Blog posts tagged with 'in-the-hoop embroidery'

Appliqué is a very versatile machine embroidery technique. Creating free-standing ornaments and gift tags is fun and easy! With a basic appliqué tag design, you can add your own lettering or merge in other designs to create exactly what you want.

Skill Level

Basic embroidery skills. Novice or beginner skills with customizing software.

These instructions assume that you already know how to work with templates printed on fusible tearaway, a method I use most often for machine embroidered appliqué. If you’ve never used this technique, detailed instructions are included in the Appliqué Basics pdf that is included with most Lindee G Embroidery appliqué collections.

What You’ll Learn

• How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
• How to make double-sided free-standing designs with appliqués
• How to customize designs with lettering
• How to resequence a design in customizing software to better suit your project

Selecting a Design

This technique works best when the satin cover stitching that finishes the appliqué sews last, as it so happens in the gingerbread designs on Gingery Christmas and is almost the case with this design. However, if we customize the tag with lettering, we’ll need to do a little extra work if we want a nice clean finished back with a satin stitched edge.

For this project, you’ll use the Gift Tag (lg002016) and add some lettering. There are two lettering designs in the collection that work perfectly. One is “Santa” (lg002025) and the second is “Holiday Greetings” (lg002017). Or, you can choose to add in your own lettering.

What You’ll Need

• Small scraps of fabric for front and back of appliqué
• Cutaway stabilizer (medium to heavy weight)
• Washaway stabilizer (fiber, not film)
• Light-weight tearaway stabilizer for printing templates
• Double-stick (pressure sensitive) fusible web for appliqué (Steam-A-Seam II or Pellon Easy Steam II)
• Gift tag design from Gingery Christmas by Lindee G Embroidery with templates
• One of the lettering designs or add your own
• Suitable embroidery threads
• Regular embroidery bobbin thread
• Bobbin of matching thread for the outer gingerbread color (last color in these designs)
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (“TESA”)
• Short length of ribbon or cord
• Eyelet cutter
• Customizing/Editing software (I used Embrilliance Enthusiast; it will also work in Embrilliance Essentials.)

Edit the design.

Open the design in customizing.

Merge in another design or create your own lettering.

2. Resequence the design

In this program, objects can be dragged to the order you like or you can right click on a object and choose from the menu

Save the file for your machine.

3. Alternative method.

Simple resequencing such as we just did in software is not difficult to do at your machine and works best with machines that have visual displays.

Load the gift tag into memory and then merge in the lettering design. Sew the gift tag up through color 8, then advance 2 color stops and sew the lettering. Finally, back up 2 color stops and sew the tag’s last 2 colors. Don’t forget to stop sewing after the tag’s last color!

I’ve seen people do amazingly complex resequencing at the machine to avoid using a computer. It requires close attention to keep track of what you’re doing. Me? Give me software!

4. Prepare templates

Print templates onto fusible tearaway and loosely cut around shapes to separate. (See technique in the Appliqué Basics instructions if aren’t familiar with this process.

5. Prepare fabric

Fuse a piece of cutaway to the back of each piece of appliqué fabric using fusible web. Press one template to front of one fabric and one to cutaway of other fabric to make a reversible ornament.

While the cutaway isn’t strictly necessary, it adds extra body and dimension to the design.

Cut out appliqués just to the outside edge of the pattern lines

At some point you’ll need to use the eyelet punch to cut out the hole in the tag. The first 
sample I made my punched eyelet lined up perfectly. The second time it didn’t. Because 
the satin stitching was designed to go over the punched edge, if you punch afterwards, 
you will be cutting thread. You can still make the hole later, but you’ll need to use some 
other method.

A better method is to slow down the machine when it gets to the eyelet. A running stitch 
sews just before the satin and you can manually stop the machine, remove the hoop, and 
punch the hole at that time.

6. Set up to sew

Hoop 2 pieces of washaway stabilizer. Sew the first color of the design (placement outline).

7. Place top appliqué.

Mist back of top piece with TESA. Remove the template from piece and position in the hoop 
within outline

8. Sew the tack down (zigzag) stitch and stop the machine.

Inspect the design to see if any areas extend beyond the tack down and trim off.

