Mix two ounces of essence of lemon and one ounce of turpentine. Dip a linen rag in this mixture and gently rub grease and other stained spots on the silk material.

Double or twin needles can be used for decorative stitching as well as pin tucks. The width adjustment for the decorative and satin stitches cannot be as wide as when using a single needle.

1. Insert the twin needle into the machine. Thread both needles with machine embroidery thread following the directions in the machine manual for twin needle sewing.

2. Adjust the width so that either needle will not strike the throat plate at the widest part of the stitch. Turn the flywheel by hand for the complete pattern cycle to insure that the needles will not strike the needle plate. Some machines have a twin needle button that restricts the width of the stitches. Engage this function if available Adjust the length of the stitch to match the widths.

3. Place stabilizer under the fabric.

4. Almost any stitch can Be used for this decorative stitching, so play on a scrap of stabilized fabric, adjusting the width and length as desired, always remembering that the width is restricted by the width between the needles.

5. The different widths between the needles create different effects. With a narrow width twin needle such as a 1.6 mm needle, a space may be left unstitched between the edges of the stitches created by the two needles. This gives the effect of three separate colors.

6. I especially like double needle scallops, straight stitch double needle scallops and featherstitch double needle stitching.

(from Martha Pullen)