Blog posts tagged with 'embroidery designs'

You can watch a YouTube video on this project to get a good overview of the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWKVNQTG-74 or see all my videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/LindeeGVideos

Using embroidery designs to quilt makes it easy for anyone to create intricate designs quickly and easily. An important difference with embroidery designs is how the machine is tensioned. In normal sewing and quilting, the needle and bobbin threads are evenly balanced. This is not the case with embroidery. Here the top thread is pulled to the back and the back is likely to look rather messy—especially if your machine has automatic trimmers that pull all the thread tails to the back. To minimize this, match your bobbin thread to the top thread and choose a busy fabric for the back that blends well with your thread color. You may also wish to adjust your tensions for a more even balance.

Most quilting motifs are continuous and will only have one pair of tie-offs. Redwork designs with many distinct elements will have more tie-offs.

It’s a Girl! design collection from Lindee G Embroidery includes 12 decorative, redwork style designs for baby girls. Each design is available in 2 sizes: one for smaller hoops (approximately 85mm square) and one for 5x7” hoops (approximately 125mm square). Due to the amount of detail in these designs, I don’t recommend shrinking the smaller size. The smaller sizes have shorter stitch lengths and in some cases, some small details have been eliminated.

Additionally, there are 2 utility blocks included to assist in making this project. These utility files will require at least the next size larger hoop and are essentially a double basting line with an appliqué stop in the middle. For the larger block, you’ll need an 8x8” hoop. These utility files sews 2 rounds of basting stitches: the first for placement and the second to hold the quilt sandwich in place for stitching. You can sew it with the same thread you use for the design. This basting block is not required to make the quilt. If you can’t sew the larger designs, simply cut your blocks large enough to be hooped. Or, use the baste-in-the-hoop function if your machine has one. I created the squares to help with accurate placement and to reduce the amount of fabric needed for each block.

These instructions are for larger hoop machines. If you have a smaller sewing field, adjust accordingly.

Tips for Smaller Machines

If you have a very small sewing field (less than 100 x 100mm or 4 x 4”), you’ll need to take a slightly different approach than the one described for the sample. Make your “quilt sandwich” large enough to hoop between the rings of your hoop as shown below.

For 5 x 7” hoops, you can sew the larger versions without the utility file or the smaller designs with the utility file. When sewing the larger designs in a 5 x 7” hoop, either hoop the fabric as shown in the previous figure or use a baste-in-the hoop feature to attach the block to the stabilizer as shown later.

Please read through all the instructions before beginning this project because construction techniques vary from standard piecing techniques.

Skill Level

Basic sewing skills are required; it’s not my intention to teach you how to sew! If you’ve never pieced a quilt, and you need more instructions, please refer to a basic quilting reference.

What You’ll Learn

• How to quilt in the hoop
• How to assemble pre-quilted blocks
• How to add a ruffle to the edge of a quilt

Fabric Requirements

You will need approximately 2 1/2 yards each of two fabrics. Color 1 in the sample is a tone on tone white print on a slightly peachy beige background; color 2 is a peachy colored batik. The back side of the sample is all peach except for the outer borders, binding, and ruffle.

• 12 - 8 x 8” squares for back (color 2)
• 12 - 8 x 8” squares for front (color 1)
• 12 - 8 x 8” squares of fusible fleece (be sure to choose one with a water soluble glue so your quilt will be soft)
• 3” wide strips for sashing (you will need sashing strips for BOTH sides of your quilt; sashing strips will be folded in half lengthwise
• 8 - 6 3/4” long (or height of your block) for front (color 2)
• 8 - 6 3/4” long (or height of your block) for back (color 2)
• 3 at width of your assembled rows for front (color 2)
• 3 at width of your assembled rows for back (color 2)
• Outer borders: 3” wide strips, 1 set for front and 1 for back. These are not folded. I used color 1 for the back and color 2 for the front.
• Ruffle: 5” wide, length depends on desired fullness of ruffle (color 1)
• Optional binding: bias strips 1 1/2” wide, 1 set for front (color 2) and one for the back (color 1) [See note under Finishing before cutting; these are not required if you use the easier method.

Supplies

• Batting—Choose one that is not too lofty; I used a fusible one for quilts.
• Wash-Away stabilizer
• TESA (KK2000 or similar temporary embroidery spray adhesive)
• Construction thread
• Embroidery thread
• Appropriate needles
• Rotary cutter and ruler

Preparation

• Cut and prepare your blocks. Make a “quilt sandwich” by layering the backing fabric (face down), a layer of batting, and a layer of top fabric (face up), and press together according to package instructions to fuse. If you aren’t using fusible batting, lightly mist backs of fabric with TESA and smooth over batting.
• Wind several bobbins with matching embroidery thread.

Embroidering

For each block, you will be sewing the appropriate utility block file followed by the embroidery design. You may wish to combine these in software or at the machine or just load each file as required.

• Hoop a piece of wash-away backing.
• Load the larger square utility file (lgs01126) and sew color 1, which will stitch a placement guide on the stabilizer.
• Lightly mist the back of your quilt sandwich with TESA and smooth into place over the basting guides. The block will extend beyond the basting lines approximately 1/2”.
• Sew the next color stop to attach the block to the stabilizer.
• Load the decorative design and sew. For this quilt, I used designs lgs01113 - lgs01124.
• When the design is finished, remove from hoop and trim off excess stabilizer.
• Continue embroidering all the blocks

Make a Label

It’s always a good idea to attach a label to your quilt. Labels can be simple or fancy. On this quilt, I just used a lettering program to stitch the quilt name, my name, and the date. This label is sewn into the binding and hand stitched along turned under edges. Sometimes I embroider the label right onto the backing of the quilt.

Trim Blocks

Using the basting line as a guide, trim and square up your blocks to the same size (mine were 6 3/4” square) with the rotary cutter and ruler. Your blocks must all be the same size.

When all your blocks are embroidered, arrange them in a pleasing way into four rows of 3 blocks.

