Thank You, Debbie Cook!

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Debbie Cook!

A few weeks ago, I had barely enough fabric for a BWOF project and I had to eliminate non-essential hem allowances to make the pieces fit on the fabric. Afterward, I went to Pattern Review and posed the question: When do you prefer to add BWOF seam allowances? Debbie's response (the 8th post in the thread) was brilliant in it's simplicity. My current BWOF project has at least 108 pieces, (well … maybe not exactly 108, but it seemed that way last night when I was laying it out!) and I was again in danger of not having enough fabric. But this time I had an advantage! I used Debbie's method of adding seam allowances and I was able to manipulate and squeeze the pieces on the fabric without worrying if I'd left enough space between pieces for seam allowances. If I mess it up, it won't be because I didn't have enough fabric!

In honor of Debbie Cook's generosity, I'd like to pass along a tip. It's not mine, but I found it to be, like Debbie's tip, brilliant in it's simplicity. This tip was published in Aug/Sept 2007 issue of Threads ( p. 20) and is credited to Saragrace Knauf of Buckeye, Arizona. "Crayola ® Erasable colored pencils are great for marking fabric. They show up well, and the lead is sturdy even when you apply great pressure. There are many colors so you can select the color that works best on your fabric. Even better, you can erase them if you make a mistake -- even after ironing." I've tested the pencils on a few pieces of fabric and Saragrace is absolutely correct -- the marks are erasable!

Thank you to all generous sewing enthusiasts who share their knowledge!