts. I will say, the colors are great. When you order bundles, basics are a safe way to go. There isn't a piece here that I won't use just as soon as I figure out how to handle them.

And how to care for them. Do I bite the bullet and throw them all in the washer ? (This would be where I need the advice)

Every piece has some sheen to it, which makes me think they're not all cotton, but probably/possibly blends. They are all generous cuts, all 3 yards except the brown shirting (4 yards).

Here's what was in the box.



Clockwise from to left - the Twills first
Kind of a medium blue, the twill is pretty fine


Navy blue, herringbone (?) twill, yeh navy blue, really dark, this was the flash from the camera


Cream twill - the weave on this one is larger than the first blue one, and it is quite susceptible to runs, there are 2 pulls in it now, but near the selvage so I can work around them. Will not be able work with this with my rings on !


White shirting


Brown shirting (this one feels fabulous !)