Sashing

Sashing is applied to the right hand edge of the blocks in the left and center columns of your quilt. Please note the seam allowances are 1/2” rather than the standard 1/4”. I chose to fold the strips in half for two reasons:

• It’s quicker because you won’t have to fold and press under the raw edge.
• It provides a slightly thicker cover over the butted seams of the batting.

The downside is that it uses slightly more fabric, although not much on these rather narrow strips. Also, if you don’t attach the raw edges straight, you won’t be able to adjust on the second side.

1. Trim the 3” wide sashing strips to the height of your blocks. Fold each strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press lightly.
2. Apply one sashing strip to the front and a second to the back aligning raw edges. Sew together using a 1/2” seam. Press the sashing open on both side
3. Apply sashing to the right edges of all blocks except the right-most one in the row.

Create Rows

To sew blocks together into rows, butt the raw edges together on adjacent blocks. Pin the sashing down and top stitch from the front using any stitch of your choice. I used a blind hem stitch (#1-35 on the Baby Lock Ellisimo). I widened the stitch to 4.0 and shortened the length to 1.4. I used the same thread as used for the embroidery. Topstitch the other side of the sashing to match.

Attach Rows

Using the same technique you used to apply sashing to the individual blocks, sew the rows together to form the center of your quilt.

Add the Borders

1. Cut strips of batting the height of the sides and 1/4” narrower than the width of your side borders. Butt the raw edges of the batting border to the raw edges of the batting on the quilt sides. Using a multi-step zig-zag (#1-13) set to the widest width (7mm), attach the two strips together.

2. Stitch side border strips (unfolded) to the sides, one on top and one on bottom, right sides together, using 1/2” seam allowance. Press open over the batting.

3. Add the top and bottom batting strips and borders in the same method

4. Square up and trim off excess batting

Finishing

At this point, you can simply topstitch the side borders to match the sashing and bind in a traditional manner, or you can round off the corners, add a ruffle, and then topstitch.

When I made this quilt, the ruffle idea occurred to me after I had finished and topstitched the entire quilt and was ready to put on the binding. I had never attached a ruffle to a quilt done this way so my brilliant idea was to attach binding strips to the ruffle and then attach the binding in a typical manner. This proved to be quite a challenge since you must ease the curves to keep the quilt flat. After two less-than-satisfactory attempts of attaching by machine, I applied the entire binding by hand while I watched TV or listened to audio books. Knowing that most of you would rather not take this approach, I consulted my expert quilting friend, Jeanette Smith, who in turn consulted her expert quilting friend. Jeanette found an easier option in her extensive library and that’s what I’ll explain here. Note that it won’t look exactly like the sample but it will save you a lot of time!

1. Round off the corners of your quilt using a plate or similar object as a template. I used the border seams as starting and ending points for the curve.

2. Piece 5 or more 5” wide strips of color 1 end to end, then fold and press in half lengthwise.

3. Gather along raw edges. I used a ruffle attachment. Experiment with the different adjustments on your ruffler as well as varying stitch lengths to create the desired fullness. Gather enough fabric to encircle your quilt.

Although I don’t use it often, I love my ruffler attachment. It makes quick work of creating long ruffles evenly. Rather than gathering, it creates small pleats, which you can control by setting a lever on the foot itself and by controlling stitch length. While it looks like quite a complicated attachment, it is easy to use.

4. Measure out the edge of the quilt to determine how long to make the ruffle. Trim ruffle to size and sew raw ends together using 1/4” seam. The gathering on the ruffle adds a bit of fudge factor since you can easily redistribute some fullness as you near the end of attaching it to the quilt.

How I Did It

After gathering, I attached the binding strips to the gathered edge of the ruffle using 3/8” seam allowance (color 2 on front, color 1 on back), pressed the strips towards the seam and trimmed the seam allowances to 1/2”. I then hand basted the ruffle seam allowance to the outer edge of the quilt, (final top stitching on side borders was done prior), turned under a quarter inch seam allowance on the binding on the front and back and hand-stitched each side individually. If you’re not a fan of hand work, try the following finishing method, which skips the binding strips altogether.

Easier Method

1. Attach the ruffle to the edge of the quilt matching raw edges sewing the ruffle to the front of the quilt through the front and batting layers only using 1/4” seam. Press open.
2. On the back of the quilt, turn the back edges of the borders over the raw seam tucking under 1/4” and hand stitch in place. Or, use one of the no-sew methods of fusing the edge, if desired.
3. Top stitch the side borders to match the sashing.

You will need to wash the quilt to remove all the washaway stabilizer and the adhesive in the batting if you used fusible batting.

Be sure that all the TESA has dissipated before wetting your quilt. To force dissipate, press with a dry iron.

Piecing in the hoop replicates the process of foundation piecing, also known as paper piecing. If you’ve done foundation piecing with the sewing machine, you will immediately grasp the concept. While a little more intensive than regular embroidery, this technique really only requires attention to detail.

Use the patterns to pre-cut all your pieces. You can spray templates with TESA, swipe with a glue stick, or print on fusible paper and apply to the front of your fabric pieces for cutting. Be sure to keep the pattern piece attached until ready to place the fabric in the hoop to avoid using the wrong piece.

Skill Level

Basic embroidery and rotary cutting skills

All squares finish the same even though their dimensions may vary slightly due to some stitching lines extending beyond the finished seam line. Similarly, all small triangles finish to the same size and large triangles are the same size.

What You’ll Need

• Suitable fabrics for blocks, pre-washed and pressed (Tip: If fabrics are especially soft, starching can reduce distortion when stitching.)
• Printed block patterns and templates
• Rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and mat
• TESA (Temporary embroidery spray adhesive) or water-soluble fabric glue stick
• Stabilizer—I used Sulky Soft n Sheer. You’ll be using heat to press the pieces in place and water-soluble fiber stabilizers can shrink with heat.
• Appliqué tacking iron
• Double curve appliqué scissors
• An embroidery machine with a minimum sewing field of 5.75” x 5.75” for the blocks

What’s Included with the Collection

• Twenty-two designs digitized for piecing in the hoop
• Full size patterns and templates for each block
• Color sequence PDF with images of sample block
• This instructional PDF
• Quilt-As-You-Go Basics ebook
• PDF for making a journal cover
• Basic notes for

Watch How-Tos on YouTube

If you’ve never done piece-in-the hoop or paper piecing before, the process can seem overly complicated.