9. Sew design up until next to last color

Don’t sew last two colors! These two colors attach the back of the ornament

10. Place back appliqué

Remove the hoop from machine. Spray cutaway side of back appliqué with TESA, remove paper template, position appliqué in place, reset the hoop, replace the bobbin with the matching thread, and sew last color

11. Remove project from hoop and finish.

Trim off excess stabilizer close to the stitching. Remove remaining bits with damp paint 
brush or sponge. It is not necessary to soak out the remaining stabilizer

You’ll notice that the eyelet hole on the back is not satin stitched. This design was 
digitized well before the project was conceived. While I could have redigitized it, the intent 
of the projects is to show how to work with stock designs that are already digitized. Could 
you resequence in editing software? Absolutely! Is it worth the effort? That depends.

Looking for More Tag Style Designs?

Look for designs for badges and borders. These are often digitized as appliqué and work well 
with the techniques described here. Two collections you might look at are:

• Monogram Frames, which include some frames along with some coordinating borders. 
  Look for the designs that include appliqué.
• Badges, a collection of 40 appliqué-style “patch” designs that all work well for combining 
  with other designs.

If you want an eyelet, just extract those parts from the gift tag design in your editing program, 
paste into the badge or border design and resequence as we’ve done in this project.

Begin to look at your designs as elements that can be taken apart and recombined in new and creative ways

Creating these little padded ornaments is easy if you have a design that’s already set up but what if you don’t? Then you’ll need to do a little extra work. For this bird ornament, I’ve deleted a few elements—easy peazy—and digitized an additional seam around the bird. While that seam is not rocket science digitizing, it’s not all that easy to draw if you’re not comfortable creating smooth curves.

And if you don’t digitize? Well then, just echo stitch around with your sewing machine or get the additional edited birds.

To get a bolder look, I stitched the bird with 30 wt. cotton thread. The outer seam was stitched in 40 wt. red polyester embroidery thread with a matching bobbin.

Skill Level

Detailed instructions on how to edit the design are not included here, simply how to finish the bird ornament, which is pretty basic embroidery. If you’d like ready-to-go edited versions, you can download them here: Fanciful Birds Ornaments.

What You’ll Learn

• How to use simple yet creative techniques to expand your embroidery options
• How to make a padded free-standing embroidered ornament

Selecting a Design

I created these ornaments from a previously released collection, called Fanciful Birds (lvp001). Many times after creating a design, I’ll think of some other way I’d like to use them that may require some modifications. Sometimes I just want to do basic customizing like changing the colors, resizing, combining with another design, or adding lettering. These are easy changes that even the most novice embroiderer can perform in a program like Embrilliance Essentials.

If you don’t yet have a customizing program or have one you don’t like or know how to use, you can download a free trial version of Essentials

Other times I may need to do some simple editing, deleting some elements or pulling out some part to use on its own. This, too, is relatively easy with some simple software like Embrilliance Enthusiast.

For other designs and projects, I may need to do a little digitizing. Learning to digitize to add some run stitches to a design can be very useful. Sometimes I need a basting line that more closely follows the edge of an odd-shaped design. Learning to draw and apply a run stitch is not all that difficult. Taking that skill one step further will allow you to make ornaments like this out of many designs.

If you don’t have digitizing software and would like something basic that will allow you to add simple stitches and doesn’t cost a mini fortune, check out Embrilliance Stitch Artist. If you’re already familiar with other Embrilliance software, you’ll already have a leg up on learning the program.

I chose to echo the outline of the bird for my ornament. Of course you could choose a shape in your software and use that for your stitching line. If you’d prefer to have edited versions of these designs ready to go for the ornaments, they are also available here: Fanciful Birds Ornaments.

When applying the stitches to my outline, I first stitched a single run, inserted an applique stop (or a color change), then repeated the line with a bean stitch. The first run will give me a guide for placing the felt on the back and aligning the ribbon hanger. Making it a separate color from the final bean stitch forces the machine to stop making it easier to remember when to add the back pieces and ribbon.

Thread Notes

These designs were digitized for 40 weight thread. I’ve sewn them in 50 wt. cotton and 30 wt. cotton on different projects. With the thicker thread, the individual stitches are a little less defined and little bulkier and the overall look is bolder. I chose a matching red 40 wt. polyester for the seam. It will sink into the felt and be less noticeable.

I used a standard prewound white poly bobbin thread and wound a bobbin with 40 wt. red. If I were doing a filled area and wanted a matching bobbin color, I would have opted for 60 wt. thread to keep the design from becoming too stiff. Stiffness and bulk are not an issue on these ornament designs because of their use and because the design is very open.

Using a heavier thread with filled designs can cause cupping and puckering because it creates too much thread bulk for the area.

