SEW SEW FINE EMBROIDERY DESIGNS

Machine Embroidery  Designs & Free Embroidery Designs

Hoop Group Embroidery Club

The Sewing Studio, Maitland, Florida

 

Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Machine Embroiderers

 

Preparing to Stitch

 

Always read the instructions that come with the design. Each digitizer knows what achieves the best results for their

design.

 

 

 

 

Print out a template of your design so you can place it on your garment before embroidering to be sure of placement. Your embroidery software should

allow you to print out a template. I pin the template in place while wearing the garment so I know exactly where the stitch out will be.  If it's not correct,

you can move the template around to the proper position.  Leave the template on your garment while it is being hooped.  Once your ready to start your

embroidery process, you can use your position keys (most newer embroidery machines have this feature) to make sure the starting point of the design

lines up with the starting point on your template.  Check to be sure the design will stitch in the hoop by using your basting outline.  Most newer

Embroidery machines have the basting outline. If you have lined up your reference points with your hoop's centering points, you should be okay. 

- Vicki M.

 

Always do a stitch out on a comparable fabric to be sure you know how the design will work on your fabric and to be sure you used the correct

stabilization.  - Vicki M.

 

If an item you will embroider will be subject to washing, pre-shrink the items allowing the embroidery to hold up better after subsequent washings. I also

steam press my cut-away and tear-away stabilizers for that same reason.

 

The best all-around scissors for clipping threads are the small double curve embroidery scissors.  They get into the tiniest places. - Joyce

 

Many people use a separate pair of scissors for stabilizer to prevent dulling of their fabric scissors.

 

Not all designs are created equal. Remember there can be a wide range of quality between different digitizers and different techniques.

 

When embroidering pieces of fabric, be sure it is at least 2 inches larger than the design.  This allows for “squaring up” and seam allowances.

 

Machine Tips

 

Copied this from an online source.  Some good advice here.

"Machine Maintenance Kit: When we get a new machine, it usually comes with a small screwdriver and a small lint brush to help us maintain the

machine. While these do help if you don’t have other tools, they truly are useless in the long run. Since we should all maintain our machines on a

regular basis, why not put together your own maintenance kit? What do I keep in mine? Well, I have several small screwdrivers, a couple of lint

brushes, a small piece of chamois cloth (sometimes called “shammy”), my zoom-spout oiler (if your machine uses oil), and chenille wires. The

screwdrivers are short with a fat handle, helping to get into those small spaces to take things apart. The lint brushes help to get fluff and threads out of

the nooks and crannies. The chamois is to wipe away oils and dust. I fold the chenille wires in half so that the pointy wire end is not used. I then use

them to remove even more fuzz, and I can also put just a dab of oil on there to do a very light oiling of inside parts. Prepare in advance to baby your

machines and they will give you many years of happy activity. And remember, only take your machine apart as much as YOU feel comfortable with.

If you aren’t comfy Doing  this, DO take your machine in to you dealer for regular maintenance."  **If your machine is under warranty, do not remove

anything except the bobbin case (if you damage anything, the warranty may become void).

 

Which reminds me, a long while ago, I was having a bit of trouble with the machine and was told to turn it off and let it cool down.  I did, it did, and off

we went again. - Joyce

 

Please clean your sewing machine frequently.  Take out the bobbin case and remove all the debris.  Get one of those nifty vacuum attachments and

remove all the hidden dust.  Good for computer keyboards, too. - Joyce

 

Thread Tips

 

Just have to tell you how glad I am that we learned about Dritz Sewer's Aid - It's a silicone liquid that will help glide thread through the machine.  Also

Wipe a bit on the needle..... Here I am in the middle of a project and grabbed a spool of thread.  It sewed a bit, and then the thread decided to break

about every ten stitches.  I took the bottle of Sewer's Aid and spread a couple of drops on the spool and voila ....  no more breakage, and the project

turned out great. - Joyce

 

If you are having problems with the metallic thread breaking, try locating the thread farther away from the machine which will give it a chance to

unwind off the spool with less kinks and less breakage.

 

Sometimes, putting your thread in the freezer for a while will “recondition” it.