You can watch me stitch the heart from this set in the following YouTube video:

• How to Stitch Victorian Crazy Piecing In-the-Hoop
Also, please check the website for new projects using these designs as well as specials and informative blog posts. At the time of this writing, there are two blog posts on this set:
• How To Embroider Victorian Crazy Patch In-The-Hoop
• How To Make An Embroidered Journal Cover

Preliminary Notes

If you’ve done foundation or paper piecing, you’ll notice there are a few variations:

1. In paper piecing, fabric is applied to the back side of the printed pattern and the sewing is done on the printed side. When embroidering pieced blocks, all sewing is done from the fabric side.
2. In paper piecing, excess fabric is trimmed off as you go by folding back the pattern and rotary cutting. When embroidering pieced blocks, excess fabric is trimmed off as you go with double-curved appliqué scissors.

Understanding the Patterns

Each design in this set except the border has a PDF pattern sheet.

For the border, cut 22 pieces 8” x 1”; the pieces are applied from the top down.

All pattern pieces are numbered with an arrow pointing to the side that will be initially attached.

This number indicates what order the pieces will be applied.

The first piece has a reminder to place it face up; all other pieces will be placed face down (right sides together)

Exact cutting is not required but I recommend not getting too sloppy about it. The outer edges have a ½” seam allowance while all the inner seam lines are ¼”. This extra bit gives you some “fudge factor” around the outside.

There are no digital cutter files included with this set, only the PDF for hand cutting. Because of the variety of fabrics you’ll be using and the simple straight line shapes and the fact that these aren’t appliques that require precise cutting, I found it easier just to cut these pieces with a rotary cutter or scissors.

Understanding the Color Sequences

All the designs except the border sew in generally the same order:

1. A placement line is sewn that indicates the seam line for the finished blocks. This line will only be seen from the back of the project.
2. Color 2 sews a numbered guideline for the placement of all the pieces. The seam lines will be sewn directly over these lines.
3. Color 3 is an “edge guide” to help you with placing the fabrics. This line is set at a 1/4” offset from the seam lines. This is a handy reference particularly if you aren’t very precise with cutting or placing your pieces as it can tell you right away if you’re fabric isn’t going to get caught in the next seam.
4. Color 4 will tack down the first piece of fabric in the design. This piece is always placed face up.
5. Before color 5, place piece 2 face down along the indicated line. (Refer to the included pattern guide.) Color 5 sews the seam line.
6. Before color 6, flip the fabric over and finger press the fabric smooth and flat. You can hold the fabric in place with a bit of glue stick. Color 7 will sew a tack down that will get covered by subsequent pieces or be enclosed within the seam allowance.

Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all the pieces are placed. Although I’ve set different colors in the design, I typically sew all of this first part in 1 color. The extra colors are to force the machine to stop.

It’s totally possible to stop the design at this point; all the piecing is done and your block can be used as is (exception is the heart, which requires the next to last color to stitch the appliqué).

The remainder of the design is all the decorative stitching. I’ve used a variety of colors here for flexibility. Color stops not only make it easy for you to match threads to your fabrics, they also make it easy to skip or delete areas.

Refer to the included color sequence guide for additional color information.

All seams are double pass so there is no need to use construction thread for the piecing steps. You may want to use polyester embroidery thread instead of rayon for strength.

Preparation

1. Print the pattern pieces.

Open the corresponding design PDF in Acrobat and print the full size pattern and corresponding pattern templates. Make sure Acrobat does not scale the pattern. For your convenience, a 1” square is printed on the first page of each block’s templates for easy verification.

You might want to print 2 copies: 1 for cutting and 1 for placement reference while stitching.

2. Cut your fabrics.

Loosely cut out the patterns, swipe the back with a glue stick and press it to the front of your fabric. Cut out neatly.

While absolute precision is not required, avoid getting too careless with your cutting and making the pieces too large or too small.

3. Hoop the stabilizer.

Piecing in the hoop is a floated technique. Because of all the extra embellishments, a tearaway may break down during stitching in some areas. And, since the designs are relatively open and delicate, tearaways can be difficult to remove.

On similar projects I’ve used heat fusible to hold the pieces after stitching but I didn’t for these designs.

Hooping a thin stabilizer may not be secure in your hoop. If it isn’t use some method to make sure it won’t slip. I prefer duct tape for this.

4. Stitch the placement lines.

The first 3 colors are placement guides.

Color one outlines the seam line. Use this as a reference for cutting your finished pieces. Note that after stitching it may no longer be straight due to push and pull.

Color 2 defines the stitching lines along with sequence numbers and color 3 indicates a ¼” seam allowance.

Sew these in color that won’t bleed through your fabrics but can still be seen. The numbers are within seam allowances and will be covered by several layers of fabric. Indeed, they are likely to be covered by the time you have to place the corresponding piece to having a copy of the pattern by your side as you stitch is a handy reference.

Note that none of these colors are required and can be skipped, which is why they are all separate colors.

5. Place piece 1.

On all designs in this set, piece one is placed face up. On the border design only, piece 2 is also placed at this time, face down (noted on color sequence guide)

The next color will do a zigzag tack down to secure this piece in place

6. Place piece 2.

All subsequent pieces will be aligned, placed face down, and stitched along the seam.

After stitching, the piece will be flipped over, pressed into place and then secured by a tack-down stitch via the next color.

7. Continue with the remainder of the pieces.

All remaining pieces are applied in the exact same manner: check alignment, place face down, stitch, flip, press, and tack down.