I found I was successful using a size 75/11 embroidery needle even with the slightly heavier embroidery thread and experienced no thread breaks nor did the machine require any tension adjustments. All machines are different and some just seem to be happier with some thread weights and types than others.

What You’ll Need

I used felt for my ornaments. Another choice would be fleece or some other non-raveling fabric.

I would not go with a vinyl or some other “non fabric” unless it had a fabric backing; the design is too dense as is and could punch out a hole.

• Small pieces of craft felt. Mine is red with glittery specs and is somewhat stiff.
• Tearaway stabilizer
• Bird 1 (from Fanciful Birds) if you’re editing or Bird 1, modified (from Fanciful Birds Ornaments) by Lindee G Embroidery
• Embroidery threads as desired. I used 30 wt. cotton (white) and 40 wt. poly (red)
• Matching bobbin for the outer edge, standard embroidery bobbin for white
• 6-9” piece of ribbon for hanger
• Cellophane tape, painter’s tape
• Temporary embroidery spray adhesive (“TESA”)
• Fiber fill for stuffing
• Pinking shears. My favorites are Fiskars.

Instructions

1. Stitch the bird and the placement guide.

Hoop the felt with tearaway and stitch the bird design through color 2. Be sure to change your bobbin thread if you are matching your thread colors.

Although you don’t really need to change the bobbin thread until color 3, I changed it when I changed my top thread to red at color 2. One, so I didn’t forget to change it when sewing color 3, which is also red, and two, because it made an easier reference for placing the back pieces in the next step.

2. Apply the ribbon and backing pieces.

Remove the hoop from the machine but not the fabric from the hoop. Place the hoop face down. Fold the ribbon in half and tape in place with the cut ends within the sewing line. Make sure the tape is outside the sewing line.

I used a small strip of water soluble Wonder Tape to hold the cut ends of the ribbon together.

Cut two pieces of felt. Mine are about 3.5” x 5.5” for bird 1. Lightly mist each piece with TESA and smooth into place, overlapping them about 1/2”

If you overlap too much, the ornament will be hard to stuff. If you don’t overlap enough then the ornament will be prone to “gaposis” if you insert too much stuffing.

If you aren’t stuffing your ornament, then you can simply place a larger single piece to completely cover the back.

I also secured the edges with painter’s tape to keep them from lifting or catching during stitching. Make sure the tape is outside the sewing line.

When taping things to the back of the hoop, resist the temptation to press firmly unless the tape is only over the hoop edges. Just lightly press on the tape, then flip the hoop over, place the hoop on firm, flat surface and secure the tape into position by finger pressing well. Check the back one more time to make sure there are no exposed sticky ends curled up. Pressing from the front insures that you aren’t disturbing hoop tensions, which could cause registration issues.

3. Sew the rest of the design.

Stitch the last color change and remove from hoop.

4. Remove tearaway.

Before cutting out your ornament, tear away the stabilizer. If you cut first, it will be hard to pick out the tearaway.

5. Cut out ornament.

Carefully and evenly trim away the fabric about .25 - .5” away from the stitching line with pinking shears taking care not to cut the ribbon. I found that if I cut the back layer of felt under the ribbon first, then I could fold the ribbon over to the back and hold in place while I trimmed the rest of the design through all layers thus avoiding any mishaps.

6. Lightly stuff with fiber fill.

Stuff the ornament through the back. Since I stitched mine on felt, the lapped edges are not finished and I didn’t even stitch them together afterwards.

You could also make a small scented sachet bag to slip inside.

You can be finishing your bird ornament while the next one sews!

Troubleshooting

Making this ornament requires removing and replacing the hoop several times. Be sure to insert your hoop all the way each time or the rest of your design won’t register properly. Also, watch when working with the hooped fabric during the process that you don’t disturb the hoop tension.

Cotton thread produces a lot of fuzz, even if you only use it in the needle and not the bobbin. I brushed off the fuzz from the presser foot area after each bird and used a lint roller to remove fuzz from the felt.

Lint will also build up in the bobbin case. Here’s what mine looked like after only three birds!

Summary

These little ornaments are quick and easy to make! If you can’t or don’t digitize then the birds are also available already prepared for stitching into your own little flock. And truly, stitching around them on your sewing machine is not all that big a deal either.

Another reason you might want to stitch them with your sewing machine is if you only have a small sewing field that can’t accommodate the extra hoop space required for the additional stitching. The original birds all fit within a 100 x100mm sewing field.

You could easily adapt this technique for baby toys, pet toys, or scented hot pads. They make nice little package ties and look cute hanging in a window all year long!

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)