 

Not all machines will work well with every brand of thread. You might want to buy just a few smaller spools of a new brand to test with your machine

to see if they play well together. If not, then you won't have spent a lot on thread your machine doesn't like.

 

If you’re embroidering faces, use a thinner thread and needle.  This fine combination will give a better sew-out.

 

Even your thread ends and trimmings can be saved and used in embroidery. There are some very nice designs available that incorporate these loose

threads.

 

Needle Tips

 

Select the right size needle for your design, fabric and thread.  Embroidery needles are usually best.

 

For metallic threads, be sure to use a needle for metallic threads.

 

Be sure and change your needles at regular intervals. It is less expensive to replace a needle than to stitch out designs poorly because the needle was

dull.

 

Reminder:  Put your used needles, pins, hypodermic needles, anything pointy and sharp in a safe container. A pill bottle works well. Some Fire Depts.

collect these sharp items. - Joyce

 

Hooping Tips

 

I never hoop knits, towels, velvet, velveteen, fleece, etc. but use sticky stabilizer.  I hoop the stabilizer with the paper release side facing up.  Then I

Take A straight pin and score a large X on the paper.  Then peel and tear the release paper away from the sticky side.  This way the sticky doesn't get

on the hoop.  I then place the fabric on the sticky stabilizer lining up the center lines of the design with the center marks on the hoop.  I put a clear

water soluble over the fabric so the stitches don't sink into the fabric.  Some people use spray adhesives.  If you use spray adhesive, be sure to spray

the stabilizer and/or the fabric before hooping.  If you spray your fabric in the hoop, eventually you will get yucky gummy hoops that are difficult to

clean.  Also, be sure to follow the instructions on the can of spray adhesive. - Vicki M. 

 

Water activated sticky stabilizer works well, too.

 

Be sure the inside hoop fits properly inside the outside hoop.  I have had the inside hoop pop out as it wasn't put properly in the outside hoop.  Once that

happens, it is impossible to line up your design to complete the stitching.  - Vicki M.

 

Be sure you hoop your garment correctly.  Nothing worse than stitching out your design only to find out that the design stitched out upside down.  It's

impossible to take out all the stitches without putting holes in your garment.  I have been able to cover up small holes when I restitched the design, but

not always.  - VIcki M.

 

If you must remove large areas of stitches, try an electric razor.

 

Be sure to check your machine as it will tell you what hoop is required for the design you selected.  - Vicki M.

 

Most fabric can be hooped. Thickness isn't as difficult as stiffness. The problem arises when people try to put the inner hoop into the outer hoop without

first loosening the screw. Some people think that you're supposed to have the screw as tight as it will be when you finish hooping and this is not the case.

If you have to force the inner hoop into the outer hoop, you will most assuredly get hoop burn (hoop marks) when you take it out. If you place the fabric

On the outer hoop and get just a little resistance (just enough to hold the hoop in place) of the inner hoop, you've got it right. It makes hooping so simple

and you rarely have to do anything else except tighten the screw and put it on the machine. Just make sure the inner hoop is all the way into the outer

hoop so it sits on the bed of the machine. - Emma

 

If your fabric choice is thick, or expensive, you can cut a square of it large enough to stitch the design with a comfortable margin, baste this onto your

stabilizer and hoop only the stabilizer.

 

 

Stabilizer Tips

 

Each project may require a different stabilizer … get acquainted with the different types. Experiment!

Purchase small quantities of stabilizers and first follow suggestions on the package, then develop your own technique.

 

When you open a roll or package of stabilizer, be sure and label it so you know which one it is. Some types of stabilizer are very similar in appearance

and this keeps you from guessing. It also helps if you make a note in a corner of strips that are cut off the roll for the same reason.

 

Save stabilizer cut-offs to use as a float (layer) where needed. - Joyce

 

Save wash away stabilizer scraps - even the tiny bits. They can be mixed with water to make a "soup" for restoring stiffness to FSL designs that have

gotten softer than you would like.