8. Sew the decorative stitches.

Once again you’ll have many color changes. Choose colors that work well with your fabrics.

Extra color changes mean more flexibility. It’s easy to skip one at the machine delete them in software.

9. Trim to size.

When the design is complete, remove from hoop, place face down on a cutting mat and trim to size using the seam reference (color 1) as a guide.

Exceptions

The first and last design have a few differences.

The first design is a heart and is finished as an appliqué. The last two colors of the design are the finishing edge around the heart. Before those colors sew, remove the hoop from the machine and trim off any fabric beyond the tack down.

The last design in the set creates the striped border. All the pieces are identical and numbered placement guide is omitted. The guides for this design are the raw edge of the seam allowance.

Because this design is simpler, pieces one and two are placed together with piece on the bottom face up and piece two on the top face down. Only the seams are stitched and are double pass as in the other blocks.

Project Notes

Full instructions are included for the journal covers.

For the quilt, I stitched all 5 of the squares, the 4 large triangles and 4 small triangles. I stitched each one through the batting.

For the borders, I stitched two hoops of the border, stitched them together on the sewing machine to form one long strip and then rotary cut them in four 1¾” strips.

The blocks were pieced together using a quilt-as-you-go method with 1” strips of sashing (½” finished) using the twin sashing strip method after adding a backing fabric to each block. See the included Quilt-As-You-Go Basics ebook for more details.

(Some items included with the set art not available with individual design purchases.)

Summary

Piecing in the hoop produces a highly consistent and accurate result provided you follow the steps precisely!

Endless or continuous hoop designs are specially digitized for creating borders and other long connected designs seamlessly. Some collections may have corner connectors included to permit easier continuous borders around a corner.

Sewing these designs is quite easy, especially when using one of the specialty hoops that are available for most home embroidery machines with a minimum 5” x 7” sewing field. This How To covers tips for getting good results with specially digitized continuous designs and an appropriate hoop.

Many embroidery programs provide tools for building continuous designs. These instructions only cover working with pre-made designs intended for this use.

Supplies

• Design specifically digitized for continuous hooping by Lindee G Embroidery
• Appropriate hoop
• General embroidery supplies
• Fabric cut into strips and pieced if necessary
• Suitable stabilizer
• Starch (optional)

Design Notes

Continuous designs are easier to align when a registration stitch is included. I’ve found a line of basting stitches in the form of a “Z” is much more accurate than a single stitch point. The Z provides more stitches to verify placement, while a single point only provides a start point that is also a pivot point allowing the design to more easily get off track.

Each continuous design has a starting Z stitch and an ending Z stitch to make perfect connections easy. Some designs may have a pair of Z stitches at each end. These registration marks are longer, set as a separate color change, with one at the beginning of the design and a second at the end of the design. These stitches are meant to be temporary and removed after the embroidery is complete.

These stitches also make it easy to combine elements in software if you have a larger sewing field. The Z stitches are set in a different color for utility reasons. A color change will force the machine to stop and it makes it easy to skip these stitches or delete them in editing software, if desired.

I usually just sew the first registration stitches using the first color of the design (color #2) and the last set of registration stitches using the last color of the design.

While these designs are intended for a specialty border hoop, they can also be used with standard hoops. With standard hoops, you’ll need to pay a little more attention to hoop and aligning.

About the Hoop

Most specialty border hoops use a clamping mechanism to allow for easy rehooping. Simply release the clamp, slide the fabric to the next place, align the needle, and sew. Due to the clamp mechanics, it’s important to understand where you can place the embroidery—and that is within a few inches of the hoop side where the clamp hinges.

Fabric Preparation

When cutting your fabric, you’ll need to allow a few extra inches at each end to allow for hooping. Depending on your project, you may want to piece strips together either before or after embroidering.

For best results, plan your design to sew from one end to the other. If you try sewing from the center out, you’ll need to mirror one half for the pattern to match.

You also need to consider how you will stabilize the fabric. On washable fabrics, starching the fabric helps tremendously. For backing, I prefer to use a softer stabilizer like fusible mesh cutaway or wash-away fiber. Crisp tearaways will be creased by the hoop making it harder to rehoop without pressing. If a tear-away is needed, slide a smaller piece under the hooped and stabilized fabric.

When using a non-fusible stabilizer, I sometimes machine baste strips of stabilizer to the fabric (using a sewing machine, not a baste in the hoop feature), especially when working on extra long pieces or strips that will require a long period to embroider.

I also like to mark guide lines on the fabric using dressmaker’s chalk to keep the design from skewing over multiple repeats. I generally draw these guides to align with the Z stitches rather than the actual design center. Test any marking aid you use to make sure it can be completely removed.

If the strip is quite long, roll the fabric around a cardboard tube and use clips or pins to secure the tail around the tube. This keeps the fabric clean and reduces additional wrinkling. It will also reduce the possibility of the fabric tails becoming caught while sewing.

Sewing

Sew from the top of the strip to the bottom. When rehooping, the bottom of the previous design needs to be just within the upper edge of the sewing field so that the Z stitches can be aligned. This means the upper edge of the hoop will be over an embroidered area, which translates to uneven hoop tension all the way around. If you are using a standard hoop, make sure it is not too tight to avoid damaging the embroidery.

You can skip the first Z on the first pattern and the last Z on the last pattern unless you plan to connect the ends to each other. When the embroidery is complete, remove the Z stitches and stabilizer.

Other Notes:

If you want to mirror designs, be sure to test first to make sure they will connect properly. Also, you may need to edit the designs to add extra registration stitches.

Bobbin work allows you to embroider designs with beautiful textured threads and ribbon— threads that cannot be sewn through the needle. For best results, you not only need a specially digitized design but you need to modify your technique and make some machine adjustments.

Please note: Bobbin work requires some testing and adjusting of your machine tensions. Please refer to your machine manual or consult your sewing machine dealer for specific help with your machine.

