Sewing Vloggers

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Frixion Pens

There has been some hubbub in the blogosphere regarding these pens. They are called Frixion Pens and can be found at Staples. Mine had a 2 for 5.00 dollars special when I picked them up Thursday. You can get a pack of three in black or a pack of black, red, and blue. So what's the deal? They make a very fine line, something not that easy to do for many markers. Here I did my sampling on some 100% cotton batiste, nice thin lines.
So here's the deal. The end of the pen has this grey, very smooth tip. This is used to erase the lines. You can see my success (?) at dong just that. On this fine batiste, the action of erasing was a bit hard but on some other heavier cotton I tried the results were better.  Now here's the rub:
Did you read that fine print? Soooo, if you make a white jacket and use these pens, and live up here on the Canadian border where it can frequently hit 40 below zero, your marks will come back. Just to prove that to myself I put my sample in my freezer. It holds a steady zero degrees temp. It was in there for about three hours. Here are the results.

You can see the lines came back, albeit with a bit of subtlety. My opinion? I may use this on fabric that is not particularly fine/thin in a situation where I really need a fine line. As far as the lines coming back, often, when making such marks, I am using them to embroider on top, place a button, etc. so the lines will be hidden by stitching. If you are quillting, I wouldn't use these. Quilts are more likely to see cold temps than my batiste  baby garments and the positive/negative effect of the quilting stitch would not hide the returning lines. JMHO.
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I arrived back from visiting both daughters in New England yesterday late. One of the things begging for my attention today was the garden. It's been a totally dry week here and lots also needed picking. The last of my blueberries will be turned into scones tomorrow morning. The green beans will be blanched and mixed with fresh pesto I just made. Yum! I just love summer in the garden!

It was a very busy, productive week. I helped DD unpack many boxes, fine tuned the innards of  of her appliances as only a Mom can, and spent hours in the pool with the grands while she continued unpacking. We measured for window treatments, discussed options, and shopped a few vendors. We only were able to order one fabric but the rest will happen soon. Of course DD found the perfect fabric in design with not enough yardage, anywhere. I came home packed with beaded trims, fabrics, mounting boards, miles of piping, etc. So you will be seeing some home dec projects in the future here on the blog. In the meantime here is a tiny peak at a part of her new home that I love. It is a good size home, a rambling Royal Barry Wills design, and was built in 1986. The sellers redid every single inch, updating everything with lovely taste, except for the kids bathroom. That would probably be on my list  to do last as well! All the remodeling has been done within the past year so it was a real turn key situation. Here you can see the moldings that adorn nearly every room.
And one more thing to get off my chest:
DON'T DO THIS:
 Don't put a spool of thread or a bobbin on the top of your machine. Ninety dollars later, my machine is fixed and back to running beautifully. Seems while intently watching my guide on the presser foot I didn't realize that the threads got sucked down thru the bobbin winder and into the motor. The machine came to a screeching halt and made a sound that I knew indicated one more stitch would be certain death. On her last visit DD brought it back to Nashua Sew and Vac in NH and I brought it home yesterday. I am happy. I love Nashua Sew and Vac.....Bunny

8 comments:

  1. oh.my.goodness! I am a little shocked at how your poor sewing machine was damaged by thread strangulation and very happy it has been restored to good health.

    And the molding in your DD's home, is indeed, beautiful. I look forward to seeing what home dec. projects you tackle. I am interested in the same thing these days,

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  2. Welcome back! I also have those Frixion pens but hae not used them. I did hear about the temp issue, which really would be an issue in your climate. :)

    Those moldings are beautiful!

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  3. ohhh, moldings, yum.

    Interesting info on the pens-thanks for the heads up.

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  4. Is it just me, or was I dwelling too long on the warning to not use the pens on legal or official documents. lol

    Love the produce basket, and those moldings are to die for!

    Thinking of you today as I've been sewing a purse.

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  5. I am some what in love with those pens. I used it to embroider on silk and loved it. It doesn't bleed like the blue pen and when it is gone, (I thought it was gone)it is gone, no bleeding on to another area of the projest and showing up later when the fabric dries. If you don't want to erase it you can iron it away. I am wondering when it is washed if it will go away for good.
    Also I was working on a quilt project and left the peices in the car and the guide lines disapeared so I am glad to know that they will come back in the freezer.

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  6. I think my heart stopped for a few beats when I read about your sewing machine mishap. Thank goodness for the people who know how to repair them!

    Your produce is beautiful. I've never thought to try pesto wit green beans. My hubby loves pesto, so I will definitely try it - thanks for the idea. :)

    Andrea

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  7. That's a great hint to iron away the lines. I will try that.

    My favorite way to eat pesto is with a spoon, mouthful after mouthful. Is there anything more flavorful than freshly made pesto? If you have only tried jarred pesto, there is a huge difference. Buy the fresh basil instead and make your own.

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  8. Bunny
    My 6mo HV Ruby ate nearly a full cone of serger thread. The tech said they'd never seen that much thread inside a machine. Usually they grind to a halt long before. Mine didn't stop, it was making unusual noises.

    I've been using the Frixion pens in hidden places and hitting with the iron. They disappear immediately. I think that my heat is exceeding the high limit which causes the ink to go away. Nearly all my projects are washed before use. I'll try putting them back in the freezer to see what happens. I really want these pens to work. They create a fine line which disappears immediately when hit with the iron.

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