 

When I purchase stabilizer by the yard, I take the strip of instructions and tie it around the stabilizer so I always know what type of stabilizer (iron on,

tear away, etc) it is and how it works.  The alternative would be to pin the instructions to the stabilizer but I don't like getting pricked by a pin so I tie

them.  - Vicki M.

 

I keep my water soluble stabilizer in a plastic zip lock bag so it is protected from humidity and to keep it from drying out.  I also keep the instructions in

the zip lock bag. - Vicki M.

 

Don't be afraid to use two layers of stabilizer when stitching a dense design. - Vicki M.

If your sew-out starts to pucker, “float” another piece of stabilizer under the hoop. You can use up to 5 layers, but be aware that the design will be very

stiff. - Joyce

 

Denim -

Some people think you don't need to stabilize denim but you do.  If you don't, you will find when you put them in the dryer shrinkage occurs and your

design won't lay flat.  - Vicki M.

 

Believe it or not, it is possible to stitch a design over the seam on jeans as long as it isn't too thick.  Some jeans don't have a thick seam and some do. 

Be sure to use a large embroidery needle, at least a size 14/90.  - Vicki M.

 

T-Shirts and Jersey fabrics-

Use a cut-away stabilizer like Solvy's Soft n Sheer in the hoop. Also you can hoop the stabilizer and then use a light spray of Sulky 2000 or any other

adhesive spray on the stabilizer and lay your garment on top and you are ready to embroider your t-shirt without stretching the fabric. - Maeme B.

 

Place cut-away "No-Show Mesh" in the hoop (I use the Baby Lock brand but there are many others). Cut a piece of "No-Show Mesh fusible" a little

larger than the design and iron to back of the area to be embroidered. Attach to the stabilizer in the hoop with a basting thread or pins around the edge.

Embroider the design. Trim stabilizer close to the design. - Joy A.

 

If the embroidery is irritating to the skin, iron on a piece of “backing” fabric.

 

Towels -

Iron your towel first. Place a tear-away stabilizer in your hoop. Use an adhesive spray on the stabilizer and then position your towel onto the hoop. Place

a layer of wash away stabilizer on top of the towel before you begin embroidering to prevent the towel "loopies" from poking through the stitching.

- Maeme B.

 

Create your design as an appliqué and sew it on.

 

Free Standing Lace (FSL) -

When stitching lace designs, use a wash away stabilizer.  Usually you will need two to three layers of normal wash away or one layer of the ultra thick

wash away.  If you aren't sure if the design is stand alone lace (if it doesn't say, then it probably isn't), you can always use tulle, small sized netting, or

organdy as the base along with your wash away stabilizer.  Nothing worse than doing a design that you think is stand alone lace and washing away the

stabilizer and finding out you have a glob a thread and no design. Don't completely wash away the stabilizer.  Leaving some of the wash away in your

stitch out will make your design stiff which is usually desired. - Vicki M.

 

Be sure the bobbin thread is the same color as the top thread.

 

You might need to iron your stand alone lace after you wash out your stabilizer.  If you can tell which side is the front, place the front down on a towel

and press.  Don't use too much steam as this can get rid of your stabilizer that you want to leave in for stiffening. - Vicki M.

 

When you are doing designs in a larger hoop and want to do more than one per hooping, it is better to have the designs going in opposite directions. This

is especially important when doing sections of free standing lace. Designs always tend to pull in one direction more than the other and if you have more

than one design in a hoop both going the same way chances are you will tear the stabilizer or your outlines will be off.

 

When doing FSL, put the rinsed designs on a sheet of plastic canvas and cover with a second sheet of plastic canvas and clamp together with clothes

pins or bag clips. Then set over a large bowl to dry. The designs dry perfectly flat and don't stick to the plastic. - Lynda

 

Fleece -

You must use a topping such as AquaFilm so the stitches don't sink. You may think that it is just for those fabrics like terry cloth so that the "pokies"

don't come up through the embroidery. It's that too, but it will also keep the stitches on top of thick, napped or fluffy fabrics. - Emma

 

Redwork and Cross Stitch-

Tear-away stabilizer can be difficult to remove from redwork and other open designs without pulling on the stitches themselves so, depending on fabric

being used, it is often not recommended.  Best to put a firm finger on the design and pull the stabilizer away.