Supplies

• Design specifically digitized for bobbin work
• Heavier threads such as Pearl Crown Rayon, 2mm silk ribbon, Madeira Decora 6, other decorative threads and fibers generally used for bobbin work. (Note: Heavier yarns are not recommended due to the short amount you will be able to wind on the bobbin.)
• Monofilament invisible (polyester or nylon) upper thread
• 70/10 or 75/11 embroidery needle
• Specialty or second bobbin case
• Screw driver for adjusting bobbin case tension
• Fabric, stabilizer

Preparation: Filling the Bobbin

Bobbins can be wound by hand or by machine. If winding by machine, wind slowly. Since you probably will not be able to run the thread through the normal thread guides, use your fingers to control the winding tension. Be careful not to wind too tightly or too loosely.

Be sure to check the amount of thread on the bobbin each time you start a new design. If the bobbin runs out during stitching:

• Remove the hoop
• Thread the “tail” to the back (top side of hoop_ using the tapestry or chenille needle
• Wind and insert a new bobbin
• Replace the hoop
• Reposition the needle to where the “tail” comes to the back
• Bring the bobbin thread to the wrong side by hand as when beginning a design
• Continue stitching the design

Avoid using heavier yarns as you will not be able to wind enough on the bobbin to complete a single design. I tried winding a textured knitting yarn and only got about 30” on the bobbin before it was full.

Preparation: Machine Tensions

Most home embroidery machines have automatic tensioning that cause the top (needle) thread to be pulled to the bottom side of the hooped fabric. This is perfect for traditional embroidery because under proper tensions, the bobbin thread will never be seen on the design side.

However, with bobbin work, the design will be sewn on the bobbin side using thread many times heavier than embroidery bobbin thread. Also, monofilament thread is quite thin and slips through the tensions easily. These three issues will require tension adjustments to accommodate the thread weights and to prevent the monofilament from pulling through to the design side.

Proper bobbin and needle thread tensions will take some trials. Use a small design and be sure to test with the same weight and type of thread you will be using in your project.

Using a separate bobbin case for bobbin work will make switching between specialty stitching and standard easier and more enjoyable. Be sure to label your bobbin cases if they do not look different. Be sure to read the manual for your machine; some threads may be so heavy that bypassing certain tensioners is the best route. I found that with Pearl Crown Rayon I had to loosen the tension screw on the bobbin case quite a bit (be careful not to unscrew it all the way!) and raise the needle thread tension for a good result.

How much should you loosen the tension? I suggest inserting embroidery bobbin thread in your regular case and feeling the tension of the thread as you pull it through the bobbin. This should give an idea for what the tension should feel like after adjusting for a heavier thread. If you have a front loading bobbin case, you might try the “bobbin drop test.” Hold the threaded bobbin in one hand by the thread tail with the other hand cupped a few inches below. Give a little jerk on the tail and see if the bobbin drops a bit. If the bobbin doesn’t drop, loosen some more; if it drops a lot, tighten a bit.

Allow plenty of time for testing since you can’t see the results until you remove the hoop from the machine because they are on the bottom. Chances are that you won’t be pulling these heavy threads to the back of the embroidery but you don’t want the needle thread pulled to the design side.

While you’re at your machine, turn off the automatic thread cutter if your machine has one and slow your machine down.

Preparation: Fabric

The only trick here is remembering that the right side of the fabric faces the bed of the machine and the stabilizer goes on top. In general, bobbin work designs are open and lower stitch count, which means a lower distortion type of design. Choose an appropriate stabilizer for the fabric. I prefer to use a light-weight, no-show cutaway when the stabilizer can stay in. Tearaways can be difficult to remove since these designs do not have a lot of needle penetrations to perforate this type of stabilizer. You may want to choose a water soluble product.

Embroidering the Design

Advance your machine to the first stitch in the design. Manually turn the hand wheel of the machine to pull the bobbin thread to the top. Many machines will sink the needle in the center of the design and then travel to the first stitch. If you pull the thread up here and the design doesn’t start in the center, you will probably end up embroidering over a long thread tail later in the design.

Hold both thread tails for the first couple of stitches; do not trim.

You may get better stitch formation if you slow your machine down.

When the design is finished, leave a bobbin thread tail several inches long. Pull the bobbin thread to the back or use a tapestry needle to inserted near the stitch to bring the tail to the wrong side. Tie off the starting and ending thread tail with a knot close to the fabric to secure if desired and trim threads to about one inch long.

Other Notes:

You will need to change the bobbin whenever you want to switch to a new color. Stop the machine, remove the hoop and follow the steps for running out of thread.

Detailed instructions and patterns are not included with individual design fle downloads. Please refer to the color sequence information for a basic guideline for stitching. You can print the design using any embroidery software to make a template. For a fully illustrated step-by-step tutorial formatted for printing along with actual size printable patterns, please purchase the full collection. Free instructions can be found in the following blog posts:

• One Hoop Wonder: An In-the-Hoop Zippered Accessory Bag
• How to Make a Quick & Easy ITH Mini-Zip Bag
• How to Customize A Basic In-the-Hoop Project to Make Your Own Designer Bag

HOW TO DETERMINE FABRIC SIZES FOR ANY BAG IN THIS SERIES

1. Using your embroidery software, print the design at the actual size. You’ll use this as a pattern to cut all your pieces.

2. If you don’t have any software, then stitch out color 1 on the cutaway to use as a template and add the same seam allowances.

3. I added an extra quarter inch to the sides and top and an extra half inch along the bottom for seam allowances. Precision cutting is not required, just don’t make them too small

4. The outer line is the initial placement line, and the final seam allowance is a mere 2mm inside this line so cutting them larger than I did for the photo sequence makes the final steps easier. The measurements listed here and shown on the cut-out pattern pieces to the right are sufficient and will work for the other bags that use this construction technique.

5. Batting may be cut slightly smaller than the placement lines to reduce bulk in seam allowances. Batting is only cut for the front pieces and as a single layer (not on the fold)

Echidna PIE was a series of monthly embroidery lessons based on the designs used in this quilt and was active from July 2014 through July 2015. Lessons and associated content are still available at EchidnaClub.com.au. If you’re brand new to embroidery, you may find them helpful for completing this quilt; they are not required.

These instructions are to complete the quilt and assume some basic embroidery skills. If you need more help, you can also visit LindeeGEmbroidery.com or my YouTube channel for a growing body of free content.

Appliqué with your embroidery machine is fun and easy once you know a few tricks! In this tutorial you’ll learn how to use PDF templates included with appliqué designs to precut pieces for accurate and professional machine embroidered appliqué.

Skill Level

What You’ll Learn

• How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
• How to use a template for hand-cutting appliqué pieces
• How easy and versatile appliqués are with embroidery

What You’ll Need

• Appliqué design with a template file (PDF)
• Fusible tearaway stabilizer or freezer wrap (I use the tearaway since it is sized to my paper)
• Computer with Adobe Acrobat Reader and an ink jet printer
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (“TESA”) and/or fusible web (I prefer a double-stick pressure sensitive web like Pellon EZ Steam II)
• Embroidery threads
• Tweezers
• Double curve appliqué scissors
• Appliqué tacking iron

Some collections may include an SVG file or an FCM file (Brother ScanNCut format). These are designed for use with a digital cutter. Follow the directions with your cutter to use these files. Prepare your fabrics as for hand cutting and apply a fusible web product. Pressure sensitive (double or single stick) fusible web products may not be suitable for cutters; the sticky web adheres to the mat too easily and comes off the fabric. Test various fusible web products to find one you like. Fuse it securely to your fabric but avoid overheating that can melt the adhesive. You can leave the paper backing on or peel it off for cutting. Test to make sure the web stays fused to the fabric and doesn’t remain on the mat. After cutting the pieces, placing and stitching are no different.

Why Appliqué?

Machine embroidered appliqué is one of my favorite techniques! I love the added texture, dimension, color, and pattern that fabric adds to the embroidery that simply cannot be achieved by thread alone. It’s easy, it offers design variety, and it works on a wider range of fabrics and textures than standard embroidery. How else could you embroider a white snowman on a fluffy red towel and not have it turn out pink? (White embroidery thread is not opaque and any high contrast fabric can show through.) Plus, appliqué with the embroidery machine comes out with perfect curves and corners every time!

You may have stitched machine embroidered appliqué by placing a patch of fabric over a stitched outline, stitching the fabric over the outline by running that stitch a second time, and then removing the hoop and trimming away the fabric. Once I learned the method described here from the professional embroidery world, I never went back to that method again when working with smooth, firm fabrics. This way of creating appliqué will give a clean, professional look with no “pokies” that scream “amateur!”

There are times when the stick/sew/snip method works (I’ll use it when working with dimensional effects like putting batting under a large, simply shaped appliqué). To accommodate this method with Lindee G Embroidery designs, simply back up one color after placing the fabric to sew the placement line again. Remove the hoop, trim away excess fabric (keep in mind the satin stitch only extends beyond this line 1mm so trim closely!), replace the hoop and continue sewing. Whenever using this method, you must take extreme care not to distort the hooped fabric when trimming the excess appliqué away. This becomes increasingly more difficult with intricate shapes and/or multiple appliqués

Some Preliminary Notes

If you’ve previously done appliqué with your sewing machine, you likely lraced a pattern onto fusible web, applied it to the back of your fabric, and then stitched it out. This meant you were actually tracing a reversed (mirrored) version of the design.

Templates for machine embroidered appliqué are not reversed and are designed to be applied to the front of your fabric. Some fusible web products can be run through an ink jet printer to save you the step of applying a product to each side of the fabric. If you choose to print on the web, then you must mirror image either the design or the templates.

Tracing templates onto fusible web is not recommended. You need accurately cut appliqués for a successful result with machine embroidered appliqué. Besides, tracing is far too tedious.

Fusible web products require heat to activate the adhesive. Some fabrics are not compatible with heat. The advantage of using a fusible web is that it reduces wrinkling and is added security to reduce raveling if the stitches don’t adequately cover the edge of the applied fabric. Fusible web also adds body, which can be great on some projects like wall hangings but less attractive when you want a softer result such as on quilts or baby clothes. Different fusible webs provide varying degrees of stiffness. There are very stiff versions that work great on a canvas banner and there are very soft ones that are barely apparent once stitched and fused.

You’ll want to experiment to see what products work best and are readily available. Start by experimenting with what you find in your local sewing and craft stores. Products can also be ordered online so if your local area is very limited, look to the internet.

For items that can’t take the heat, use TESA to temporarily hold the appliqué in place during stitching. If you don’t want to use a spray adhesive, then a glue stick may be an effective substitute. Some TESAs are deactivated with heat (KK2000 is one) so skip the tacking iron step or you will lose the adhesiion.

Ultimately the stitches secure the appliqué to the fabric. If you cut and place your fabric accurately and your fabric is not prone to excessive raveling, you should have a good result. Keep in mind that if you shrink the design, then the satin cover around the edges shrinks and so does your security. Heavy laundering and/or use may also increase the tendency to ravel if a fusible web is skipped.

If you want the security of a fusible around the edges with the loft and softness of no web in the center, then you can “window” the fusible. This involves leaving an outer edge of about 1/4” web applied to the fabric with the inner portion cut away.

To do this, apply the template to the front of the appliqué piece in the usual manner (full details to come). Cut a piece of fusible web and place it behind the piece. Using your mini iron, fuse the web by pressing from the front along the outer edges and in about 1/4”. Cut out appliqué and then trim away excess fusible from the inside of the design on the back.

You may want to try this technique on larger pieces for quilts. Fusible web doesn’t allow the appliqués to “puff up” like hand stitched needle-turned appliqué. While machine embroidered appliqué is unlikely to loft as much and needle-turned, you’ll have a more authentic appearance.