 

 

After Stitching

 

Doing a monogram or lettering? Don't cut the tiny jump stitches between letters. Unless you can verify that there are locking stitches, if you cut jump

stitches, there is a chance that a few threads will unravel.  Not a tidy sew out. - Joyce

 

If you find that a design didn't stitch correctly and you used proper stabilizer, you can always fill in areas that didn't work well.  Be sure to lower your

feed dogs and you can free motion to fill in those areas that need it.  If you know how to fix designs in your digitizing software, feel free to fix areas that

didn't cover correctly.  Most of the time, professional designs work well.  Some times free designs have problems.  - Vicki M.

 

One of the things my nephew (who has an embroidery business) told me when you are stitching and the thread does not completely cover in the design

use a permanent marker the same color to fill in the tiny space.  You can salvage the project sometimes. - Mary A.

 

If you need to iron fabric that contains a design, place a towel on your ironing board and place the design face down on the towel.  Iron with steam. 

This keeps the design from being flattened out.  - Vicki M.

 

If you have some puckering, these can be ironed out by gently pulling the fabric as you iron – maybe.

 

Sign and date your work.  Fact: you won't remember when you made it! - Joyce

 

 

Miscellaneous

 

In order to save your pattern cutouts from books or template printouts, use your cardboard tubes from paper towels, stabilizers, etc.   Roll up the

patterns and put inside the tube.  Decorate the tube with shelf paper.  Label. - Terry B.

 

 

Internet References and/or Links

 

Some embroidery websites offer useful charts, tutorials, and/or lessons, i.e. Embroidery Library, Diamond Threadworks, Kenny Kreations, etc. The

Hoop Group has a long list of favorite embroidery sites of group members so be sure and check that out, too.

 

Embroidery.com, click on education, e-class to take classes, it's free and it's live, there are many subjects.  Since I'm still new to embroidery stuff, I like

to learn things that are new to me.  - Vang

 

 

Copyright Tips

 

And here's something on copyright laws....not legal advice!

"Licensing is an everyday part of your embroidery life whether you know it or not. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, a copyright is a form of

Protection provided by the laws of the U.S. to the creators of original works of authorship.  The Copyright Act of 1976 generally gives the owner of the

copyright the exclusive rights to the copyrighted work.  A copyright exists from the moment the intellectual property is created in fixed form.  However,

in order to seek copyright protection, the author typically will register the copyrighted work with the Library of Congress.  It is no longer required that a

copyright notice (the letter C inside a circle) be displayed, though it is beneficial to do so and clearly identifies a copyrighted property.  To sum it up -- If

someone else created  it, then they, not you, have exclusive rights and control over how it is used."

 

Copyright issues also apply to all licensed logos, trademarks, etc. - i.e. professional and college sports team names, school mascots, motorcycle brands,

and on and on. Many of these agencies are very active in enforcing their rights through legal channels.

 

 

Remember

 

Keep in mind that there is often more than one way to accomplish what you are trying to do. People have different ways to approach a technique or

problem. You will learn what works best for you. - Leslie

 

1 - Nothing is perfect.  If you come close, count yourself lucky.

2 - What to do with those "collections" of designs you've purchased?  How about a wall hanging?

3 - Every once in a while, get up, walk around, get a beverage, and relax for a few moments.  You'll go back to your project refreshed and  ready to

      give it your best.

4 - Don't be afraid to experiment.  See what you and your machine can do...you may be surprised.

5 - Attend the Hoop Group Embroidery Club at Sewing Studio often.  Bring your questions, problems, and triumphs. We'll help.

   - Joyce, Hoop Group Director

 

 

The Hoop Group Embroidery Club meets at the Sewing Studio on the second Saturday of each month for two hours from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.

 

This file will be an ongoing process so it's never too late to add a tip - sometimes computers really are wonderful. So if you think of something not

already covered just send it to me and I will compile it into the file for a later update.  Thanks.  Leslie – DragonSecrets@GMail.com

 

 

 

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