Step 1—Prepare Fabrics

Your appliqués will stay smooth and crisp if you preshrink both the appliqué fabrics and the background fabrics. Pre-shrinking all the fabrics will help avoid any uneven shrinkage after your project is assembled. Be sure to smoothly press fabrics before the next fabric steps. I also find that starching the fabrics (both background and appliqué) makes them easier to work with and reduces shifting during the sewing process.

Step 2—Print Appliqué Templates & Any Guides

Print out PDF appliqué templates, making sure to print them at actual size. Notice that each piece has the design file name (if large enough) and possibly a number. On multiple piece appliqués this number is the sequence number for placing the appliqué. If several pieces have the same sequence number, it means they are placed at the same stop.

Do not let Acrobat resize your template to fit the page. Page Scaling must be set to None for accuracy!

The template pages may vary per collection. A design with just one appliqué may have the element repeated multiple times whereas a more complex multi-piece appliqué design may show the pieces as they combine in the design plus another set that is separated for easy cutting. Some collections may have multiple arrangements per design.

I prefer to print my templates on a lightweight fusible tearaway or you can use freezer wrap. (I don’t use freezer wrap for embroidery stabilizer, only for templates.) I cut an 11” piece of stabilizer from an 8” roll (about the size of a sheet of paper) and lightly fuse the top and bottom edges to a sheet of printer paper to help it move through my ink jet printer smoothly (and to make sure I print on the non-fusible side!)

I find that using heat fusible pattern pieces provides more sticking power over a longer period of time than templates printed on plain paper and held in place with TESA. If your pattern shifts during cutting, you will not be able to cut out an accurate piece and this technique definitely requires precision. I also find that I get more accuracy with this method than when tracing onto the fusible web. Some fusible webs have a waxy coating on the protective sheet and often shift around easily, especially when working with larger or more intricate shapes. With this technique, accuracy is definitely the name of the game.

These templates are created from the placement stitch in the embroidery design and are therefore intended to be applied to the front of the fabric. Some fusible webs can also be run through an inkjet printer. However, these products are applied to the back of your fabric and won’t work as a shortcut unless you mirror the embroidery design.

Step 3—Loosely Cut Out Template Pieces

Separate your paper template pieces by cutting loosely around the outlines.

Step 4—Apply Templates to Fabric.

Press the cut out pieces, right side up to the right side of the corresponding appliqué fabric.

Step 5—Apply Fusible Web

I prefer double-stick pressure-sensitive fusible web (Pellon EZ Steam II). Remove the looser paper sheet and arrange your appliqué fabrics on the web. Cut out around the web. I like to very lightly press them with a dry iron to help the fusible stick to the fabric.

One disadvantage of the regular weight EZ Steam II is that it leaves the appliqué feeling somewhat stiff. You might try Pellon EZ Steam II Lite, which is a thinner, lighter weight version. Other fusible web products are available but most of these are only sticky on one side. If you aren’t using a double-stick pressure sensitive fusible web, you will need to press a bit more. Avoid over pressing. If you completely melt the adhesive there will be nothing left to fuse the piece to the hooped fabric.

Don’t use steam when pressing fusible web and don’t over heat! Use a Teflon™ pressing sheet or parchment paper to protect your iron and ironing surface from the adhesive.

Step 6—Cut Out Appliqué Pieces

Carefully and precisely cut along the outside edge of each appliqué piece. If I’m preparing for a design I will sew immediately, I like to lightly stick the pieces to a plastic sheet protector in which I’ve place a printout of my design information. (If you haven’t used a double stick pressure sensitive, this won’t work.) Otherwise, I keep them in snack size zipper-type plastic bags. This is especially useful if you are cutting a number of pieces for a large project or multiple projects.

Don’t firmly press the piece to the plastic; the fusible web sticks to it very easily and will hold faster to it than the fabric.

Step 7—Embroider Design

If you’re embroidering on quilt-weight cottons, a medium tearaway should be sufficient for embroidery designs that are composed of predominantly appliqué that may also have additional light detail stitching. These types of designs are generally “low impact” and do not require extensive or heavy stabilizing. Make sure your fabric is secure in the hoop and that it will not slip during sewing. If your fabric slips, raw edges of appliqué fabrics may be exposed.

As your design sews, the machine will stitch a running stitch guideline for you to place your fabric and then stop to allow you to position the fabric.

Many machines may move the hoop forward to make it easier for you to do this while others will simply stop. If your machine just stops, you may wish to remove the hoop to place your fabrics. Be careful not to disturb the hoop tension and make sure your hoop is correctly attached each time to avoid registration problems (where stitches don’t line up with previous ones).

Carefully place the fabric within the stitched line and lightly fuse the center of the appliqué with an appliqué iron. If you fuse the edges too tightly, you will not be able to trim them off later if they extend beyond your stitching. (If you’ve cut your pieces with a digital cutter, then your pieces will fit exactly within the stitched guides.)

Continue sewing and the machine will zigzag around the edge of the fabric. Many other digitizers will use a straight stitch for this step; I find a zigzag more forgiving of slight miscuts and misplacements and less likely to push the fabric out of place.

I often slow the machine down for the tackdown to make it easy to stop if the fabric should shift.

Stop after the tackdown and inspect your work. If you see that fabric is sticking out beyond these stitches, stop the machine and carefully trim the fabric away or it will be exposed after the final satin stitching is complete. Also check for any “pokies”—raveled fabric threads that may have been freed by the action of the needle.

Continue placing each piece as called for in the color sequence until the design is complete.

Press embroidery from the back to complete the fusing.

Note 1: Printable templates only work with designs sewn at actual size. If you resize your embroidery designs, you will have to make your own templates. One way is to use a customizing program like Embrilliance Essentials to extract the placement line and print it just like the PDF is printed. A second option is by sewing the positioning outlines on template stock and cutting them out for tracing pieces. To embroider on template stock (mylar quilter’s template or card stock), tape a piece of the template material to the bottom of your hoop and sew without thread in the needle. The perforations are the “outlines” you see on the actual size printed PDF templates. Cut out the template and trace (template face down) on the fusible web paper on the back of your prepared fabric. Mylar quilter’s template will retain crisp edges and corners—and therefore accuracy—with more uses than card stock. Be sure to label your template with a design name, sequence order, and a guide arrow to denote the top.

Note 2:These instructions are for medium-weight woven fabrics that can tolerate heat. Loftier fabrics such as polar fleece may need to be cut slightly further away from the template line to accommodate their thickness and will also melt when pressed with an iron. Instead of using fusible web, use a temporary embroidery spray adhesive to hold in place during the sewing process. While a fusible web will permanently fuse an appliqué in place and reduce raveling puckering over washing and wearing, polar fleece, which is a knit, doesn’t ravel and due to the stretchy properties, will not pucker if sewn smoothly in the first place.

Crafting with Your Embroidery Machine Use your embroidery machine to punch out a design on paper or metal! While paint adds color to the design, vegetable oil renders parts of the design translucent allowing an eerie glow from the battery operated tea-light within. Fun project for kids of any age! I used ordinary brown paper lunch bags for this project. After experimenting with brown craft paper (also known as postal wrap), I found the bags “glow” better than the heavier craft paper. You can get prettier bags at the craft store but if you want to use them as luminaries, do test one first to see how you like the effect.

Note: These designs are specifically digitized for punch work and are not intended to be sewn with thread.

Supplies

• Brown paper lunch bags
• Acrylic paint: brown and orange
• Small paint brush(es) as desired (small flat acrylic brushes work well)
• Liquid vegetable oil
• Size 100 jeans needle (can be an old needle)
• Painter’s tape
• Cellophane tape or white school glue to reattach bag
• Tea lights (battery operated or candles)
• Paper scissors

Please read all instructions before beginning

Open up the paper lunch bag by cutting down next to the seam and carefully peeling apart the bottom. (A smooth edge steak knife is helpful.) Press with medium hot dry iron to flatten out. Fold down a 1 1/2” cuff on the top edge of the paper bag.

While these designs are sized for 100mm x 100mm hoops, it’s easier to work with the paper bags in larger hoop. Depending on how your hoop attaches to your machine, you may have to get creative with hooping to prevent the paper from getting mangled during the sewing process.

The paper needs to be taped to the hoop with painter’s tape. Secure the inner ring of the hoop inside the outer, position the hoop and tape the paper to the hoop using. One strip at the top and another at the bottom should be sufficient. Since you aren’t using thread, there is no pull so you just need to a small amount of tape to keep paper attached to the hoop. Gently press the painter’s tape to the paper so that it can be easily removed without damaging the paper.

If you only have a small hoop, the paper will need to laid on top of the hoop and taped from the bottom. Take care not to crease the paper. The following photo shows the paper hooped upright.

With a larger hoop, the paper can be placed underneath the hoop. I found that a minimum 150x150mm hoop allowed me to hoop the paper sideways with the cuff folded down and on the left without having the paper under the pantograph of the machine. I could then move the design at the machine to the right to get the design positioned where I wanted it. With this placement, the design is rotated 90° counter clockwise.

Insert a large needle. This can be any kind of needle and it doesn’t have to be new. The larger the needle, the more prominent the holes (and the less likely they are to fill in with paint).

Load the design into the machine and rotate or move the design as necessary.

Adjust any settings to permit your machine to sew without thread (turn off the needle thread sensor). You will probably still need to have a bobbin inserted in your machine.

Advance to the first stitch in the design. Many machines will sink the needle in the center of the hoop before moving to the first actual stitch. You don’t want a needle hole in the middle of the design! You may want to test your machine first by stitching on small square of paper to see if there is a beginning and/or ending stitch in the center of the design.

Sew the design.

4. Paint the design.

All the luminaries are shown on the last page of these instructions. Refer to the color sequence PDF if you are unsure which areas are painted. If you plan to skip the oiling step to create the translucency, you can skip the painting step if desired.

Tip: You may wish to connect the dots lightly with a pencil to make it easier to see where to paint!

The paint serves several functions. In addition to adding color when the luminary is not lit, the paint serves as a resist to keep the vegetable oil from seeping into undesirable areas. The untreated paper will wick up the oil very quickly. The paint also adds a little contrast and some color when the luminary is lit. You can get fancy with your painting or just fill it in solidly as I’ve done here.

When painting, avoid getting the paper too wet because it will wrinkle. It is better to paint in two or more more lighter coats than one heavy one. Avoid filling in the holes with paint. Apply paint to both sides of the paper. Allow to dry between layers and sides.

Use a pin to clear any holes that get filled in with paint before the paint dries.

Since the acrylics double as a resist, you need to coat the paper well enough; however, it doesn’t have to be heavy. Markers or other products may provide color but are unlikely to protect the paper from the oil seepage.

When the paint is dry, sparingly and carefully paint in a small amount vegetable into the areas you want to be translucent. Blot up any excess oil with a paper towel. The paint should protect the areas around the illuminated details. Avoid getting any oil outside of the design area.

Hold the finished piece in front of bright light to make sure the oil is evenly distributed. The oil will sink through the paper quite easily so it’s not necessary to paint both sides unless you are really stingy with the oil. The oiled areas will appear darker when unlit and will glow when lit from behind.

Using cellophane tape, reattach the back side of the bag. Glue or tape can be used to hold the refolded bottom together. The bags I used measured 3” x 5” across the bottom and I found it easiest to insert an index card and just glue the refold botttom sections to that.

Other Ideas

• Instead of applying the vegetable oil in step 5, use a craft knife to cut out various areas.
• Instead of applying the vegetable oil in step 5, use paint or markers to color in details.
• Skip all the painting and just use the punched paper as a luminary.
• Use the designs to create holiday cards and embellish with inks, pens, glitter, etc.
• Stitch on colored paper and cut design areas and layer over another colored paper or card stock.
• Instead of using craft paper, stitch on craft metal used for punched tin work. Shape into a cylinder or other shape and use with real candles